To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Amended Annual Report on Implementation of the County General Plan for 2024
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. ACCEPT the amended 2024 Annual Progress Report (APR) prepared by the Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) on implementation of the Contra Costa County General Plan, as required under California Government Code Section 65400.
2. DIRECT DCD staff to forward the amended 2024 General Plan APR to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), as required under California Government Code section 65400.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact on the General Fund. The report on the County's annual progress in implementing its General Plan is funded 100% from the Land Development Fund, FY 2024/2025.
BACKGROUND:
California Government Code Section 65400 requires the planning agency for each city and county to submit an annual report to its legislative body (city council or board of supervisors), LCI, and HCD on the status of their General Plan and progress on its implementation. The annual report, due by April 1, provides the local legislative body with information regarding the status of its General Plan and gives LCI and HCD the opportunity to identify statewide trends in land use decision making, including how local planning and development activities relate to statewide planning goals and policies. Additionally, it enables LCI to track progress on a local jurisdiction's General Plan in terms of its comprehensiveness and consistency with the current LCI General Plan Guidelines and other State mandates.
There is no standardized form or format for preparation of the General Plan APR. LCI allows each jurisdiction to determine which locally relevant issues are important to discuss, though it does “strongly encourage” agencies to follow their recommendations on the general content of the APR. The attached amended APR covering calendar year 2024 follows LCI’s general guidance for content.
Staff notes that under a separate Government Code section, all cities and counties are required to submit to HCD a General Plan Housing Element APR containing certain housing-related information, including a quantification of the jurisdiction's progress in meeting its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and summaries of local efforts to remove governmental constraints to development of housing. Information from the Housing Element APR is incorporated into the General Plan APR. On March 25, 2025, the Board of Supervisors accepted both annual reports.
On March 24, 2025, Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) staff provided supplemental guidance to local jurisdictions for reporting on affordable Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) based on a previously prepared ABAG consultant study; ABAG vetted the methodology with HCD. The additional guidance allows jurisdictions in the ABAG region to report the following proportion of non-deed restricted ADUs as affordable housing units: 30/30/30/10 of very low, low, moderate, and above-moderate units, respectively. This allows 46 non-deed restricted ADUs to be shifted from the County’s previously reported above-moderate income RHNA and counted towards the County’s affordable RHNA. As the supplemental guidance was received on March 24, DCD staff was unable to review ADU permits and update the annual reports for the March 25 Board meeting, the final meeting prior to the April 1 submittal deadline. HCD staff advised it would be best to submit the Board-approved APRs by the deadline and submit updated reports later. The APRs were submitted on time. The County's amended 2024 General Plan APR, which includes updated information from the amended 2024 Housing Element APR, is included as Attachment A.
Staff calls the Board's attention to the County's progress in meeting its RHNA. The RHNA for the 6th Housing Element Cycle is 7,610 units, which includes 2,072 units affordable to very-low-income, 1,194 units affordable to low-income, 1,211 units affordable to moderate-income, and 3,133 units affordable to above-moderate income (i.e., market rate) households. Updated data indicates that in calendar year 2024, the second year of the eight-year 6th Cycle, the County issued 268 permits for new housing units including 22 permits for units affordable to very-low-income households (which includes units affordable to extremely-low-income households), 21 units affordable to low-income households, 60 units affordable to moderate-income households, and 165 units affordable to above-moderate-income households, which is approximately 3.5% of the RHNA. Total 6th Cyle production is 804 units, which is approximately 10.5% of the RHNA. These totals represent small percentages of units needing approval during the 6th Cycle, and they are all well below the annual average needed to keep pace with the target numbers. However, with adoption and HCD certification of the County’s Housing Element on January 22, 2024, new policy guidance and land use designation and zoning changes are anticipated to facilitate development over the remaining years of the 6th Cycle. Adoption of the updated County General Plan, which occurred November 5, 2024, is also expected to boost housing production, as new policy guidance and expanded opportunities for higher-density housing and mixed-use projects should further promote development.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
State law requires DCD to submit the APR to the Board of Supervisors prior to submitting it to LCI and HCD. The purpose of this amended APR is to provide an update to the Board of Supervisors on implementation of the County General Plan. Negative action by the Board would result in the County becoming noncompliant with California Government Code Section 65400.