Housing Element (old) | Glendale Plan

Housing Element

The Housing Element is a section of the City’s General Plan that looks at housing needs and conditions within Glendale, and which identifies goals, policies and programs that the City uses to direct and guide actions related to housing. The City has completed the process of updating the Housing Element to ensure that we are prepared to meet the future housing needs of Glendale for the planning period from 2021 through 2029. You may view the updated Element by clicking the button below.

The Housing Element serves as a blueprint for meeting the housing needs of our residents at all economic levels and addressing segments of the population with special housing needs. The Housing Element includes:

1. An assessment of the unique characteristics of the City’s population

2. An inventory of sites suitable for residential development

3. An assessment of financial and programmatic resources

4. An analysis of constraints to housing production in Glendale

Under State law, every city and county in California is required to update its Housing Element to address specific requirements and submit the element to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). According to State law, the Housing Element must:

Provide goals, policies, quantified objectives and scheduled programs to preserve, improve and develop housing;

Identify and analyze existing and projected housing needs for all economic segments of the community;

Identify adequate sites that are zoned and available within the 8-year housing cycle to meet the city’s fair share of regional housing needs at all income levels;

Be certified (approved) by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) as complying with state law; and

Be internally consistent with other parts of the General Plan (and meeting this requirement is critical to having a legally adequate General Plan).

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UPDATE OF THE CITY'S HOUSING ELEMENT 2021 - 2029

The 2021-2029 Housing Element has been found to be in substantial compliance with the State Housing Element Law by the California Housing & Community Development Department (HCD) as of February 27, 2023. The 6th Cycle Housing Element was first adopted by City Council on February 1, 2022, and was amended based on comments received by the HCD. The Glendale City Council readopted the Housing Element on December 6, 2022 and minor modifications were prepared in February 2023 in response to HCD's final comments.

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2021-2029 Housing Element – Readopted by City Council on December 6, 2022 with Minor Modifications

Following extensive outreach with the community and coordination with HCD, the Housing Element was updated to resolve to HCD's comments on the City's originally adopted Housing Element. The Housing Element was readopted by the City Council on December 6, 2022. Following readoption, the readopted Housing Element was provided to HCD for a statutory 60-day review. Through this process, HCD requested minor modifications (see highlights in blue). Upon the conclusion of the 60-day review period, HCD continued to request more information on three specific items. The City has completed minor modifications to provide this additional information (see highlights in green). The document is available using the button below.

2021-2029 Housing Element – Adopted by City Council on February 1, 2022

Following a lengthy public participation process, the 6th Cycle Glendale Housing Element for 2021-2029 was adopted by the City Council on February 2, 2022.

As part of the requirement of the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the adopted element was sent to HCD for review and certification. A comment letter from HCD was received by the City on April 22, 2022, requesting changes necessary to bring the City’s Housing Element into compliance with Article 10.6 of the Government Code.

Since receipt of the letter, city staff along with the City’s consultant have been working on the changes outlined in the April 22nd letter. The amendments to the adopted Housing Element are being presented to Planning Commission on November 16, 2022, and to City Council in December 2022.

2021-2029 Public Review Draft Housing Element

The 2021-2029 Public Review Draft Housing Element was available for public comment from November 1, 2021 through Tuesday November 30, 2021. Prior to finalizing the Public Draft Housing Element, the City hosted a virtual Community Workshop on October 11, 2021 at 6:00 pm and also provided an online Community Housing Survey to gather additional public input regarding the community's housing priorities. The community’s input regarding housing issues and priorities had been an important part in helping shape Glendale's 2021-2029 Housing Element. Updating it also involved a detailed analysis of existing conditions, a review of existing City plans and programs, and the inclusion of new policies and programs to comply with current State housing law.

Below are some key facts about the 2021-2029 Housing Element Update:

The Housing Plan recommends only minor modifications to the City’s current Housing Element Goals and Policies
Glendale has a history of planning to strategically accommodate new development, especially in mixed-use activity centers and around transit
New residential development is envisioned to occur primarily along the community's mixed-use corridors and in Downtown Glendale
The City has found that it has sufficient land available to accommodate its fair share of regional housing growth within existing General Plan and Zoning designations; future residential development is expected to occur in those areas already identified for residential uses
No General Plan land use changes or zoning changes were necessary to accommodate our Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)
The Housing Plan includes a number of new programs to address State housing law including future required updates to the Glendale Municipal Code, new programs to support affirmatively furthering fair housing, and tracking and reporting requirements for our Housing Sites.

Public review was considered by the Planning Commission and City Council at a series of public hearings that began in December 2021 and concluded in February 2022.

Community Housing Survey Response Summary

Thank you for your participation in the City's Housing Community Survey! As part of the community outreach associated with the Housing Element Update, a community survey was facilitated online using the SurveyMonkey platform. The survey was conducted in five languages: Spanish, English, Armenian, Korean, and Filipino. The survey gathered information on housing-related issues. The survey, which was posted on April 5, 2021 and closed on May 2, 2021, focused on existing conditions to better understand the characteristics of households in Glendale, identify the community's housing needs and priorities, and uncover real or perceived fair housing concerns in Glendale. The results of this Survey are summarized in the document below and will be carefully considered as the City updates its Housing Element.

October 11 Virtual Meeting Materials

The City hosted a virtual meeting to provide an update on preparation of the draft Housing Element. Meeting materials can be accessed below.

Presentation

Video Recording of the Meeting

Questions and Answers

Download Event Flyer English | Armenian | Spanish

November 15 Virtual Meeting Materials

The City hosted a virtual meeting to provide an overview of the Public Review Draft 2021-2029 Housing Element. Meeting materials can be accessed below.

Presentation

Video Recording of the Meeting

Download Event Flyer English | Armenian | Spanish

Regional Housing Needs Allocation (6th Cycle 2021-2029)

Fundamental to the Housing Element Update, is how the City addresses its assigned fair-share of regional housing needs. This fair-share is determined through a regional housing needs allocation process. HCD, with input from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), determines the region’s total housing need for the 2021-2029 period. SCAG then determines the housing allocation for each member city and county through the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation. The Housing Element Update must identify enough potentially developable land zoned for residential use to accommodate the City’s new RHNA allocation.

Glendale's draft allocation for the 2021-2029 period is 13,393 units, which is broken down by income group. To read more about the RHNA allocation methodology and process, visit SCAG’s RHNA & Housing page.

Information regarding the City's current Housing Element (2014-2021) can be found on the City of Glendale's General Plan Housing Element website.

The Housing Element Update schedule is outlined below:

Preparation of Public Draft Housing Element: Summer/Fall 2021
Community Review of Public Draft Housing Element: Summer 2021
Public Hearings with Planning Commission and City Council on Public Draft Housing Element: September/October 2021
State Review of Public Draft Housing Element: Late 2021
Public Engagement: Ongoing for the entire Housing Element Update preparation process