The city has released a new draft of the Housing Element of the General Plan. The document calls for rezoning several locations in Seal Beach to meet a state mandate to plan for 1,243 places for people to live. Some of those units will be for low and moderate income people. See the table on page 19 for those numbers.
The City Council last approved a version of the Housing Element earlier this year. The state government did not accept it.
The deadline to have a certified Housing Element was Oct. 15, 2022.
In a May 15, 2023 letter, the state warned the city there could be fines for not having a certified Housing Element.
“For example, Government Code section 65585, subdivision (l)(1), establishes a minimum fine of $10,000 per month, up to $100,000 per month,” according to the letter signed by Proactive Housing Accountability Chief Melinda Coy.
The city is taking public comments on the document. Both clean and red-lined versions are available on the city website. To comment, email Community Development Director Alexa Smittle at asmittle@sealbeachca.gov.
To see the document, go to the city website, then select “Departments,” then select Community Development. Look on the left side of the webpage and click on the “quick link” to the Housing Development Update. Then scroll down to look at the proposed Housing Element.
Note: It’s a big document.
“Please note that due to file size, the document has been broken into separate sections. This unfortunately triggered a few technical issues – footnote numbering and table of contents references – and we apologize for this inconvenience, we are working to resolve it,” wrote Smittle in Friday, Aug. 25 email.
The state requires city governments to update their Housing Element at regular intervals. The state government has not yet approved Seal Beach’s Housing Element. That means the document won’t go to the Planning Commission or the City Council right away.
“Like most cities still seeking certification from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, this draft and likely any to follow will be sent to HCD for review and comment prior to presenting it to the Planning Commission and City Council,” Smittle wrote in a Monday, Aug. 28, email.
“Anything submitted to the State will be available for public review and comment,” Smittle wrote.
“Once HCD has found our Draft Element in substantial compliance, we will present it to the Planning Commission and City Council for their review,” Smittle wrote.
The two-story height limit for Old Town won’t change. “The voter-approved height restriction applies to a specific geographic area, generally Old Town. The City Council cannot make changes to that restriction, and the Housing Element does not propose any such modifications,” Smittle wrote.
One of the properties that the Housing Element says will need to be rezoned is the empty lot at 99 Marina Dr. “We have not received a development proposal for 99 Marina,” Smittle wrote.
The city’s population, which is apparently not quite 25,000, could also have an impact on zoning.
“Seal Beach had an estimated population of 24,992 in 2020, including 239 living in group quarters according to the California Department of Finance,” according to the Housing Element.
“As of January 1, 2021, the Seal Beach population was approximately 24,443 according to the California Department of Finance,” according to the Housing Element.
Why is the population figure important?
“State law establishes a ‘default density’ of 30 units per acre that is suitable for lower-income housing in communities with a population over 25,000,” according to the Housing Element.
On what data were the population figures in the Housing Element based? From what year were the population estimate taken?
“Data sources vary for different types of information, but are documented in the Housing Element. The US Census, including its variants such as the American Community Survey, is the most commonly used source,” Smittle wrote.
