The City of Sunnyvale has launched a survey aimed at gathering feedback from residents to help shape its 6th Cycle Housing Element. Residents have until Friday, March 4 to complete the survey.
The Housing Element is an eight-year plan that guides the City’s direction for future housing growth. The plan identifies the where, how, and how much housing Sunnyvale plans to produce based on projected housing demand. Each municipality in California is required every eight years to submit their plan to the state, according to their apportioned number of homes under the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA).
The 6th Cycle covers the period from 2023-2031. Sunnyvale is required to build 11,966new housing units by the end of this period. It identifies specific locations for new housing growth, establishes a regulatory framework that removes constraints to housing production, and codifies policies and programs to implement the Plan. The Element is guided by resident input in order to balance housing growth with other factors, such as quality of life, traffic, environmental impacts, and others.
Initiated in Spring of 2021, the contours of the plan are already taking shape through community workshops, and City Council and Planning Commission hearings. Following adoption of the Housing Element by the City Council, it will undergo an environmental review process under the California Environmental Quality Act and later be submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development for approval. Housing Element updates for Bay Area jurisdictions are due to HCD by January 31, 2023.
Residents may participate in this process by completing the survey or by attending future City Council meetings on the topic. Future outreach meetings will be scheduled from April to June 2022.
For more information about Sunnyvale’s Housing Element process, visit https://sunnyvale.ca.gov/property/housing/housingelement.htm