As Grover Beach residents push to limit building heights, city officials are asking how much new housing they must plan for and where it could go.
City staff invited James Worthley, deputy director of the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) to Monday night’s city council meeting. Worthley explained how the regional agency will allocate a state target of more than 14,000 homes among the county’s cities and unincorporated areas. That target covers the 2029-2036 Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)—a state requirement for jurisdictions to plan for housing.
Grover Beach’s target has not been set. Worthley says current estimates put it between 400 and 500 units. He said the regional planning agency has been working with Grover Beach city staff on a method for dividing the county-wide target. He hopes to bring draft numbers to a SLOCOG public board meeting in December.
The city’s concern for meeting state housing requirements comes amid a citizen-led effort to limit building heights. Measure F-26 would cap building heights in commercial zones at three stories and require one-third of mixed use developments to be commercial space.
California housing officials have warned that the measure would reduce the city’s ability to meet its housing goals and it could not be enforced, unless Grover Beach makes up for that lost housing elsewhere. State housing officials sent a letter to the city in July saying if the city does not follow state housing law, it could face legal action and incur financial penalties starting at $10,000 per month, along with attorney's fees.
At Monday’s meeting, council members asked Worthley whether the city’s small size and lack of room to expand could mean a lower allocation.
“So HCD doesn't care about being landlocked. A lot of cities are landlocked,” Worthley said, referring to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. “Their whole goal, one of their statutory objectives is infill. So you're poised perfectly, the whole area's infill.”
City staff say they plan to seek public input next year on where future housing should go, if not up.
