Sixty-one percent of Southern California cities failed to have an approved housing element plan by the Oct. 15 deadline—as mandated by the state—and now face possible consequences including loss of state funding, less control over certain development projects, and a shortened period for rezoning.
The state has required cities and counties to update their housing element plans every five or eight years since 1969 to “meet the housing needs of everyone in the community,” according to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), which handles housing programs that provide loans and grants for California cities.
When a city doesn’t have an HCD-approved plan, they might be given less time for rezoning—the process of re-categorizing land or property for a different usage—which is a time-consuming task….