The Turlock City Council voted unanimously to adopt its sixth cycle (2023-2031) Housing Element, a move that will bring the city into compliance with state housing law.
A second reading will be presented before the council during its Aug. 25 meeting.
Turlock had come under the scrutiny of Attorney General Rob Bonta, who filed a lawsuit against the city last month for being more than two years late in delivering its state-required housing plan. Turlock was one of five cities – Calexico (Imperial County), Costa Mesa (Orange), Half Moon Bay (San Mateo) and Ridgecrest (Kern) were the other four – who were singled out by Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“It’s been a long road to get here, including multiple rounds of review with the California Department of Housing and Community Development,” said housing consultant Andrew Hill, with urban planning firm Dyett and Bhatia. “But on July 3, the state issued a letter finding that if the city adopts the Housing Element as revised, together with the zoning amendments, Turlock can be found in compliance with state housing law.”
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, home values and rents in the state are among the highest in the nation, and the state has one of the highest rates of homelessness. The housing element aims to:
* Address Regional Housing Needs Allocation, by ensuring capacity for the development of new housing to meet the requirement of 5,802 housing units at all income levels for the 2023-2031 planning period. This includes 1,305 for very-low-income people, 903 low-income and 1,096 in the middle.
* Provide a variety of housing opportunities proportionally by income to accommodate the needs of people who currently live, work, and go to school in Turlock.
* Provide for fair and equal housing opportunities for all persons, regardless of protected characteristics, including but not limited to, age, ancestry, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, disability, family status, race, creed, color, or national origin.
California requires all its cities and counties to have a housing element included in their general plan, establishing housing objectives, policies, and programs in response to local housing conditions and needs.
In other action Tuesday night, the city unanimously voted to accept a bid and enter into an agreement with Teichert Construction of Roseville in the amount of $20,280,558, plus a 10 percent contingency amount of $2,028,000 for the Geer Road construction project, which will be funded by Measure A and Measure L dollars.
Teichert’s bid was $6 million less than the next closes bid.
