The Avalon Planning Commission will look at the draft of the Housing Element of the General Plan on Wednesday, Jan. 19, according to the city website.
Following the discussion, planners will then make their recommendations to the City Council. The council will approve the state-mandated document at a future meeting.
State law requires that cities and counties have a General Plan and that the plans include a Housing Element. The Housing Element must be updated regularly.
The 265-page draft of Avalon’s 2021-2029 Housing has already been submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
The document has to include an inventory of land available to meet the city’s assigned housing needs.
“The City has a 2021 -2029 projected RHNA [Regional Housing Needs Assessment] need of 27 housing units including 16 housing units for extremely low, very low, and low income households,” according to the draft of the Housing Element.
The draft of the element said the city’s objective was to support the development of the 27-unit allocation.
“However, it must be recognized that the City’s influence on these decisions is limited, and the City itself cannot control the increase in water allocations to the Island.
“Historic patterns of development indicate that despite having sufficient vacant land available for development, and a supportive development partner in the Santa Catalina Island Company, availability of water will limit development in the City to levels below its RHNA,” according to the document.
If you want to review the draft, it’s available at http://www.cityofavalon.com/filestorage/3310/3732/Avalon_Housing_Element_Public_Draft.pdf.
