Important Clayton Housing Element workshop on Oct. 20
CLAYTON, CA (Oct. 14, 2021) — I attended the League of California Cities (Cal Cities) annual conference in Sacramento last month as an alternate to our voting delegate, Councilmember Jim Diaz.
Aside from the conference general sessions, we sat in on separate seminars. This is good for Clayton, as we were able to gain insights on a wide range of topics from environmental issues to building better cities, public safety, capital improvements, public outreach and other informative symposiums. We also spent time on the expo floor to learn about new city-focused products and technology.
The conference gave us opportunities to meet with statewide mayors and councilmembers to foster relationships and discuss the common issues facing California cities. A main topic of conversation was the state’s onslaught of bills aimed at reducing local control, especially on housing. Clearly, we must all stay engaged moving forward on the proposals, bills, mandates and regulations that will directly affect Clayton.
To that end, the Clayton City Council and Planning Commission held a virtual joint meeting on Sept. 28 with our consultant hired to help facilitate the required update to our housing plan to meet the number of housing units across all income levels that have been assigned to Clayton through the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process. The housing plan, called a Housing Element, is a component of Clayton’s long-range plan (the General Plan) and must be completed before January 2023.
Important work to be done
Clayton is required to zone for an additional 570 housing units. There is important work to be done, and one key component will be residents’ participation and understanding of the process and what we are facing. The city will hold a public workshop at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 20 via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88204351379. There is no pre-registration required.
The workshop is an opportunity for community members to share ideas and perspectives to enrich the discussion. It will provide Clayton residents with a common foundation and understanding of the constraints, challenges and opportunities associated with providing for new housing.
This workshop represents the first of several opportunities for community members to contribute to the conversation. A survey will be launched in October. Downtown pop-up events will be held between now and February 2022, and a second workshop is planned for February or March 2022.
I urge you to participate.
Please direct questions or comments to cw@claytonca.gov or 925-673-7324.