Pleasant Hill continues to work on Housing Element
PLEASANT HILL, CA (Dec. 9, 2021) — It’s City Council reorganization time, so that means my year as mayor is over.
It’s been a unique year. At the beginning of my term, we were at the height of the pandemic but vaccinations were on their way. We had hopes that we would not be holding Zoom meetings all year, but here we are – still doing Zoom.
Despite being virtual, it’s been a busy year.
The construction of the new library is progressing nicely. We expect to have the grand opening in late spring or early summer of 2022. I hope we will be able to do this in person.
We were pleased to receive the Pollution Prevention Award from the Central Sanitation District. Our library will be net zero (we will generate as much electricity as needed) and net zero carbon (no natural gas being used), and our irrigation will be recycled water. We look forward to sharing this great facility with the community. In the meantime, please visit the temporary library at City Hall and the Friends Bookstore downtown.
Diversity discussions
We continued our Community Conversations thanks to our Diversity Subcommittee of the Civic Action Commission. The aim is open and honest discussions in our community about diversity so that we can ensure this city is welcoming to all. Our next Community Conversation will be in the new year and will be focused on the LGBTQ+ community.
We started the city’s updated General Plan in 2019 but put it on hiatus when the pandemic started. We restarted this process this year in conjunction with our new Housing Element. Many of you have concerns over our city’s new Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers – as do we. However, after our appeal was denied, we have focused on what we need to do to have a certified Housing Element.
This topic is too lengthy to discuss in this column, but I encourage everyone to go to www.pleasanthill2040.com and watch the Oct. 27 town hall meeting. This video should address the many questions as to why we must do this and why it is different from prior Housing Elements.
General Plan Advisory Committee meetings will continue almost monthly next year so that we can complete both the 2040 General Plan and our sixth cycle Housing Element. All meetings are public, and I encourage everyone to
With the economic challenges of the pandemic, we tried to assist many of our businesses by providing grants for pandemic-specific relief. We granted our economic development team $500,000 from our American Rescue Funds to continue to aid local businesses. Please keep an eye out for more information.
Finally, I want to thank my fellow councilmembers, staff and so many community members for staying strong this last year. The many contributions to our community made this year a special one. I look forward to being able to gather again and celebrate our great community. Happy holidays to all and stay safe.
Contact Mayor Noack at Smargriet@outlook.com