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Work begins on housing element for General Plan
By Erin Mayes
The deadline for all Northern California cities and counties to adopt housing elements for their General Plan updates is Dec. 31, 2001.
To meet the deadline, city council members decided on Feb. 20, to hire an outside consulting firm, Cotton Bridges Associates, that will prepare the study.
The state has ordered all cities and counties to update the housing elements of their general plans regularly, said Community Development Director Sharon Fierro.
General plans are blueprints for future development in cities. California began requiring cities to adopt the plans in 1971, and to update them periodically so they remain relevant. Housing elements of general plans identify existing and projected housing needs.
Both Fierro and Mayor Matthew Dean mentioned that they expect to see more housing in and around downtown Campbell, in anticipation of the planned light rail station. Over time, Dean said, properties near light rail stations will see an increase in density. He thinks Campbell residents can expect to see apartments going in above the retail shops downtown.
"My expectation is wherever we see light rail go in, we will see increased densities," Dean said.
Fierro agreed that development near future light rail stations is likely.
"When the new light rail station goes in, that's a logical place to put housing," she said.
Campbell hasn't updated its housing element since 1992, Fierro said. This is because the state reimburses cities and counties for the cost of conducting the housing studies, and it was unable to do so until recently, because California had entered a recession.
"The state has decided that housing is a real critical need," she said. "The housing element is the only one that's required to be updated [at specific intervals]."
The consulting firm will examine population growth trends and demographic data as part of the assessment.
"They're going to talk to school districts to get population information from students," Fierro said.
Data from last year's census will also be used, but won't be available until April, she said. Meanwhile, Cotton Bridges will make estimates based on the 1990 census data and combining those numbers with the population growth in Campbell.
"They're only estimates," Fierro said. "It doesn't need to be precise. We're going to take every bit of available information and try to meet all of the diverse groups' needs."
Some of those groups fall under the "special housing needs" category. Those are the disabled, elderly, large families, single moms, homeless and students.
"What the city's going to do is to try to create programs," Fierro said. These programs would assist those with special housing needs. "In the past we've worked with Habitat for Humanity," she added.
Dean said the housing assessment will rezone areas for housing. "There are some zoning plans in there that would allow housing plans where currently housing is not allowed," Dean said.
The consultant will conduct community outreach by identifying certain interest groups, such as companies that provide housing, developers and concerned community members. The first community outreach meeting has been scheduled tentatively for April, Fierro said.
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Campbell, California
