Draft Housing Element - Planning and Environmental Review ...

Sacramento County Housing Element 2013–2021
Introduction
Chapter 7, Housing Constraints Analysis, identifies several factors that affect the
cost and availability of housing to the consumer. These factors, which prevent or
raise the cost of construction and/or improvement of housing, can be considered as
constraints to the production of housing. Such constraints are divided into
governmental or non‐governmental constraints. Governmental constraints refer to
the policies and regulation that a local government applies to the approval of land
use proposals and enforcement of building codes. Since governmental constraints
are deliberately imposed, it is assumed that such constraints can be mitigated by
local action. However, the vast majority of governmental regulations are imposed
on the production of housing primarily to protect the health, safety and general
welfare of the community. Non‐governmental constraints are those factors that
limit the availability of housing over which local government has limited or no
control.
To address governmental and nongovernmental constraints, Chapter 7 identifies
and evaluates perceived and actual constraints such as land availability for
development, local land use regulations, building codes, permit processing times,
residential development and permit fees, application processing times, utilities,
financing, and land and labor costs. With the identification of such constraints and
their severity, this strategy of the Housing Element presents several programs to
remove or reduce those constraints without sacrificing the health, safety and
general welfare of the community. Among the program or actions recommended to
mitigate governmental and non‐governmental constraints are a reduction in permit
processing times, periodic review of residential development standards, and the
review of residential development fee schedules.
Sub‐Strategy HE 2.1: Reduction in Permit Processing Times
Objective: To streamline the governmental review process to assist in the reduction
of processing times associated with housing production.
Policies
HE 2.1.1
HE 2.1.2
The County shall reduce uncertainty, risk, and delay in the planning,
environmental, and permitting process.
Sacramento County shall target 45–60 days from the submission of a
complete application as a maximum review time for multifamily projects
that require staff level Development Plan Review. The Planning and
Environmental Review Division of the Department of Community
Development shall provide expedited review, with no additional charge,
for projects in which at least 20 percent of the units are affordable to
very low‐ and low‐income households, as certified by the Sacramento
Housing and Redevelopment Agency.
Sub‐Strategy HE 2.2: Review of Development Standards
Objective: To ensure that development standards continue to represent the best
3-7 Housing Action Plan
PC ATTACHMENT A
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