Overview: The City of Palo Alto is in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan Housing Element. The Housing Element is the chief policy document describing the City's housing needs and the policies and programs the City will use to meet those needs. The City last updated its Housing Element covering the time period of January 1, 1999 to June 30, 2006 in December 2002. Housing Element updates are required by State law and are generally conducted every five years.
California State Housing Element law requires that localities provide and plan for the development of their "fair share" of the region's housing need. The projected housing need is described as the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA), which is mandated by State Housing Law and implemented by the California Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) as part of the periodic process of updating the City's Housing Element of the Comprehensive Plan. The regional housing needs allocation process addresses statewide and regional concerns of jobs and housing imbalance and sustainable growth, and reflects shared responsibility among local governments for accommodating the housing needs of all economic levels. The law does not require local governments to provide housing to meet all of its identified need, but it requires that the community plan for the needs of all their residents.
