Housing Element Overview

Under State law, every city and county in California is required to update its Housing Element to address specific requirements and submit the element to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).

In January of 2023, the City of Sausalito adopted its sixth-cycle Housing Element of the City’s General Plan. The updated Housing Element applies to the planning period from 2023 through 2031. The City received a letter of Substantial Compliance from the Department of Community Development in connection with its adopted Housing Element on April 28, 2023.

Housing Element Adopted January 30, 2023

• Adopted 6th Cycle Housing Element (with markup)
• Adopted 6th Cycle Housing Element (clean)
• Appendices to Adopted 6th Cycle Housing Element
• "In Substantial Compliance" Letter from HCD dated April 28, 2023

The Housing Element serves as Sausalito’s blueprint for meeting the housing needs of our residents, at all economic levels and addressing segments of the population with special housing needs. The Housing Element includes:

• Assessment of the unique characteristics of the Sausalito’s population and households
• Inventory of sites suitable for residential development
• Assessment of financial and programmatic resources
• Analysis of constraints to housing production
• Affirmatively furthering fair housing analysis
• Comprehensive set of goals, policies, and programs to address current and projected housing needs

Amended Housing Element

The City of Sausalito is in the process of amending its adopted Housing Element to ensure that the City is prepared to meet the future housing needs of Sausalito for the planning period from 2023 through 2031 while ensuring and prioritizing the preservation of the City’s historic district and sustainable waterfront development. The draft amendments reduce densities and scale on some sites (and eliminating an unworkable site owned by Caltrans) while adding and re-allocating densities to other sites to assure Sausalito can continue to meet its required housing allocation.

• Draft Amendments to the City of Sausalito 6th Cycle Housing Element Housing Plan and Background Report (August 15, 2024)

Amended Housing Element - Environmental Impact Report (EIR)

On July 17, 2024, the City released a Notice of Preparation (NOP) for a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for an amended Housing Element; a public scoping session was held on August 6, 2024. The proposed Amendments to the Housing Element Programs and the NOP, presentation materials, and video of the scoping meeting are provided below.

• Notice of Preparation (July 17, 2024)
• PowerPoint Presentation for Draft EIR Scoping Meeting Session (August 6, 2024)
• Video of Draft EIR Scoping Meeting Session (August 6, 2024)

On September 4, 2024, the City released a Notice of Availability (NOA) and published a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Draft Amended Housing Element (above). The NOA, DIER, and Appendices to the DEIR are provided below:

• Notice of Availability (September 4, 2024)

• Draft EIR for Draft Amended 6th Cycle Housing Element (September 4, 2024)

• Appendices  to Draft EIR for Draft Amended Cycle Housing Element (September 4, 2024)
  • Appendices A
  • Appendices B
  • Appendices C
  • Appendices D

City is interested in receiving comments from members of the public in connection with the in-progress amended Housing Element. To submit a comment, please email Neal Toft at comments on the Draft EIR must be sent at the earliest possible date, but no later than 5:00 PM on October 21, 2024.  Comments on the Draft EIR and questions regarding the project can be made to:

Brandon Phipps, Community and Economic Development Director  
City of Sausalito Community Development Department  
420 Litho Street  
Sausalito, CA 94965 
bphipps@sausalito.gov 

Sausalito's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)

Fundamental to the Housing Element Update is how the City addresses its assigned fair-share of regional housing needs. This fair-share is determined through a regional housing needs allocation process. HCD, with input from the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), determines the region’s total housing need for the 2023-2031 period. ABAG then determines the housing allocation for each Bay Area city and county through the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation. The Housing Element Update must identify enough potentially developable land zoned for residential use to accommodate the City’s new RHNA allocation.