Housing Element Update

The City's Housing Element is required by State Law and as part of the City’s General Plan it provides an overview and guides housing programs development, emphasizing affordable and special needs housing, removal of governmental constraints to housing development, and equal access to housing.

The Housing Element is required to be updated every 8 years. For the 6th eight-year cycle (2021-2029), the City Council adopted the 2021-2029 Housing Element on February 7, 2022, but the document was not certified by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), who provided comments to further revise the document and instructions to implement a rezoning program concurrent with the revised Housing Element Update to allow for more capacity of housing. The rezoning include creating a new mixed-use (commercial and residential) zone for the City’s commercial shopping centers, to rezone the former oil production site at 99 Marina (next to Marina Park and Bridgeport) as high density residential, and to again allow new residential on the 2nd floor-only along Main Street. In response to comments received from HCD, and to remain in compliance with State Law, the Housing Element has been further revised, and the accompanying rezoning program is being brought forward to City Council. 

Questions or comments can be sent to Shaun Temple, Interim Community Development Director, at stemple@sealbeachca.gov

Housing Element Updates:

History:

  • March 8, 2021 - City Council/Planning Commission - joint open public meeting and study session/workshop.  Video of Meeting
  • April 5, 2021 – Housing Element Ad-Hoc Committee held an open public meeting to discuss the potential site for sites inventory. Video of Meeting
  • April 27, 2021 – the Housing Element Ad-Hoc Committee held a 2nd open public meeting to discuss the potential site for sites inventory. Video of Meeting
  • September 20, 2021 – The City Council and the Planning Commission held the second open joint study session/workshop to review and comment on the draft Housing Element document and to receive public comments from interested community stakeholders. Video of Meeting
  • September 21, 2021 - The Draft Housing Element was transmitted to the State Housing and Community Development (HCD) for a 60-day review. 
  • November 19, 2021 – The City received a written letter from HCD (Attachment 5) finding that while the draft Housing Element addresses many statutory requirements, revisions will be necessary to comply with State Housing Element Law. Copy of the Letter
  • January 6, 2022 - City staff revised the draft Housing Element in response to HCD’s comments and posted the draft Housing Element on the City’s website.
  • January 18, 2022 – The Planning Commission held a public hearing and made a recommendation to the City Council to approve the Housing Element. Video of Meeting
  • February 7, 2022 – The City Council held a public hearing and adopted the Housing Element. Video of Meeting
  • February 9, 2022 – The adopted Housing Element was transmitted to HCD per State Law.
  • February 17, 2022  - OC ALUC held a meeting to review the draft Housing Element and found it inconsistent the Los Alamitos JFTB Airport Land Use Plan. Minutes of the Meeting
  • April 8, 2022 – The City received a written letter from HCD finding that while the Housing Element addresses most statutory requirements described in HCD’s November 19, 2021, letter, revisions will be necessary to comply with State Housing Element Law. Copy of the Letter
  • August 29, 2022 – The City Council help a public meeting to overrule ALUC’s determination of inconsistency. Video of Meeting
  • August 31, 2023 – The City transmits to HCD revised draft Housing Element in response to HCD’s letter.
  • September 27, 2023 – A Town Hall meeting was held in Leisure World, which included a discussion on the draft Housing Element along with a questions and answers session.
  • October 17, 2023 – A community workshop was held to receive community feedback on the zoning amendments and objective design standards for the new mixed-use zone. Video of Meeting
  • October 30, 2023 – The City received a written letter from HCD finding that the Housing Element addresses many statutory requirements, however, revisions will be necessary to comply with State Housing Element Law. Copy of the Letter
  • December 6, 2023 – Environmental Quality Control Board hosted a Scoping Meeting for the EIR of the Housing Element and rezone program. Video of Meeting
  • April 19, 2024 - City transmits to HCD revised draft Housing Element in response to the  HCD’s letter.
  • June 18, 2024 - The City received a written letter from HCD finding that the Housing Element addresses many statutory requirements, however, revisions will be necessary to comply with State Housing Element Law. Copy of the Letter
  • August 27, 2024 – City transmits to HCD revised draft Housing Element in response to HCD’s letter.
  • October 17, 2024 – The City received a written letter from HCD finding that the Housing Element meets most of the statutory requirements, however, the Housing Element cannot be found in substantial compliance until the City has completed the rezoning and adopted the Mixed Commercial/Residential High-Density Zone and other related actions.  Copy of the Letter
  • June 25, 2025 – Special Meeting of the Environmental Quality Control Board to solicit comments Regarding the Content of the Draft EIR. Video of Meeting
  • August 7, 2025 – OC ALUC held a meeting to review the draft Housing Element and Rezoning Program and found it inconsistent the Los Alamitos JFTB Airport Land Use Plan (Minutes of Meeting have not been published and no video is available)
  • September 17, 2025 – Environmental Quality Control Board meeting to present the Final EIR and a discussion regarding CEQA reform related to housing and the Housing Element. Video of Meeting


Housing Laws Study Session PowerPoint

Key Information

  • The City is in the process of updating its Housing Element, a required chapter of the City’s General Plan. State Law requires that all cities in California designate sites and create policies to accommodate their share of the regional housing need for households of all income levels.

    Housing Elements are a mandatory part of the General Plan because providing housing for all Californians is of vital statewide importance. In particular, the State legislature has made housing production a priority in recent years, adopting dozens of new laws that have made this Housing Element update substantially more challenging than in previous cycles.

    The Regional Housing Needs Assessment or RHNA, is a state mandate set by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) which determines the total number of new housing units needed for each region in California. The City of Seal Beach is a member of the six-county Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) region. SCAG, as the regional planning body, is responsible for distributing the RHNA among its member cities and counties. Seal Beach’s RHNA allocation is 1,243 units at varying income levels.

    To meet the State mandate, the City needs to designate sites where housing can be developed without additional approvals from the Planning Commission or the City Council. The City calls these “housing opportunity sites” and there are 11 such sites throughout Seal Beach. Any opportunity site not currently zoned to allow housing must be re-zoned.

    No. It is the property owner’s choice whether to build housing. Any property owner wishing to build must present a development application to the City.

    No. The private market is responsible for any development that occurs.

    It is unknown if any property owners will choose to develop or redevelop their property. The State mandate requires only that the City allow for residential development at the opportunity sites if a project proposed by the property owner.

    How do I find additional information?

    For additional information, please view our Frequently Asked Questions document.

    Documents

    Links

    Additional Housing Programs

    The City does not offer Section 8 vouchers or manage affordable housing programs, please contact the OC Housing Authority for assistance.

    Staff Contact:

    Shaun Temple, Interim Community Development Director

    Email: stemple@sealbeachca.gov
    Phone: 562.431.2527 x1316