Newark Housing Element Update
The city of Newark (California) is a growing, vibrant, multicultural city with a high quality of life, a diverse commercial and business sector, and an inclusive community character. A pro-housing city before the term “pro-housing” was coined, Newark has traditionally been able to provide attainable housing to middle income households. In recent years, it has begun to experience many of the same affordable housing and community development challenges facing communities across Silicon Valley.
Since 2020, Community Planning Collaborative has provided general on-call affordable housing technical assistance support to the City of Newark, so when the City needed help with its Housing Element Update for the 2023-2031 planning period (“6th Cycle”), they looked to CPC for support. In Newark, the RHNA for the 6th Cycle is 1,874 units, of which almost 40 percent (732 units) are identified for homes with rents or sales prices affordable to low and very low-income families and individuals.
CPC managed all aspects of the Housing Element Update, including:
Developing and implementing a community outreach and engagement plan that ensured broad inclusion, especially hard to reach groups and special needs populations
Designing and launching a Housing Element update website
Coordinating and overseeing related environmental review
Communicating with HCD staff
Reviewing and analyzing Newark’s 5th Cycle performance
Analyzing Newark’s housing needs data
Identifying and analyzing potential and actual constraints for the preservation, protection or production of housing across income levels within the city
Preparing the sites inventory section of the Housing Element
Developing goals, policies, programs and quantified objectives to ensure compliance with State law and an effective response to the identified housing needs, constraints and key priorities
Drafting and revising the Housing Element, presenting to the Planning Commission and City Council for review, adoption and certification
The City’s 2023-2031 Housing Element was certified in December 2023. Since then, CPC has continued to support the City with Housing Element implementation efforts, including the city’s inclusionary housing update, local preference policy, and anti-displacement/tenant protection programs.
