To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Steve Potter, City Manager
Prepared By: Liz Habkirk, Assistant City Manager
TITLE:
Title
City of Napa Comments on Napa County Draft Housing Element
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Authorize the City Manager to submit comments on behalf of the City of Napa to Napa County in regards to the County’s Draft Housing Element of the General Plan.
Body
DISCUSSION:
Napa County is preparing their Sixth Cycle Housing Element, which provides a policy framework and implementation plan for addressing housing needs in Napa County over the 2023 to 2031 Housing Element period. The Housing Element is a required component of the County’s General Plan. Drafting of the Housing Element has been underway since earlier this year and the City has provided feedback to the County on several sections, in addition to submitting comments on the County’s Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR).
The City’s July 25, 2022, letter submitted by Community Development Director Vin Smith primarily focused on the underlying assumptions used by the County in selecting proposed housing sites without adequate consideration of the legal limitations on the City’s authority to provide water service outside the City’s jurisdictional boundary. Specifically, sites identified as 2 (Bishop), 3 (Altamura), and 4 (Imola) in Napa County’s Draft Housing Element were included without full consideration of processes governed by Government Code Section (GC) 56133 and Napa City Charter Section 180, which limit the City’s legal authority to provide water outside the boundaries of the City limits, its sphere of influence, and the rural urban limit (RUL) line.
Additionally, the City provided similar feedback to the DEIR prepared for the Draft Housing Element, noting in comments submitted on October 7, 2022, that the DEIR failed to address the potential that water service by the City of Napa is not ultimately provided to the selected sites and did not adequately analyze other sources of water such as ground water.
The County did include some updates to its Draft Housing Element dated August 9, 2022 based on the City’s comments, acknowledging that the selected sites were outside the City’s Sphere of Influence (SOI). However, the Draft went on to assert that the City has an obligation to provide water outside the SOI based on a portion of the State Housing Element Law (G.C. 65589.7). The City disagrees with this assertion in the County’s Draft Housing Element. The State Housing Element Laws (including GC 65589.7) do not override or supersede the City’s obligation to comply with GC 56133 or Napa City Charter Section 180 in the protection of the City’s water supply for service to customers within the City limits and the City’s SOI.
Under Government Code Section 65352, the City has a right to comment on the County’s proposed update to the Housing Element and requires the Board of Supervisors to consider the City’s comments and recommendations prior to taking action on the proposed update.
Staff is recommending the Council authorize the City Manager to send a letter on behalf of the City of Napa providing additional background and information in relation to the provision of water for new development for the County’s consideration within the Draft Housing Element.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
None.
CEQA:
The City Manager has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
None.
NOTIFICATION:
None.