To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Molly Rattigan, Community Resources and Development Director
Prepared By: Angela Alvarez-Cendejas, Associate Planner
TITLE:
Title
2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR)
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff recommends that the City Council accept the 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (“APR”) and authorize Staff to file the report with the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI), formerly known as the Office of Planning and Research (OPR).
Body
DISCUSSION:
The City’s General Plan helps to guide decision-making by residents, property owners, business interests, and elected and appointed officials about public and private land use and development that shape Napa’s physical environment, including decisions relating to housing. As required by State law, an annual report must be submitted to the City Council, and ultimately be forwarded to LCI and HCD, identifying the progress made with various housing programs contained in the Housing Element of the General Plan, including local efforts to remove governmental constraints to the maintenance, improvement, and development of housing.
This 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR) identifies the actions undertaken by the City in 2025 to carry out the Housing Element’s implementation programs. 2025 was the second year of the 6th Cycle Housing Element, which was adopted by the City Council on October 17, 2023, and certified by HCD on December 5, 2023, covering the years 2023 through 2031.
The supporting documentation that accompanies this report incorporates requirements pursuant to housing-related bills that were enacted by the Legislature. As such, the supporting documentation includes 14 tables of information as outlined below. For reference, the “reporting year” for this APR is January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025. Below, Staff has listed all 14 tables and identified which tables are not applicable to Napa.
|
TABLE |
DESCRIPTION |
|
A |
Includes data on housing units and developments for which an application was submitted and “deemed complete” during the reporting year. |
|
A2 |
This table requires information about a project’s affordability component and includes data on net new housing units and developments that have received (a) an entitlement; (b) a building permit; or (c) a certificate of occupancy. |
|
B |
Provides a summary of prior permitting activity (permits issued) in the current Cycle, including activity for the current reporting year (2025). |
|
C (Not Applicable) |
Sites identified or rezoned to accommodate shortfall housing need. This table only applies if the City identifies an unaccommodated need of sites from the previous planning period, has a shortfall of sites as identified in the housing element, or is identifying additional sites required by no net loss law. |
|
D |
Reports the status and progress of housing element program and policy implementation for all programs described in the housing element. |
|
E (Not Applicable) |
This table only applies if the City approved any commercial development bonuses during the reporting year. To qualify, an applicant for a commercial development enters into an agreement for partnered housing to contribute affordable housing through a joint project or two separate projects encompassing affordable housing and the commercial developer receives a development bonus. |
|
F (Not Applicable) |
Identifies units rehabilitated, preserved, and acquired for alternative adequate sites. |
|
F2 (Not Applicable) |
Above Moderate-Income Units converted to Moderate-Income pursuant to Government Code section 65400.2 |
|
G (Not Applicable) |
Identifies any City-owned housing element sites which were sold, leased, or disposed of over the reporting year. |
|
H |
Identifies locally owned or controlled lands declared Surplus or Excess. |
|
J (Not Applicable) |
Student housing development for lower income students for which was granted a density bonus pursuant to Government Code Section 65915.F.1.b. |
|
Table K (Not Applicable) |
Tenant Preference Policy |
|
Table L (Not Applicable) |
Identifies Sites within the City’s jurisdiction which were newly added to a National, State, or Local register of historic places within the reporting year. |
|
LEAP Grant Reporting |
Tracks reimbursement requests for activities funded through the Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Grant. |
A. Housing Needs Information
The City of Napa Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) goal is 2,669 units over an 8-year period, representing an average of 334 units per year. The needs allocation is broken down as follows:
|
Number of Units |
Income Category |
AMI1 |
Average # of Units/Year |
|
385 |
Extremely Low |
15% to 30% |
48 |
|
385 |
Very Low |
30% to 50% |
48 |
|
444 |
Low |
50% to 80% |
56 |
|
405 |
Moderate |
80% to 120% |
51 |
|
1,050 |
Above Moderate |
>120% of |
131 |
|
1. AMI (Area Median Income) is defined as the midpoint of a specific area’s income distribution and is calculated on an annual basis by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). |
B. Permit Activity
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) requires that the City report on new residential Building Permits issued during each year within the Housing Element cycle by income level (see Table B in Attachment 1). A total of 159 Building Permits for residential development were issued in calendar year 2025 and consisted of 164 units. Of these units, 103 were in the above-moderate affordability category, 27 in the moderate-income category, 19 in the low-income category, and 15 in the very low-income category.
Of the permits issued, 73 permits were for the development of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), 76 were for Single-Family Detached dwellings, and 15 were for Single-Family Attached dwellings.
For the 2025 APR, Planning Staff utilized the memorandum titled ADU Affordability Survey Findings & Recommendations, which was published in January 2026 by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) (Attachment 2). The memorandum provided guidance on how to determine the affordability levels of ADU units, based on recently collected survey data from comparable jurisdictions. In preparing the annual report for HCD, Planning Staff utilized the 30/30/30/10 method outlined in the ABAG Memorandum. This means that of the ADUs included in the 2025 APR, the affordability levels would be approximately: 30% very-low income, 30% low income, 30% moderate, and 10% above moderate. These ADU units are primarily included in the Non-Deed Restricted categories within Table B. However, two (2) ADU units, which were issued permits in 2025, were required to be deed-restricted to satisfy the requirements of the Napa County Affordable Accessory Dwelling Unit program, and are therefore listed under the ‘Deed Restricted’ categories within Table B.
C. Project Activity
As reflected in Table A of Attachment 1, 19 project applications were submitted and “deemed complete” in the reporting year of 2025. In total, these 19 Projects consisted of 68 housing units. The Projects included a variety of development types, such as Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units, Single-Family Attached and Single-Family Detached units, and 2-to-4-unit structures.
Of the 19 Projects applied for in 2025, 16 were approved, resulting in a total of 33 entitled residential units. Projects that were not noted as ‘approved’ were either withdrawn or in progress, meaning that they were still under review at the time of preparing the APR. These Projects were noted accordingly as either ‘withdrawn’ or ‘pending’ on Table A.
D. Housing Element Implementation
The City of Napa’s 2023-2031 Housing Element identifies key housing goals, policies, quantified objectives, and scheduled implementation programs aimed at preserving and enhancing residential neighborhoods, sustaining the community’s character and environmental resources, and efficiently planning for the future use of remaining undeveloped or redeveloped properties so that they fulfill the City’s fair share of the regional housing needs. The implementation programs, as described in the Report, are intended to address these issues.
Actions taken by the City of Napa during 2025 to implement the Housing Element are summarized by the Housing Element Program in Table D of Attachment 1. This summary includes implementation of programs that are required on an ongoing basis, as well as those that are identified for implementation within the eight-year term of the Housing Element.
Program accomplishments for the 2025 calendar year include:
• The City’s Planning Division continued the comprehensive update to the Zoning Ordinance, involving input from various City Departments (Public Works, Utilities, Parks and Recreation, Housing) and external agencies such as the Napa Valley Transit Authority and Napa Sanitation District.
• The City’s Housing Division continued to operate its Junior Unit Initiative program, which provides financing and technical assistance to homeowners for the development and construction of conversion Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs), in exchange for the units becoming deed-restricted and rented to lower-income tenants for a period of at least 20 years.
• The City provided financing and technical assistance for the creation of five (5) deed-restricted ADUs/JADUs through the Junior Unit Initiative program.
• The City provided financing and technical assistance for the homeowners of seven (7) households to receive emergency home repairs to maintain crucial life-safety components in their homes.
• The Napa Housing Authority provided rental assistance to 280 households through various programs, including Shelter + Care, Mainstream, Emergency Housing Voucher, Family Unification, and Non-Elderly Disabled programs.
E. Actions in the Coming Year
• City Staff will continue to implement the Napa 2040 General Plan, including the Mixed-Use Zoning Districts adopted in 2025 under O2025-007.
• City Staff will continue the comprehensive update to the City’s Zoning Ordinance and applicable sections of the Napa Municipal Code.
• City Staff will continue to implement the 6th Cycle Housing Element, with respect to ongoing programs.
• City Staff will collaborate to ensure progress on certain programs within the Housing Element, such as the creation and maintenance of a publicly accessible Affordable Housing Database, updates to our Code Enforcement processes, and the development of an Anti-Displacement Strategy, which are intended to be completed in 2026.
F. Planning Commission Meeting
On February 19, 2026, the City of Napa Planning Commission received the Housing Element Annual Progress Report (“APR) and presentation from Planning Staff. No public comments were received. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended that the City Council accept the 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (“APR”).
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
No direct financial impact on the City has been identified as a result of this agenda item.
CEQA:
The recommended action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c)(2), as the activity in question, a progress report on the implementation of the City of Napa 2023-2031 Housing Element, will not result in a physical change in the environment.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - HE APR Data
ATCH 2 - ADU Affordability Survey Findings & Recommendations
NOTIFICATION:
None.