The City of Albany is currently updating the Housing Element portion of the City’s General Plan.  This is a state-mandated plan that identifies how the City will accommodate its existing and future housing needs.  The working draft of the Housing Element is available for download at https://www.albanyca.org/departments/planning-zoning/housing-element. The working draft has been prepared over a number of months in a series of public meetings with the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council.

The City is required to submit a working draft to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for their review. Prior to sending the working draft to HCD, the City is required to make the draft available to the public for 30 days. The 30 day comment period begins July 29, 2022, and will be completed on August 28, 2022. The City Council is scheduled to review the working draft, and comments received, at their meeting scheduled for September 6, 2022.

The Housing Element includes an evaluation of local housing issues and needs, an analysis of potential housing sites and resources, a discussion of constraints to building housing, and a list of policies and actions that address housing issues. Recent changes to State law require that the Housing Element also show how each city will work to overcome housing discrimination and create housing opportunities for persons of all income levels in the community.