By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Firm tapped to update city’s Housing Element
• 11- to 12-month process expected
Ceres city seal new

The state requires its cities to regularly update their Housing Element of the General Plan. Thus on Monday the Ceres City Council took action to hire EMC Planning Group, Inc. to update the required document.

The professional contract comes with an estimated price tag of $220,000. The consultant is expected to take 11 to 12 months to complete the work in order to meet the deadlines set by state law. 

The current Housing Element was approved on Jan. 25, 2016 and must be updated by Dec. 31. The new Housing Element will be in effect from 2024 to 2031.

“The Housing Element is basically a ‘chapter’ that goes into our General Plan,” said Christopher Hoem, director of Community Development for the city of Ceres. “It speaks about different parts of the housing resources in the city and it identifies the community needs for housing, it establishes goals and objectives for housing production, rehabilitation and conservation and it does an inventory of the existing housing resources.”

Hoem said the state expects cities to update their Housing Element every eight years. This will be Ceres’ sixth update.

Preparation of the Housing Element Update includes a public outreach component to encourage and facilitate community participation.

The city must identify programs that can accommodate housing capacity for all income levels based on the City’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation to the satisfaction of the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Those goals are not yet known, Hoem said.

“We also need to plan for growth,” he told the council on Monday.

After inviting 10 firms to submit a proposal, only two responded but city staff believed that EMC was “most qualified.”

“EMC Planning Group, Inc. has extensive experience with the Housing Element Update process and presented a strong community engagement and outreach plan, demonstrated understanding of the City of Ceres, and committed a principal planner and staffing for the duration of the preparation of the Housing Element Update,” read a city staff report submitted to the council.

The city will receive two grants totaling $275,746 to cover the cost. One is a $150,000 Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Grant from the State Housing and Community Development (HCD); and the other is $125,746 in Regional Early Action Program (REAP) Grants administered by Stanislaus Council of Governments (StanCOG).