City of Sausalito Housing Element Update 2023-2031
Draft Environmental Impact Report for Housing Element Programs
- Notice of Availability (January 5, 2024)
- Draft Environmental Impact Report for Housing Element Programs (January 5, 2024)
- Appendices for Draft Environmental Impact Report for Housing Element Programs (January 5, 2024)
Notice of Preparation of Draft Environmental Impact Report
- Notice of Preparation (May 18, 2023)
Housing Element Adopted January 30, 2023
- Adopted 6th Cycle Housing Element (with markup)
- Adopted 6th Cycle Housing Element (clean)
- Appendices to Adopted 6th Cycle Housing Element
- "In Substantial Compliance" Letter from HCD dated April 28, 2023
HCD Review Draft 6th Cycle Housing Element
- Review Letter from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (January 26, 2023)
- Cover Letter (October 28, 2022)
- HCD Review Draft 6th Cycle Housing Element (October 27, 2022, no markup)
- HCD Review Draft 6th Cycle Housing Element (October 27, 2022, with marked changes from Public Review Draft)
- Appendices to the HCD Review Draft 6th Cycle Housing Element (October 27, 2022)
Public Review Draft 6th Cycle Housing Element
- Public Review Draft 6th Cycle Housing Element
- Appendices to the Public Review Draft 6th Cycle Housing Element
Housing Element FAQ:
- Watch the Housing Element Video FAQ created by Mayor Janelle Kellman and Beth Thompson. The video is 19 minutes long. The presentation slides are available as a PDF.
Housing Element Overview
The City of Sausalito is in the process of updating the Housing Element of the City’s General Plan to ensure that we’re prepared to meet the future housing needs of Sausalito for the planning period from 2023 through 2031. Under State law, every city and county in California is required to update its Housing Element to address specific requirements and submit the element to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The Housing Element serves as Sausalito’s blueprint for meeting the housing needs of our residents, at all economic levels and addressing segments of the population with special housing needs. The Housing Element will include:
- Assessment of the unique characteristics of the Sausalito’s population and households
- Inventory of sites suitable for residential development
- Assessment of financial and programmatic resources
- Analysis of constraints to housing production
- Affirmatively furthering fair housing analysis
- Comprehensive set of goals, policies, and programs to address current and projected housing needs
Fundamental to the Housing Element Update is how the City addresses its assigned fair-share of regional housing needs. This fair-share is determined through a regional housing needs allocation process. HCD, with input from the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), determines the region’s total housing need for the 2023-2031 period. ABAG then determines the housing allocation for each Bay Area city and county through the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation. The Housing Element Update must identify enough potentially developable land zoned for residential use to accommodate the City’s new RHNA allocation.
Sausalito needs to plan for 724 new homes (draft allocation) in the next 8 years. Sausalito’s RHNA of 724 units is an 816% increase from the 2014-2022 RHNA of 79 units. The 2023-2031 RHNA is broken down by income group as shown in the table below.
To read more about the RHNA allocation methodology and process, visit ABAG’s RHNA & Housing page.
Income Group | % of Median Household Income | Income Range (4-person household) | Proposed RHNA Allocation (Housing Units) |
| Very Low Income | < 50% | $0 - $91,350 | 200 |
| Low Income | 51% – 80% | $91,351 - $146,350 | 115 |
| Moderate Income | 81% - 120% | $146,351 - $179,500 | 114 |
| Above Moderate Income (Market Rate) | 120% + | $179,500 + | 295 |
| Total | 724 |
Source: Regional Housing Needs Allocation Draft Methodology: San Francisco Bay Area, 2023-2031, Association of Bay Area Governments, February 2021
Recent Articles about the Housing Element Update from Sausalito Currents:
- State Certifies Sausalito's 2023-31 Housing Element (May 5, 2023)
- City Submits Housing Element to State (March 3, 2023)
- City Council Adopts Housing Element (February 3, 2023)
- City Council Expected to Adopt Housing Element on January 30 (January 27, 2023)
- City Council Expects to Adopt Housing Element by January 31 (January 13, 2023)
- City Submits Draft Housing Element for Preliminary Review by HCD (November 4, 2022)
- Housing Element Advisory Committee to Meet on October 13 (October 7, 2022)
- Frequently Asked Questions About the Housing Element Update (September 16, 2022)
- Last Call for Feedback on Public Review Draft of Housing Element (September 9, 2022)
- City Seeks Feedback on Public Review Draft of 2023-31 Housing Element (August 26, 2022)
- Advisory Committee to Review Preliminary Draft of Housing Element (July 22, 2022)
- Council Advances Draft Housing Element, Includes Large-Capacity Sites (June 17, 2022)
- City Council to Finalize Housing Sites for Draft Housing Element (June 10, 2022)
- Attend a May 9 Virtual Town Hall on Housing Opportunity Sites (May 6, 2022)
- Effort Continues to Identify New Housing Sites in Sausalito (April 15, 2022)
- Advisory Committee to Discuss Potential New Housing Sites (March 25, 2022)
- City Launches Public Surveys on Housing in Sausalito (March 11, 2022)
- Public Meetings on Housing Mandates Scheduled for February 28 (February 25, 2022)
- City Council Confirms Protected Status of Cypress Ridge (February 18, 2022)
- No Surprises! Sign Up for Notifications About the Housing Element Update (February 18, 2022)
- 100 Attend Housing Element Town Hall (February 11, 2022)
- Virtual Town Hall on New Housing in Sausalito (February 4, 2022)