The Housing & Infrastructure Regional Framework, formerly the Regional Housing and Infrastructure Plan (HIP), is a planning toolkit collaboratively created by the seven Cities, County of San Luis Obispo, and SLOCOG in response to the region’s growing housing and infrastructure shortage. It is the first planning tool of its kind, and it is intended to be a living document. For the last five years, collaboration has continued to build, and these incremental steps have allowed the region to make progress in addressing these monumental challenges.
Nothing in the Framework mandates any of the Cities, County, or SLOCOG to take certain actions, but rather offers analysis to inform decisions and tools to support our communities moving forward. It is understood that each community is unique and must consider what works for their community while considering how to be a good regional partner. The 2023 Framework moves the region one step further in a larger and ongoing regional collaborative effort to develop an adequate supply of housing, create resilient infrastructure, and support our economic prosperity.
The Regional Compact (February-April 2020)
The County, seven cities, and San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) approved the first major milestone of the phased regional strategy – the San Luis Obispo Countywide Regional Compact. The Regional Compact is an aspirational document that sets the tone and goals for future recommended plans and actions among the local agencies. It establishes a united regional framework to unlock the potential to develop an adequate supply of housing and resilient infrastructure that supports our economic prosperity. It recognizes that people, water, transportation, connectivity, and housing form the foundation of the San Luis Obispo Region’s healthy, livable communities and thriving economic opportunity. In signing the Compact, agencies agreed to develop their “first Regional Infrastructure and Housing Strategic Action Plan.” As stated in the 2020 Compact, the six “goals will underpin the future Regional Infrastructure and Housing Strategic Action Plan, create compatibility among the eight local agencies Housing Elements, and drive future recommendation for collaborative actions.”
Housing Element Alignment (December 2020)
The County and the seven Cities were each required to update their jurisdiction’s Housing Elements to reflect how local communities are planning for the State’s 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocations through 2028. The Housing Elements were submitted to the Housing and Community Development (HCD) in December 2020. As part of the Housing Element update process, the regional approach section was developed to showcase the ongoing commitment of each agency to the HIP collaboration. This section presents a regional vision and policies focused specifically on fostering regional collaboration to plan and develop housing and supportive infrastructure. It was the first time all eight jurisdictions included a regional approach chapter in their required housing elements.
Regional Housing and Infrastructure Regional Framework (August 2023)
The Housing & Infrastructure Regional Framework, formerly the Regional Housing and Infrastructure Plan (HIP), is a planning toolkit collaboratively created by the seven Cities, County of San Luis Obispo, and SLOCOG in response to the region’s growing housing and infrastructure shortage. The Framework inventories infrastructure barriers and priorities for housing, identifies available grant funding options to implement infrastructure needs, and develops foundational information for the future 2027 Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). The 2023 regional toolkit is comprised of seven components that intertwine and build upon one another. After sixty stakeholder engagement meetings and presentations within the year, the Housing & Infrastructure Regional Framework was adopted by the SLOCOG Board in August 2023.
Housing & Infrastructure Mapping Tool
Agencies that supply or operate local infrastructure facilities identified 440 water, wastewater, and transportation infrastructure projects in the Framework project inventory. Of those, 18% (80 projects) were located within Housing Efficient Areas and identified as barriers to housing. About one quarter of the identified projects are water related and the remaining are transportation improvements. The estimated total cost for all eighty projects is over one billion dollars. This information can be seen via the interactive Mapping Tool.
The Funding Strategies Assessment
The Funding Strategies Assessment evaluates the disparity between the cost estimate for each identified project and the anticipated funding that could be obtained through various financial mechanisms. The Funding Analysis involved several steps: a funding requirement determination, an evaluation of potential funding sources, an estimation of potential grant funding, and a funding gap calculation. With current grant funding sources, our region can optimistically be awarded around $91 million dollars depending on a local jurisdiction’s interest in pursuing and successful award for the potential funding identified for that project. That leaves a funding gap of about $924 million dollars for infrastructure projects needed to support new housing development.
The Affordable-by-Design (ABD) Study
The Affordable-by-Design (ABD) Study evaluates housing affordability characteristics. The intention of the ABD study was to identify if certain units (without financial assistance or deed restrictions) could be considered affordable as either low- or moderate-income units and if so, how to incentivize ABD development. The ABD Study collected rental and for-sale housing data, interviewed local housing developers, created a unit feasibility analysis, collected case study examples, and identified policies that could incentivize ABD units. The ABD Study revealed that the rental market may be able to produce ABD housing in at least some parts of the region and is likely within a range where regulatory changes could make a difference. However, a longer approach is needed on the for-sale side since the gap between market sales prices and the target sales prices for moderate-income households is likely too large to overcome through design and regulatory measures alone.
Housing Highlights
There have been bright spots of success: thoughtful projects developed with engagement from the community, progress in streamlining processes, and allowing new types of housing. Collaboration has increased between the cities and County as well as between public and private partners. Through these efforts, projects are shifting to balance community character and ranges of affordability in positive ways. The Housing Highlights document provides a quick look at what is driving the effort, features recent housing successes, and the opportunities ahead.