Report determines 6-county region needs to produce over 1.3 million units of housing over next eight years

On Tuesday, September 10 Kome Ajise, Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Executive Director, visited Rialto City Council to discuss housing needs in the city.

“I would like to say welcome and thank you for coming to our city. We had the benefit of giving him the opportunity to see what goes on in Rialto and some of our emerging technology. I would like to thank Sean Grayson and Tom Crowley for making this happen,” said Mayor Deborah Robertson.

Ajise began his presentation by sharing that Mayor Robertson has done a great job at making sure SCAG does not forget about the city of Rialto.

“We’re working on the regional housing assessment, we do this every eight years. We are charged by state law to do this and it’s intended to provide housing for our folks. Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) has found that we have not produced as much housing as we could,” said Ajise.

“In the regional determination process HCD provides a regional determination in consultation with SCAG and the Department of Finance. During 2006 to 2014 the fourth regional cycle determination was 699,368. In 2013 to 2021 the fifth regional cycle determination was 412,137. In this sixth cycle, between 2021 to 2029 we need to produce 1,344,740 units of housing over the eight year cycle of the sixth cycle,” Ajise said.

In the 2021 to 2029 cycle, the city of Rialto will need to provide housing by almost three times the amount that was recommended in the 2013 to 2021 cycle.

“For context, back in the 70’s and 80’s we were producing housing for almost two people. Over time, we have cut back. Where we are today in terms of affordable housing is a result of delayed supply. We are in a process of assigning housing needs to cities and counties,” continued Ajise.

Within the SCAG region, there are 197 jurisdictions, 191 cities and six counties (Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura).

“We are required by state law to go through a process of identifying what the needs are for the entire region and then develop a methodology that splits regional determination between all regions and counties. The final allocation adoption will happen in October 2020,” Ajise said.

At the meeting it was shared that SCAG is undergoing a methodology process to determine how that 1.3 million units would be allocated between the six counties and 191 cities.

City Administrator Rod Foster and Robertson shared their thoughts on how they believe the 2021 to 2029 housing increase is high.

“I don’t really care what the numbers may be, this is three times what we have seen. The regional housing needs assessment has not done in the cycles is look at the resources available to sustain housing,” Robertson said.

“I hope SCAG feels that we need to get the attention of Sacramento and potentially then we may be able to hold this speeding train down. My goal is to maintain a balanced community,” shared Foster.

Ajise shared with city council that SCAG is objecting to the 1,344,740 units of housing over the eight-year cycle.

“What we are objecting to is the number we received. It is inconsistent with our regional planning framework. We expected to have a large number but it shouldn’t be outside of the realm of our regional planning process. We are pushing back hard in Sacramento,” concluded Ajise.

For more information, visit yourrialto.com.