TO:
Honorable Planning Commission Chair and Commissioners
THROUGH:
Masa Alkire, Community Development Director
FROM:
Adam Finestone, Planning Manager
Jaehee Yoon, Senior Planner
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of the Sixth Cycle Housing Element’s 2025 Annual Progress Report
Body
_________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive a report on the City’s 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR).
BACKGROUND:
The Housing Element is one of the State-mandated Elements of a General Plan. The current sixth cycle planning period for the Housing Elements of cities in the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) region extends through 2029. The City’s 2021-2029 Housing Element was initially adopted by the City Council on March 22, 2022, followed by a subsequent adoption on September 23, 2022, with revisions. Upon establishment of the Residential Overlay District (ROD) via zoning map, General Plan, and municipal code text amendments (adoption of Chapter 10.50 of the Manhattan Beach Municipal Code), and incorporation of technical modifications to the adopted Housing Element, the City obtained California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) certification on July 27, 2023.
Pursuant to Government Code Section 65400 every municipality shall prepare and submit a Housing Element APR to HCD and the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) by April 1 of each year. The Housing Element APR is required to be prepared and is the method by which HCD tracks each municipality’s progress on the implementation of their respective Housing Element policies and programs. The State uses the information submitted by the City to identify statewide trends in the land use decision making process, and to determine how local planning and development activities relate to statewide planning goals, policies, and housing needs.
Prior to filing the APR with HCD and LCI, the APR must be considered by the City Council at a public meeting, where members of the public can provide oral testimony and written comments. The attached Housing Element APR is scheduled to be presented to City Council at their March 17, 2026, meeting. This item is being presented to the Planning Commission as an informational item.
DISCUSSION:
The Housing Element APR is prepared on standard forms provided by HCD. The information contained in the APR includes, but is not limited to, the number of building permits issued for construction of new housing units and the associated affordability level of those units; the number of residential demolition permits issued as it relates to new construction; the submittal and approval of planning entitlements proposing residential development; and the City’s progress toward program implementation and meeting its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA).
Each jurisdiction’s RHNA is prescribed by SCAG and is derived from the statewide allocation. SCAG prescribes the number of additional housing units necessary at different income levels in order for each municipality in the region to accommodate their fair share of anticipated population growth during the planning period. The sixth cycle (2021-2029) RHNA obligations, as allocated by SCAG, set forth the goal of 774 units for Manhattan Beach. The RHNA categories assigned to the City and the progress that has been made since the sixth cycle commenced in October 2021 is provided in Table 1 of Attachment 2.
Between January 2025 and December 2025, the City issued 102 building permits for new residential construction of above-moderate income levels. There were 88 corresponding demolition permits issued, which resulted in 14 net new units. This is primarily due to a gradual increase in the number of permits issued for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). It should be noted that HCD tracks the progress on RHNA based on the number of building permits issued and not the number of net new units created in a calendar year.
To assist the City in reaching its affordable housing goals, the adopted sixth cycle Housing Element identifies a number of programs which include, but are not limited to:
• Implementing the anti-mansionization ordinance and preventing lot mergers in single-family zones that reduce future housing capacity
• Providing lot consolidation incentives for multi-family residential developments and assisting affordable housing developers in identifying opportunities for lot consolidation
• Ensuring the City’s Density Bonus ordinance is consistent with State law
• Supporting fair/equal housing programs
• Allowing by-right development and rezoning for qualifying sites identified to accommodate the lower-income RHNA units (This was accomplished through establishment of the Residential Overlay District (ROD))
• Preserving existing affordable senior housing
• Encouraging the development of ADUs
In total, the sixth cycle Housing Element includes 31 programs that cover various areas to continue encouraging and promoting the development of housing for all income levels. Progress on these programs is documented in Table D of the attached report.
Status of Multi-Family Residential Development Projects Utilizing Density Bonus
In April 2025, zone text amendments were adopted to implement five programs in the City’s Housing Element related to ADUs, affordable housing streamlining, density bonus, lot consolidation incentives, and multifamily/mixed-use development standards. One specific provision clarified that a Precise Development Plan (PDP) is an administrative process to permit multi-family residential development of six or more units that qualify for a density bonus. Because of the administrative nature of this process, staff established a policy to provide regular informational updates to the Planning Commission on PDP applications. Additionally, because of the similar administrative nature of residential projects in the ROD, staff believes it is appropriate to provide updates on these projects as well. Table 2 in Attachment 2 provides a summary of density bonus projects that have been submitted to the City for review.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
While public outreach and notification is not required for this item, staff continues to engage with the public on housing-related issues addressed in the sixth cycle Housing Element. For example, dedicated webpages on the ROD <https://www.manhattanbeach.gov/departments/community-development/planning-and-zoning/zoning-development-regulations/residential-overlay-district> and density bonus <https://www.manhattanbeach.gov/departments/community-development/planning-and-zoning/zoning-development-regulations/state-density-bonus-multifamily-housing-projects> (PDP) projects have been created, and notification mailers are being sent out to property owners and residents within a 1,000-foot radius from a project site when applications are received to inform the public of the potential development.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines, the activity is not subject to CEQA and no environmental review is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. 2025 Housing Element APR
2. Table 1(City’s Sixth Cycle RHNA Progress) and 2 (Summary of Multi-Family Residential Development Projects)
3. Sixth Cycle Housing Element (Web-Link Provided)