Lancaster seeks feedback on housing needs
LANCASTER — Lancaster officials are seeking public feedback on the draft Housing Element document, which provides an analysis of the community’s housing needs for all income levels for an eight-year period between 2021 and 2029.
Under state law, the city must adequately plan to meet existing and projected housing needs, including its share of the regional housing need. Housing Elements must be updated every eight years. State law requires the 2021-29 “6th cycle Housing Element” to be adopted by October 2021.
The Southern California Association of Governments’ total regional housing needs assessment is 1,341,827 new housing units during the 2021-29 planning period. Lancaster’s allocation of this share is 9,023 housing units, Lancaster’s Housing Element must show adequate capacity to facilitate development of the 9,023 units in a variety of housing types, according to the document.
City officials conducted public outreach for the Housing Element over the past year via a virtual workshop and meetings using online video conferencing due to public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On online survey was also used to collect feedback. The survey was available between Dec. 7, 2020 and Jan. 8. A total of 307 people who live and/or work in Lancaster completed it.
Eighty-three percent of respondents lived in a single-family home. They indicated the types of housing they would most
like to see in the city are single-family homes, condominiums and houses with four or more bedrooms.
According to the survey results, the top two choices for the best locations for new housing included the Central Core (Avenue H to Avenue J and 30th Street West to Sierra Highway) and anywhere in Lancaster, as long as any impacts to single-family neighborhoods are minimal.
Respondents also indicated it was highly important that new housing be located with easy access to shops, services and community facilities, according to the draft document.
Approximately 70 percent of respondents indicated they would likely be in favor of multi-family or mixed-use development in the downtown area if it could help bring more shopping, dining and housing opportunities.
The draft Housing Element and public comments will be reviewed by Planning Commission at 4:30 p.m., Monday.
For details contact the Community Development Department at 661-7236100.
Residents can review a draft copy of the 188page document by visiting https://www.cityoflancasterca.org/housingelement and provide feedback via an online survey at https://bit.ly/3ymEA4R. Input is due by Thursday.