The Housing Policy Toolkit is a menu of policy options and best practices for removing barriers to new housing in infill and established communities. It provides a roadmap to allow for more housing product choices to be built in more locations, using a simple, non-discretionary approval process with streamlined environmental review and reasonable fees. It is focused on policies that local governments have direct control over, recognizing there are many other challenges to producing more housing that largely fall outside the purview of local government.

These policy changes can be paid for through a new over-the-counter (non-competitive) planning grant created by Senate Bill 2. The State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is managing the framework by which these grants will be dispersed. HCD had the opportunity to review the toolkit and confirmed that the policy changes outlined in the toolkit, “align well with the SB 2 program objectives” and “includes a variety of measures that would be eligible for funding.” SACOG member agencies will be able to apply for these non-competitive planning grants ranging between $125,000 and $500,000 over a six-month period beginning in Spring of 2019. For more information, please contact Dov Kadin at dkadin@sacog.org.