The City of Redlands has begun updating the Housing Element of the City’s General Plan. The current Housing Element details the City’s housing goals from the year 2013 through 2021 and must be updated every eight years.

The Housing Element performs the following functions:

• Analyzes the County’s demographics, economics and housing supply
• Analyzes housing constraints and resources
• Evaluates sites appropriate for potential housing
• Develops housing goals, objectives, policies, and programs

The “Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA)” is the method by which the State estimates each region’s housing needs for all income groups. A key element of the Housing Element Update is to identify enough sites suitable for housing development to demonstrate that the City has sufficient capacity to accommodate the planning “target” for the RHNA allocation. The current 6th Cycle update presents new challenges to all jurisdictions across the State, including: the increase in RHNA dwelling unit allocations to local jurisdictions; strict housing site eligibility requirements; and new housing laws that address local policies aimed at managing growth. This update must be submitted to the State by Oct. 15, 2021.

The City’s Housing Element must be consistent with statewide housing laws, housing element guidelines, and applicable goals and policies in the California Government Code and must clearly demonstrate that Redlands has sufficient capacity to accommodate the number of housing units identified in the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). The tentative RHNA allocation for Redlands is currently available at https://www.cityofredlands.org/post/housing-element-update.

Early public involvement is a key component of the 2021-2029 Housing Element Update process. The City of Redlands has designed a survey to solicit public input to the process. The survey is available in both English and Spanish under the Public Participation tab at https://www.cityofredlands.org/post/housing-element-update.  Relevant documents, public meeting notices, and other resources will also be posted here so please check back often.

For questions or to be added to the City’s mailing list for information and updates regarding the Housing Element, please email Catherine Lin, Principal Planner, at clin@cityofredlands.org or call (909) 307-7308.