State law requires each city to adopt a general plan containing at least seven mandatory elements one of which is the Housing Element. The Housing Element is required to be updated every five to six years and is subject to detailed statutory requirements and mandatory review by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). This has been a requirement since 1969 and was instituted as a statewide requirement to ensure the State’s housing goals are met.
The Housing Element Update process begins with HCD allocating a region’s share of the statewide housing need which is then translated into a Regional Housing Need Plan (RHNP). The RHNP allocates the region’s share of housing within the cities and counties within the region. The allocations to be met are divided into mandatory household income levels. Below is the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) for Sonora for the upcoming planning period.