The City of Chowchilla Community & Economic Development is making a Request for Proposals for the Preparation of the 2024-2032 Housing Element, A portion of the General Plan of the City of Chowchilla. The City of Chowchilla (City) is requesting proposals from qualified consulting firms, or individual consultants, to prepare a Housing Element Update, and other related General Plan amendments and rezoning as necessary related regulatory modifications as required by State law, as well as associated California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance.
The Housing Element Update is to be internally consistent with the City’s General Plan and in compliance with state statutes so as to be certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The Housing Element must be updated to include City policies, strategies, and actions to facilitate the construction of new housing and the preservation of existing housing to meet the needs of the population during the planning cycle (2024 – 2032) for all economic segments. The Housing Element Update must address the City’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation.
Through the City’s engagement in a countywide REAP-funded collaborative facilitated by Madera County Transportation Commission, an assessment of fair housing (AFH) analysis, consistent with the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Affirmative Furthering Fair Housing Guidelines for All Public Entities and for Housing Elements (AFFH Guidance Memo) is presently underway. The AFFH analysis will provide a baseline analysis and evaluation of fair housing issues in the City. The analysis will include a constraints analysis, City specific housing and special housing needs, and identification of potential goals, policies, and programs that could assist in combating identified constraints. The AFFH analysis is expected to be completed in April 2023. Respondents should be prepared to use and/or adapt this material as appropriate and factor the available AFFH analysis into their proposal.
The Housing Element Update will result in a chain reaction of corresponding updates to other elements of the City General Plan and related environmental documents. The update will necessitate the review of, and likely update to, the General Plan Land Use Element, which in turn will trigger the need to update the City’s General Plan Health and Safety Element pursuant to Senate Bill 379 (SB 379).
As an identified disadvantaged community, the Housing Element Update also triggers the need to incorporate the recently prepared Environmental Justice Element policies pursuant to SB 1000. These additional updates will need to be considered in the Consultant’s proposal to update the City’s Housing Element.
Proposals must address the update of the City’s Health and Safety Element pursuant to SB 379, and the preparation of an Environmental Justice Element pursuant to SB 1000. In addition, the Consultant will be responsible for preparing an environmental determination and analysis in compliance with CEQA Guidelines, that assumes the maximum residential development for the sites identified in the Housing Element Site Analysis.
