City of San Jose, CA

05/20/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/20/2022 11:07

Media Advisory: San José Invites You to Add Your Voice to the City's Housing Strategies at May/June Community Meetings

CONTACT
Cheryl Wessling, Public Information Manager, Planning, Building and Code Enforcement
408-535-6817; [email protected]

Details:
What:
 Spring Community Meetings on Housing Strategies for the Housing Element Update
When & Where: ON ZOOM Wed., May 25, 2022 - 6-7:30 p.m. www.bit.ly/May25registration
ON ZOOM Wed., June 1, 2022 - 6-7:30 p.m. www.bit.ly/Jun1registration
IN-PERSON Sat., June 4, 2022 - 10a.m.-12p.m. www.bit.ly/Jun4registration at Gardner Community Center, 520 W. Virginia St., San José

Please use the links to register for your preferred date/s. See this trilingual flyer for meeting descriptions in English, Español, and Tiếng Việt.
Meeting Description: At these spring community meetings, City staff will present draft goals, strategies and policies that will guide the City's housing approach over the next eight years. There will be breakout sessions for attendees to provide feedback on these specific topics: Access to Rental Housing, Housing Production, Homeownership, Homelessness, and Neighborhoods.

Spanish interpretation will be provided at all meetings. Vietnamese interpretation will be made available if requested at least 3 days before the meetings; please email [email protected].

The in-person meeting on June 4 offers refreshments and supervised activities for children.
Background: The Housing Element - which is part of every city's general plan and has an eight-year cycle - is currently being updated by cities and towns across California. Here in San José, staff in the Housing Department and the Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Department have been engaging the community on the Housing Element Update over the last year.

The Housing Element must be certified by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).For the first time - in response to AB 686, the "Affirmatively Further Fair Housing" law, this current update must include strategies and actions that helps dismantle housing segregation and "affirmatively further fair housing."

"Housing has become our most critical issue and I encourage our residents to attend these meetings and provide feedback on draft strategies for increasing homeownership, housing production, and more," said Chris Burton, director of the Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Department. "With public feedback on these strategies, we can next finalize a full draft plan that the public can review this summer."

"Using public input from past meetings and surveys, and direction from the state, we are ready to share a slate of draft strategies that will help us produce more affordable housing, including housing for our unhoused neighbors; help make shared-ownership a possibility for tenants; and begin dismantling segregation in our neighborhoods," said Jacky Morales-Ferrand, director of the Housing Department. "I hope to see you at the meetings!"

For more information, visit www.sanjoseca.gov/HousingElementUpdate.

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