Help plan the future of housing in Riverside

As city officials plan for the development of at least 18,415 new homes over the next eight years, they want are seeking input to help inform their third and final, public information workshop.

In collaboration with a consultant team of six companies, the City of Riverside Community and Economic Development Department, or CEDD, presented two workshops on January 7 and 27 to the public. In both, they outlined progress made toward developing a Housing Element for Riverside City’s General Plan. The final meeting will be held Thursday, February 25 at 6 p.m.

“Part of the Housing Element component includes identifying sites within the city where a variety of housing could be built,” Matthew Taylor, project manager for the city, said in the second online presentation.

According to Taylor, if not enough adequate sites exist, it is possible to change direction to develop more places where they could be planned.

State reports say by 2025, California cities need to build between 1.8 million and 3.5 million new homes that are affordable across all income brackets. The Regional Housing Needs Assessment, or RHNA, periodically reports on housing updates and allocations for the sake of each Housing Element within a city’s General Plan. For Riverside, RHNA allocated 18,000 of the state’s total need.

Rob Matthews, principal with Houseal Lavigne Associates, the team’s lead consulting firm, presented the project’s interactive map that details zones in Riverside where potential housing units could be developed.

“As this process moves forward, we really appreciate the feedback you can provide on where you think additional housing is most appropriate within the need to meet our overall RHNA obligation in some fashion,” Matthews said in the first presentation.

The February 25 workshop portal, the project’s interactive mapping tool and a public survey link can all be found on the Housing, Public Safety Updates and Environmental Justice Policies project site.