Riverside’s general plan housing element – an update

The issue of housing is becoming more inclusive, as Riverside’s Community and Economic Development Department (CEDD) is closing in on the policy wording for the Housing Element update of the city’s General Plan.

After the CEDD presented the first draft of the Housing Element to the Housing and Homlessness Committee yesterday, City Planner Mary Kopaskie-Brown said the team was pleased with the general response. The CEDD presentation included preliminary Housing Element policies and actions and preliminary Environmental Justice policies, and aside from a few requests for changes to language used, the committee was positive.

“We crafted our policies and actions on public input, what we had heard through public outreach,” Kopaskie-Brown said. “[The committee] requested more clarification but there’s no true directional change from what we heard from today.”

The preliminary policy matter ranges from how the city will create room for affordable housing for underserved communities and those experiencing homelessness, to accessibility to affordable healthy food sources that are closer to neighborhoods and transit lines.

Once the CEDD utilizes the input from the committee, they will need to submit their draft to the California Department of Community and Housing Development for review.