• The project applicant is City of Monterey.
• The project is an update of the City’s General Plan.
• The City of Monterey is the lead agency.

• The City adopted the General Plan in January 2005. (479K PDF)
• The Final Environmental Impact Report was released in October 2004. (3.5M PDF)
• The Draft Environmental Impact Report was released in July 2004. (3.2M PDF)

• Lack of Inclusionary Housing
  The current draft of the Housing Element, as we understand it, does not include a specific and General Plan level commitment to inclusionary housing, and to policies encouraging and requiring commercial and other development to contribute to a solution of the city’s affordable housing problem. We think such policies should be part of the General Plan, the “Constitution” for land use within the City of Monterey. Placing such requirements within the General Plan will help ensure a stable and long-term commitment to affordable housing.

LandWatch engages in the public process in a variety of ways. For this project, here is a list of our engagement strategies.

• Letter: Comments on Inclusionary Housing (98K PDF)
  LandWatch supports lowering the threshold for production of affordable housing and require the actual construction of those units (not just pay a fee). (06.05.02)
• Letter: Comments on the Draft Housing Element (20K PDF)
  LandWatch urges strong policies. The current draft of the Housing Element, as we understand it, does not include a specific and General Plan level commitment to inclusionary housing, and to policies encouraging and requiring commercial and other development to contribute to a solution of the city’s affordable housing problem. (06.05.02)

• City Council Passes Housing Element
  In a 4-1 vote the Monterey City Council approved the 2015 Housing Element, which is required by state law. The Planning Commission recommended five amendments, which the Council dropped from its approvals. Instead, the Council will revisit the policies in the next six months to address housing stock issues. (03.27.16)
• City of Monterey Approves Housing Element
  After more than three hours of testimony and discussion, the City of Monterey adopted its 2015 Housing Element. Concerns about affordable housing options were voiced and the City agreed to further address those issues with future policies in the next six months. Some feel this is a step in the right direction, while others feel it won’t do much to solve the problem. (03.24.16)
• City Looks at Affordable Housing Plan
  With one Councilmember absent from the discussion, the City of Monterey postponed its discussion of the affordable housing components of the long term development plan for the city. There will be a special meeting at 4 PM on March 23 to further discuss this topic. (03.16.16)