City Of Cupertino: City Of Cupertino To Provide Robust Public Outreach During Housing Element Update Process

Press release from the City of Cupertino:

10/06/2021

On October 5, the Cupertino City Council directed staff to provide a robust public outreach effort as part of its Housing Element update. Outreach will include more than a dozen community and public meetings, as well as online engagement to help obtain input from the public.

“The City of Cupertino and our City Council are committed to ensuring that Cupertino keeps doing its part to ensure that an honest and complete process addresses housing needs effectively,” said Mayor Darcy Paul. “Our efforts are making a real difference in raising awareness of public concerns such that projects go forward safely, and in a way that optimizes the integrity of solutions rather than specific fiscal interests. This is oftentimes challenging. Misinformation abounds, and we encourage our residents to keep participating in the spirit of achieving those types of paradigm-shifting solutions that our community consistently delivers.

“When we do the hard work together of answering the difficult questions without special-interest misdirection and obfuscation, that is when everyone ultimately wins. That is precisely what Cupertino stands for, and if you want to know the real story, start with that understanding.”

The City is currently preparing for the Sixth Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and Housing Element update, which covers the 2023 - 2031 planning period. The Housing Element is part of Cupertino’s General Plan and identifies policies and programs to meet the housing needs of the City’s current and future residents at all income levels. State law requires that every city and county in California adopt a Housing Element approximately every eight years to reflect the RHNA for each jurisdiction.

The City anticipates that it will be required to plan for the development of more than 4,500 housing units during the upcoming eight-year cycle, which is a 331% increase from the last cycle. The City must complete its Housing Element update by January 2023.

More information can be found currently at cupertino.org/housingelement with online engagement to be held in the future at engagecupertino.org.

This press release was produced by the City of Cupertino. The views expressed here are the author’s own.