Tag: Town of Truckee

< Back to News

The Town of Truckee has Submitted the 2027-2035 Housing element to the State of California on July 9, 2026.

July 16, 2026

Housing Element Update Process Background

At the September 23, 2025 Town Council meeting, the Town Council kicked-off the 2027-2035 Housing Element Update process. 

The Housing Element is one of seven required elements of a General Plan and the only element that is required to be certified by the State of California. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) reviews and certifies housing elements. A Housing Element is required to have the following components: 

  • Review of previous element
  • Housing needs assessment based on the HCD’s analysis of the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). The RHNA is a state-mandated process where the State quantifies the need for housing for each local jurisdiction; the Town is then tasked with ensuring that there is enough land zoned for the required residential density.
  • Inventory and analysis of adequate sites to meet RHNA requirements
  • Analysis of potential governmental and non-governmental constraints 
  • Housing policies and programs 
  • Quantified objectives

The Town of Truckee’s current 6th Cycle Housing Element, adopted in 2019, applies to the 2019-2027 planning period. In order to ensure compliance with State law, the Town is required to adopt and certify an updated Housing Element by May 15, 2027 for the 2027-2035 planning period (7th cycle). State law requires that HCD review and certify the Housing Element, which requires a 90-day HCD review period and potential revisions and subsequent 60-day reviews. The length of HCD’s review period requires that the Town begin work early on the update to ensure that the Housing Element is adopted by the May 15, 2027 deadline. 

On June 25, 2025, the Town Council authorized a contract with Ascent Environmental (Ascent) to provide consulting services to help with drafting and adoption of the Housing Element.

Updated July 9, 2026

The Town of Truckee submitted the 2027-2035 HCD Review Draft Housing Element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for the State-mandated 90-day review of first draft submittals.

The Public Review Draft Housing Element was released on May 18, 2026, and the public comment period closed on June 17, 2026. During that period, the Town held a community meeting and open house on May 27, 2026, a special Planning Commission meeting on June 2, 2026, and a Town Council meeting on June 23, 2026. Following these meetings, the Town revised the Public Review Draft Housing Element in response to public comments and Town Council direction. The HCD Review Draft Housing Element was published on July 9, 2026, on the Town’s project website.

The Town did not receive any written comment letters during the public review period. However, public comments were received at the community meeting and open house and during the Planning Commission and Town Council meetings noted above. The Public Review Draft Housing Element was revised in response to those comments. The Town will continue to accept and review any comments received during the HCD review process and make any appropriate revisions to the draft Housing Element.

The following revisions were made since the public review draft:

  • Program H-1.A – Updated the objective and timeline to support maintaining a 30% buffer.
  • Removed the Truckee-Specific AMI program.
  • Table HA-15 (Occupied Units by Tenure): Clarified that the totals in this table exclude units considered vacant.
  • Table HF-1 (Progress Towards Meeting the 2019-2027 RHNA – Permitted Units Issued by Affordability): Calculations were corrected.
  • References to the Olympics were changed to 1960 Olympics.
  • Throughout the document, the term “pipeline projects” was changed to “projects in the entitlement pipeline” and the term was more clearly defined to mean projects that are approved by not constructed and projects that are under review.
  • The approved and pending unit counts in the sites summary table and list of projects (Appendix HC-6) were separated.
  • References to “Truckee Trails and Bikeways Master Plan” were updated to “Truckee Active Transportation Plan” to reference the future document the Town is working on, where appropriate.
  • Minor typos were corrected.

Full Town of Truckee 2027-2035 HCD Review Draft Housing Element (PDF)

Individual Chapters

  • Housing Element – HCD Review Draft (PDF) – This is the main policy framework.
  • Appendix HA: Community Profile (PDF) – This section summarizes key population, household, employment, income, and housing market characteristics that shape housing demand and supply in the town, with attention to income level, tenure, and special needs groups.
  • Appendix HB: Constraints (PDF) – This section reviews both governmental and non-governmental constraints to the maintenance and production of housing for all income levels. This section includes a comprehensive review of the Town’s Development Code requirements that apply to housing projects.
  • Appendix HC: Site Inventory (PDF) – This section describes the Town’s assigned housing target, called the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), and presents the Town’s strategy for how it will accommodate that need through the estimated residential capacity in the Town.
  • Appendix HD: Assessment of Fair Housing (PDF) – This section is an assessment of fair housing conditions in Truckee as required by Government Code Section 65583 (c)(10). The analysis evaluates patterns related to segregation and integration, racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, disparities in access to opportunity, disproportionate housing needs, how the sites inventory improves or exacerbates fair housing issues, and unique local factors.
  • Appendix HE: Funding Resources and Energy Conservation (PDF) – This section describes the local, regional, State, and Federal funding resources that are available to support housing development and programs in Truckee and the ways the Town provides opportunities for energy conservation in residential development.
  • Appendix HF: Past Performance (PDF) – This section summarizes major accomplishments made during the sixth cycle, highlights progress towards meeting special housing needs in the Town of Truckee, and provides an evaluation of sixth cycle housing element programs
  • Appendix HG: Community Outreach (PDF) – This section summarizes the Town’s outreach efforts on housing and specific information on outreach conducted as part of the Housing Element effort.
  • Appendix HH: Glossary (PDF) – This section defines terms found in the Housing Element and its appendices

< Back to Stories

Housing 101: Why Every California Community Must Plan for Housing

October 16, 2025

The State Sets the Goals – Communities Decide How to Get There

Across California, every city and county is legally required to plan for housing at all income levels. This isn’t optional — it’s part of state housing law that dates to 1969, when California began requiring local governments to adopt what’s known as a Housing Element as part of their General Plan.

The state’s goal is simple: ensure that communities plan for enough homes for residents of all income levels — from very low-income families to higher earners. To do this, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) determines the total number of homes the state needs. That number is then divided among 28 regional planning areas and allocated to each city and county through a process called the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA).

Each community captures these state-assigned housing goals in a document called the Housing Element. It’s part of the community’s General Plan and lays out how the town or county will meet its share of housing needs — including zoning updates, land use policies, and programs to support housing at different income levels. Every city and county in the state is required to update their housing element on a seven-year cycle.  

Why the State Is Taking Housing Seriously

In recent years, California has taken a much more aggressive approach to enforcing housing laws. Cities and counties that fail to adopt a compliant housing element now face penalties and loss of control over local zoning decisions. One major consequence is the “builder’s remedy,” which allows developers to bypass local zoning restrictions if a jurisdiction’s housing element is out of compliance. That means if a town or county doesn’t meet state requirements, it loses some of its ability to decide what gets built and where.

Truckee’s Turn to Update Its Housing Element

It’s crunch time for the Town of Truckee to update the town’s Housing Element and get it certified by HCD. The town has about a year and a half to update the existing housing element, allow for a lengthy review process and work with HCD to achieve certification.

During Truckee’s last update, adopted in 2019, the town was required to create planning and regulatory systems for 775 housing units. This time around, based on current data from the RHNA, Truckee must identify development sites, review and update policies, zoning and regulations (if needed), create specific goals, objectives and programs for the preservation and development of 1,534 units – more than double requirement from the previous cycle.  

What Does This Mean to You?

Community input and participation is built into the housing element update process, and it is your chance to help guide where new development should occur and what it should be. It’s important to note that the Town of Truckee is required by state law to create a housing element that removes government constraints and provides a clear framework for development of the 1,534 units. The community can’t say they just don’t want 1,534 more units, but it can be a part of the decision-making process for how and where those units are built.

Solutions to Meet Housing Needs

The actual number of units constructed depends on market demand, cost, financing and other economic considerations. This means that even though there is a great need for housing, new development is never the only solution. An often-overlooked strategy when developing a jurisdiction’s housing element is NOAH – or Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing. At the Tahoe Housing Hub, we believe NOAH should be prioritized as a critical part of every housing element. With the cost of new construction so high, NOAH provides a way for local governments or non-profits to purchase existing housing and deed restrict it in perpetuity to serve the local population.

The Tahoe Housing Hub is currently expanding to add a 501(c)3 non-profit component of the organization that will be able to purchase NOAH units, make necessary upgrades and permanently preserve critically needed housing for the local workforce, seniors and families in our community.

How to get involved:

The Town of Truckee began updating the housing element in September 2025, and is planning to provide initial information during a Town Council meeting sometime in late October or November. More information about the town’s housing element update process can be found here. All jurisdictions in the state are required to create and update their housing element. Placer County and El Dorado County’s current housing elements run through 2029.  Nevada County’s housing element runs through 2027, so Nevada County will likely start their update process soon. The chart below outline’s the Town of Truckee’s timeline for completing the Housing Element.

Artist rendering of Edmunds Lofts, a 12-unit workforce housing project located on Edmunds Drive near Meadowood Park in Truckee.

STAY INFORMED AND STAY CONNECTED

Get important updates and timely information about workforce housing in our region.