Q&A with Jon Biggs

Pacific Grove Community Development Director, Jon Biggs

AMBAG’s ALLOCATION METHOD FOR ASSIGNING HOUSING GOALS

  The Association of Bay Area Governments “AMBAG” is the regional authority assigned by the State of Califonria’s-Housing and Urban Development Department to prepare its regional housing allocation, RHNA.

     The RHNA is an assignment by AMBAG to each of the cities and counties under its umbrella of the number of housing units that are required to be considered in its housing plan. This means that each jurisdiction is provided a specific number of housing units each city must plan for within the planning period. AMBAG”s methodology is designed to comply with state law to assure that each jurisdiction under its purview has a compliant housing

element in its general plan which includes identifying potential sites for future development.

In making the allocations AMBAG considered a number of factors in order to distribute housing units assigned to this area by the State of California. This was in order to assure that the plans developed were in compliance with the state housing mandate in order for the plan to achieve State certification.

Key considerations were:

1) Achieving a jobs-housing balance, a live where you work concept. This means a balance between jobs and available housing and to align the plan for housing growth with its job creation plans.

2) Possible development constraints such as water, sewer, the availability of lots. This also includes a consideration of roadblocks created by existing zoning laws. And there was also a review of particular jurisdictions infrastructure regulations to determine whether future development is feasible and if those regulations should be modified to support housing development.

3) Infrastructure capacity to support housing development.

4) The need to provide infill development and socio-economic equity. This is a live where you work idea where the housing plan in an existing urban area includes plans to minimize sprawl and protect environmental resources.

5) Fair housing considerations: AMBAG, in making its allocation, sought to correct imbalances in household income distribution across its jurisdiction which includes both Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

6) AMBAG’s process is also aimed to address the needs of special populations such as farmworkers, hospitality workers and the homeless.

7) Each of AMBAG’s housing unit allocation is divided into 4 income categories to be included in a plan for future housing development: very low, low, and moderate and above moderate income level. This is to assure that each jurisdiction plans for a mix of housing types and

affordability levels.

Housing Plan Q and A

On August 11, 2025 Susan Goldbeck sat down with Community Development Director Jon Biggs for a question and answer session. This effort was

designed to create for the public a summary of what the history of the City’s work

on the plan has been and what it means for the future of the City of Pacific Grove.

Q. Can you give us a little history of this effort by the California housing

authorities to create more housing in cities and counties throughout the

state?

A. In 2022, the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a

mandate directed to jurisdictions throughout the state of California, cities

like Pacific Grove, to develop a plan for creating future housing.

Q Does the State mandate require the City of Pacific Grove or anyone else to

build housing here in the future?

A. No. It is simply a plan to create a more favorable climate for building the

housing units allocated to the City. We did that by identifying possible

sites and recommending changes in the Housing Element of our General

Plan, along with offering other incentives to developers, to create a

positive climate for the creation of housing at all income levels.

Q. So the claims I have heard, accompanied by a bit of hand wringing, that

this housing mandate will change the look of the City forever, is simply not

true?

A. No. It only requires a plan; it does not require anything to be built.

Q, Can the City force private developers to create affordable housing in the

city?

A. No. this is private property.

The changes in the Housing Element are geared toward creating housing

through proactive rezoning, offering development incentives and, where

possible, remove barriers to development while ensuring compliance with

state housing regulations.

Q. By housing do you mean affordable housing?

A. Yes and No. The Housing Element revisions to the General Plan and

changes in other regulations and policies in the City’s plan , are geared

toward creating opportunities for creating new housing at all income

levels. The assigned units to be considered in the plan is broken down

to a requirement for some moderate housing, some low income housing and

some above moderate income units.

Q. Does this include market rate units?

A. Yes, that would be the above moderate category.

Q. Was the amount of housing assigned to Pacific Grove broken down as to the

number of units?

A. Yes: 125 units: 362, very low income, 237 low income, 142, moderate

income, 364 above moderate income.

Q... This is a map of the potential sites you have identified? (See map at right.)

A. It is.

Q. How was it determined how many housing units must be planned for?

A. The state mandate for the establishment of a housing plan was, as a first

step, assigned to local agencies with broader jurisdiction, to come up with a

fair allocation of how many housing units must be planned for.

Click to Enlarge

In our case this was AM.B.A.G, Association of Monterey Bay Governments, which applied various criteria and allocated a number of units to each jurisdiction. The State gave a total housing unit allocation for the area and AMBAG dealt that number of units out to the various jurisdictions it represented. (See Sidebar at left)

Q. How did you determine where the future housing might be built?

A. The lots considered for possible development were lots from the City’s

housing inventory which had to be a minimum of a half-acre and

buildable at a minimum of 20 units on the site.

Q. Let’s talk a little bit about the areas in this map which identify potential

areas for housing development.

Q I see that the old section of town, The Retreat, is an area that was

eliminated. Why?

A. Because the lot sizes there are too small. Also zones U, (Undetermined), and

O, (open space), are not included. This is because both require a vote of the

people for a zoning change.

Q. Why do you think there has been no developer interest in creating housing in

the City of Pacific Grove?

A. Water is an issue and the ability to borrow money for development is tight right now as well

Q. What City- owned property was considered for the future development of housing?

A. The City-owned parking lots in the Lighthouse business district.

Q. So if these lots were developed, where would people park to go to the businesses downtown?

A. There has certainly been concern expresses about that issue. There could be housing developed on the City lots with the parking replaced

underneath. There are number of other ideas. There would need to be significant public buy- in for this to happen.

Q Does the City’s current plan include future housing development at those parking lot sites?

A. Not specifically. Right now the City has no money to build its own housing. Water is an issue and the loss of parking in the downtown business district is a problem.

Q What plans has the City made with respect to that property?

A. None. Since the City has no money to develop housing, the hope is

that private developers, who are given sufficient incentives to make

the numbers work for them, may make housing possible on

one or more of these lots.

Q. If the City decided to do something like that, how would they go about it?

A. If the City Council decided this was a direction they wanted to

pursue, a Request for Proposal (RFP) would be circulated inviting

developers to bid on the job. Or, the City could take the route of partnering with an affordable housing developer like they did with the Senior Housing development.

Q. How would that type of project be paid for?

A. Affordable Housing Developers and the City can attract grants and

other funding mechanisms that are unavailable to private developers.

Q. Are any of the sites on the map vacant lots?

A. Some are, but like the City parking lots, they are only potential sites where housing could be developed.

Q. Is one of the goals is to create infill housing as part of the plan?

A. Yes. This is a live- where- you- work idea. Community leaders are realizing that if you have housing to be used by people working in the City, it lessens the burden on infrastructure, there is

less traffic, less air pollution etc. It also aids employers in town to find workers who are attracted to the better quality of life enjoyed when you live where you work.

Q. Does the State of California have any way to force cities like Pacific Grove to build housing?

A. No. The State mandate simply requires local jurisdictions to formulate a plan to increase the likelihood of creating more housing

in the future.

The City’s plan is just that, a plan. It doesn’t guarantee the building 1125 housing units here in Pacific Grove, but rather it enhances the

possibility that developers may build these units by including in the plan incentives such as density bonuses, reducing parking, height limitations and the waiver of permit fees. These incentives allow

them to make it good business sense to include affordable housing units in the mix. Sometimes this is a bonus of market rate units allowed in exchange for building affordable ones.

Q Is the City’s right to take property by its power of imminent domain part of its housing plan?

A. No. There is nothing like this in the plan.

Q. How does the City assure that developers of affordable housing in the City that take the benefit of permit waivers and other incentives keep the units affordable? How are promises of developers to keep units affordable are enforced?

A. This is done through deed restrictions and other land use controls.

Q. What do you expect to be the effect of affordable housing projects in a

town like Pacific Grove if and when they are built? Have you seen

an increase in crime, noise issues, insufficient parking, and loss of

property value in places where these types of developments have

been built?

A. In my considerable experience with this type of development, that has

simply not been the case.