Staff says Monterey County submitted third housing-element package to state; concurrent rezoning and programmatic EIR underway

At the end of the April 8 meeting, planning Department Secretary Ms. Peretti told the commission the county has submitted its third housing element submittal to the California Department of Housing and Community Development and that the submittal is now in a 60-day review period.

Ms. Peretti said staff is preparing the necessary concurrent rezoning and a draft programmatic environmental impact report (EIR) and that communications with state reviewers make staff optimistic that no further substantive issues will be identified in this round. "We are hopeful, based on communications that we've had with staff at the department, we are hopeful that we will have no more substantive issues to address with this [third] round," she said.

Peretti advised commissioners the next two Planning Commission meetings are likely to be full because a number of long-range planning items are moving forward, and she asked commissioners to notify the clerk of any time constraints so the department can ensure quorum and scheduling accommodations.

Next steps: the county will continue to work on concurrent rezoning and the programmatic EIR while awaiting the state's review outcome.