Visalia staff to pursue state Pro Housing designation after council direction

City planning staff told the Visalia City Council they believe the city can score sufficiently under the California Department of Housing and Community Development's Pro Housing (PIP) designation with limited additional work, and council directed staff to proceed with an application seeking the minimum 30-point threshold.

Paul Burnell, the city's director of planning and community preservation, said staff's initial assessment identified about 24 points already supported by existing zoning, permit timelines and programs. "We believe some of the things the city already implements allows us to count those points," Burnell said, and added staff expects to pick up additional points by advancing streamlining measures discussed in earlier work sessions.

Margie Perez, the city's housing specialist, briefed council on the incentive structure: a PIP base award is $750,000 with bonus awards that can increase the total to roughly $1.25 million for jurisdictions that score higher than the minimum.

Council discussed topics that could pose tradeoffs in pursuing points, including parking reductions, upzoning and use of surplus land. Staff said they would avoid points that require major new analyses or bind the city to commitments the council did not want to make. Council direction was to move forward with staff's planned application effort targeting the minimum threshold and to engage HCD for prescreening and clarifications.

Why it matters: If awarded, the designation can provide competitive scoring advantages and access to some noncompetitive funds the city can use for affordable housing, planning updates and operations. The council's direction starts a staff-led application and pre-application engagement with HCD.