I. What are Rocklin’s neighborhood housing and homeless programs, services and resources?
A. Fair Housing: The Fair Housing Act protects people from discrimination when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance, they work with the Fair Housing and Nor Cal Legal Services. https://www.rocklin.ca.us/rocklin-housing-resources
B. Foreclosure Assistance: Placer County offers foreclosure assistance through programs like the "Workforce Housing Preservation Program" and by providing access to Home Loan Counseling Centers in Sacramento. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) does not operate in Rocklin or Placer County.
C. Gas: They use PG& E and for gas. There is help with lower-income residents for electric, propane or firewood with the high costs of heating and/or cooling. Annual utility bill assistance can range from. $350 to $1000.
D. Household Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Rocklin contracts with the garbage hauler, Recology
E. Landlord Tenant Mediation Services: –In 2021, Placer County entered a contract with Placer Dispute Resolution to provide community mediation and conflict resolution services for Placer County residents, property owners, and business owners, offered at low-cost, are voluntary and confidential.
F. Housing Vouchers and other resources: Rocklin refers people to the Placer County Housing Resource Guide https://www.rocklin.ca.us/rocklin-housing. Rocklin partners
G. What kind of local tenant protections are in place for residents? Are they working?
Residents can file a housing complaint through the City’s Code Enforcement.
H. What percent of the city’s budget is for historical preservation? What percent on affordable housing? The City does not budget specifically for historical preservation. However, the City has a relationship with the Rocklin Historical Society, and have a supported preservation efforts in the past. The City maintains a Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund to incentivize the construction of affordable housing.
I. Besides county mediation services, what kind of local tenant protections are in place for residents? Are they working? N/A
J. Describe how code enforcement is working in the city? Code Enforcement responds to complaints or requests received through the City’s website or Access Rocklin portal. They do allow an appeal process for any citations. See: https://www.rocklin.ca.us/code-compliance-0
II. Statistics about Housing and Affordable Housing Incentives:
A. What percent of the city are homeowners, and what percent renters? In 2024 66.8% of Rocklin households are owner occupied with 29.2% renter occupied.
B. What kind of local tenant protections are in place for residents? Residents can file a housing complaint through the City’s Code Enforcement. They depend on the State policy that allow no more than 10% increase per year.
C. What percent of the city is cost burdened? Those spending more than 30% of their income on housing? just over 7,870 households (nearly 37 percent of all households) are low- to moderate-income (LMI) and cost-burdened. Just over 3,545 (45 percent) renter LMI households are cost burdened. See: https://www.rocklin.ca.us/sites/main/files/file-attachments/draft_rocklin_ca_consolidated_plan_public_review_2020-02-14.pdf
D. How many are spending more than 50% of their income on housing considered extremely cost burdened? The largest share of renter households experiencing a cost burden greater than 50 percent of income are extremely low-income households (0-30 percent AMI) at 51 percent. The largest share of owner-households experiencing a cost burden greater than 50 percent of income are very low-income households (>30-50 percent AMI) at 37 percent.
III. How many affordable housing units exist in the city?
2. How many Section 8 and Project Based Section 8 units are in Rocklin? Section 8 vouchers in Rocklin are administered by both the Roseville Housing Authority and the Placer County Housing Authority. As of June 30, 2024 through a contract with the Roseville Housing Authority, the City was able to provide 132 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers. Another 116 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers were issued in Rocklin by the Placer County Housing Authority for a combined total of 248 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers issued.
3. Are section 8 voucher holders finding landlords willing to rent to them? Are there any efforts or incentives in the city to encourage landlords to do so? Rocklin is part of Roseville’s Housing Authority incentive program for landlord to accept Section 8 is working. Participating landlords will receive a one-time $1,000 payment when they enter into a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract with RHA on behalf of each Housing Choice Voucher holder. Residents can also dial 211 to be connected to a specialist.
4. Are affordable units spread throughout the city?
5. Is there inclusionary housing in Rocklin? If so, how many and who manages them? There is no inclusionary housing in Rocklin.
6. Affordable Housing developed and subsidized by developers? A total of 1,097 assisted rental units are provided within 13 developments, including units assisted through a variety of federal programs. These programs include HUD Section 8 (project-based),9 Section 236 (mortgage subsidy), Section 202 (mortgage subsidy), Section 515 (rural rental housing and rural cooperative housing), tax credits, bonds, and redevelopment set-aside funds.
7. Incentives to produce Affordable housing: To encourage more affordable housing, developers can do the following: 1. apply for a reduction in development impact fees for deed restrict affordable units in the project, with units that are set aside for 60% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI) for Placer County which is· $102,2002 (2022). Apply for Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund (LMIHAF) dollars if available. 3. And/or apply for a fee deferral for the following: City Park Development Fee, City Traffic Fee, Community & Recreation Center Impact Fee, Construction Tax, Park Improvement Impact Fee, Public Facilities Impact Fee, Trails Impact Fee. See: https://www.rocklin.ca.us/rocklin-affordable-housing
See Rocklin’s affordable housing incentive program: https://www.rocklin.ca.us/sites/main/files/file-attachments/affordable_housing_incentive_program_city_council_staff_report.pdf?1718144862
8. Preservation of affordable housing: Over time, the City may face the risk of losing some of its affordable units due to the expiration of covenants and deed restrictions. As the relatively tight housing market continues to put upward pressure on market rents, property owners are more inclined to discontinue public subsidies and convert the publicly funded units to market-rate housing. No projects are at risk for losing their affordability during the 10-year period. On table 7-22 of the Rocklin Housing Element (RHE) You can find the inventory of all of the 1,371 of these units within 14 developments and the dates by which their covenants or rent restrictions will mature.
9. Affordable Home Ownership: Vicara at Whitney Ranch consist of 264 owner occupied affordable condos. This is managed by the property management company named CAMS, but the approval of affordable housing program buyers comes from the City during the time of sale. See: https://www.rocklin.ca.us/housing-services
10) Are there any plans to do TOD –Transit Oriented Development? Are there any policy incentives in the city to encourage affordable units in TOD areas? Or any other areas of the city? If so, are they working? The City has not adopted a policy regarding TOD, nor have we received any plans to develop TOD.
IV. What is the need for more affordable housing?
a). How has the city faired on meeting the RHNA numbers and reaching benchmarks in the past and today? The total number of RHNA-Reginal Housing Needs Assessment required by the end of the planning period (2029) is 3,501. What percentage of these need to be affordable and at what income levels? How did they do in meeting the RHNA for the last cycle? Please compare the results.
2013-2021
2021-2029
b) Does the city have more plans to build affordable housing? Are they accessing funding for this? What is the attitude of the City Council and staff about the need for more affordable housing?. During the current planning period (2021-2029), 95 very low-, 198 low-, 39 moderate-, and 471 above moderate-income housing units have been completed. In addition to those completed, another 708 above moderate-income units are pending. Further, staff is working with affordable housing developers to secure funding for additional affordable developments and currently has an affordable housing agreement with Community Housing Works to build 109 affordable, deed-restricted units in downtown Rocklin, which the City has committed $2.6 million in funding for. The City has also provided a preliminary commitment letter to USA Properties Fund for $1.9 million to construct 321 deed-restricted senior apartments. The funding for these investments comes from the City’s Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Asset Fund. City staff cannot speak to the opinions of individual staff members or City Council. For more information about City Council actions, meeting minutes and recordings can be found here: https://www.rocklin.ca.us/city-council-meetings.
c) Have there been efforts to support congregations interested in providing affordable housing on a portion of their underutilized land? If so, in what way? Have the city staff studied SB 4? Plans have not been submitted by any congregations to use their land for housing.
d) Can the city staff afford to live in the city? How far do they need to drive to work? Or if they live in the city, do they hope their children and grandchildren can also afford to live close by? City staff cannot speak to the opinions of individual staff members or City Council. For more information about City Council actions, meeting minutes and recordings can be found here: https://www.rocklin.ca.us/city-council-meetings
e) What percent of the city’s budget is for historical preservation? What percentage on affordable housing? The City does not budget specifically for historical preservation. However, we have a relationship with the Rocklin Historical Society, and have a supported preservation efforts in the past. The City maintains a Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund to incentivize the construction of affordable housing.
f) Has there been interest in building ADUs? What are the city’s policies on this? To date,24 ADUs have been completed in the current planning period. To comply with AB434, Rocklin will launch a permit-ready ADU program by the end of2024.
V. Questions about Homelessness
a) How many people experiencing homelessness were officially counted in the last count? Do you think this is accurate? What have the homeless counts in the city been for the past5 years?
As of the 2024 Point in Time (PIT) Count, the City of Rocklin had 26 unsheltered individuals and 13 sheltered individuals for a totalof39. The Count was conducted by trained volunteers and supervised by the Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras. PIT Count numbers for the past 5 years are as follows:
· 2024: 39 (13 sheltered and 26 unsheltered)
· 2023: 48 (14 sheltered and 34unsheltered
· 2022: 55 (7 Sheltered and 48 Unsheltered)
· 2021: Only Countywide Data Available due to COVID restrictions –708 Total
· 2020: 67 (48 Sheltered and17 Unsheltered)
b) How would you describe the attitude of the city regarding homelessness and what measures are being discussed and implemented to address this? Do the city leaders generally adopt the housing first model? The City cannot speak to an official attitude toward homelessness. Opinions and direction from City Council can be found in previous meeting minutes and videos, which can be found here: https://www.rocklin.ca.us/city-council-meetings
d) Is there an openness to having permanent supportive housing? And if so, are the steps to make this happen? Have they purchased land for this? The City has not purchased any land for permanent supportive housing.
e) Are there homeless prevention plans and programs in place? If so, please describe them. The City of Rocklin has a Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving unit with dedicated staff to deal primarily with homeless response and assistance. This unit works closely with other local agencies, Placer County Health and Human Services, Placer County Probation, and local service providers to provide assistance to people experiencing homelessness in Rocklin. Additionally, the City regularly funds homeless prevention and rapid rehousing initiatives with local service providers. All of Placer and Navada Counties have one Continuum of Care plan to address homelessness. See: https://dashboard.nubi.io/customfile/7794b811ac8155d9f9ff8f6d79236542.pdf