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ADOPT BY MOTION THE 2025 GENERAL PLAN AND HOUSING ELEMENT ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS AND AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT REPORTS TO THE STATE HOUSING DEPARTMENTS TO COMPLY WITH STATE LAW
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt by motion the 2025 Annual Progress Reports for the Envision Stockton 2040 General Plan and the 2023-2031 Housing Element and authorize the City Manager to submit reports to the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development and the Office of Planning and Research as required by state law.
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Summary
California State law (Government Code Sections 65400 and 65700) requires cities that have an adopted General Plan and Housing Element to prepare an Annual Progress Report (APR) that identifies the status of implementation activities for the previous calendar year. The APR must be presented to the Stockton City Council before submission to the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and Office of Planning and Research (OPR) by
April 1st of each calendar year.
Following Council’s acceptance, the 2025 APR report will be submitted to HCD and OPR, in compliance with State law.
Background
On December 4, 2018, the City Council adopted the Envision Stockton 2040 General Plan (hereafter "General Plan") by Resolution 2018-12-04-1503-02. The General Plan is the official long-range policy document for the City of Stockton and is the basis for local government decision-making to achieve the community's overall vision. The General Plan contains elements that address land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space/parks and recreation, safety, noise, and environmental justice. Various City departments are responsible for adhering to the policies and implementing specified actions throughout the 20-year timeframe established by the General Plan.
On July 9, 2024, the City Council adopted the sixth cycle City of Stockton 2023-2031 Housing Element update (hereafter "Housing Element”) by Resolution 2024-07-09-1601, which contains policies and programs that enable the City to anticipate and plan for the housing needs of all socioeconomic segments of the community. Although the Housing Element is considered an element of the General Plan, it is the only element that is reviewed and certified by HCD and OPR on an eight-year cycle basis. A primary component of the Housing Element’s update process is to address the regional housing needs allocation (“RHNA”). The RHNA is mandated by State housing law and quantifies the need for housing within the City during the specified planning cycle.
HCD provided a RHNA of 52,719 units that must be planned for San Joaquin County. The San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) allocated the distribution of housing needs among the unincorporated San Joaquin County jurisdiction and city jurisdictions. The City of Stockton’s RHNA share is 12,673 units (1,232 extremely low, 1,233 very low, 1,548 low, 2,572 moderate, 6,088 above moderate income levels). In the Housing Element, the City included an approach to meet the RHNA dwelling unit allocation. The City does not have any obligation to construct housing units but must maintain the housing opportunity capacity outlined by the RHNA allocation and ensure governmental constraints are minimized to the extent possible. The private housing market dictates the construction and provision of housing.
With seven years remaining in the current housing cycle, an average of 1,653 new units per year would need to be constructed by the housing industry to meet the state’s anticipated population growth and housing needs. The City issued building permits for 716 new housing units in 2025 and 837 in 2024. Although current residential development is not on pace to meet State goals, ongoing development activity continues to exceed the average achieved during the previous (fifth) cycle. In the previous fifth cycle (2015 to 2023), Stockton averaged approximately 545 new housing units per year. There was a total of 4,358 units during the eight-year timeframe. Based on this, the City did not achieve the prescribed 11,824 mixed-income RHNA allocation by about 7,466 housing units. During this period, the City made efforts to encourage housing production and streamline permitting processes.
Current Situation
The 2025 Annual Progress Reports highlight the status of ongoing and future policy implementation efforts for the General Plan and Housing Element.
• Envision Stockton 2040 General Plan: The following is a brief overview of the APR for the General Plan. These efforts are further detailed in Attachment A.
o Prepared and submitted closeout reports for the $2 million received and utilized in grant funding from SB2, LEAP, and REAP.
o Completed a comprehensive update of the Development Code to streamline the review process for housing development and comply with State regulations in consultation with the State Department of Housing and Community Development.
o Completed the 2024 annual development agreement (DA) review to assess the status of agreements for 10 major development projects in the City.
o Continued the City’s pre-approved Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) program of no cost ADU plans for public use.
o Approved construction plans for affordable housing projects, La Passeggiata (94 units) and Housing Authority Satellite Apartments (54 units).
o City staff participated in the San Joaquin Public Agency Consortium Government Contracting & Business Resource Event providing education to businesses on contracting with the City.
o Updated the City Parks Master Plan, adopted by City Council on October 14, 2025. (Resolution 2025-10-14-1601)
o Completed draft Transportation Master Plan and draft Nexus Study documents.
o Completed a development project annexation approval by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) expanding the City Limit boundary by 7 acres.
o City staff held multiple workshops for the comprehensive update of the Climate Action Plan (CAP) to continue to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data across the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) including Stockton, other cities and unincorporated areas of San Joaquin County.
o City staff participated in San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) regional planning programs, including the 2025 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy process.
• 2023-2031 Housing Element: The 2025 APR is the second for the sixth cycle Housing Element that will be carried out over the next eight-year review period. Below summarizes major actions in 2025 related to new housing production or the implementation of housing policy through action. These efforts are further detailed in a report at Attachment B. This report is in the state-mandated format and cannot be modified.
o New housing and affordable housing - The City issued building permits for 716 new housing units, including 27 extremely low income, 66 very low-income, 38 low-income, 19 moderate-income and 566 above moderate-income units. Of the permits issued, 63 were accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
o Completed a comprehensive update of the Development Code to streamline the review process for housing development and comply with State regulations in consultation with the State Department of Housing and Community Development.
o Approved construction plans for affordable housing projects, La Passeggiata (94 units) and Housing Authority Satellite Apartments (54 units).
o Initiated the preparation of an additional Development Code update for ADUs to ensure consistency with the most current 2025 State regulations.
o On April 29, 2025, the Stockton City Council adopted a new Consolidated Plan (Resolution 2025-04-29-1602) outlining the use of funding from the United States Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), which will seek to provide lower-income neighborhoods with access to well-maintained public facilities and utilities.
o Implemented Housing Element Program 3 (Sites Included in Previous Housing Elements) with City Council adoption of Ordinance Amendment 2025-11-04-1502.
o Initiated implementation of Housing Element Programs inclusive of Program 6 (Accessory Dwelling Units), Program 10 (Large Lot Development, Program 16 (Weatherization Activities), Program 20 (Density Bonus), and Program 29 (Reasonable Accommodation)
o The City is in the process of developing a Downtown Master Plan and Visioning document to accelerate infill housing production the in downtown.
o City staff have begun implementing the Housing Action Plan by actively striving to maintain the State Prohousing Designation, investigating best practices to provide landlord education and methods to incentivize participation in the Housing Choice Voucher program, within in the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) area and are working on creating a local down payment assistance program.
o City staff conducted a few outreach activities to share the Homeowner Rehabilitation Program, including two events at the Oak Park Senior Center, where seniors were informed about the program and the opportunity to address deferred maintenance and weatherization of homes.
o Within the Transformative Climate Community (TCC) area, [5 square mile area, largely in downtown/south Stockton] between November 2024-November 2025, 292 homes received Green House call services and retrofits. There were also 59 single family solar installations and 35 cool roof replacements.
The City continues to build upon the policies and actions established by the 2040 General Plan and 2023-2031 Housing Element to encourage increased housing production.
Environmental Analysis
The 2040 General Plan and 2023-2031 Housing Element annual reports are not considered discretionary “projects” under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and are therefore exempt under Section 15061(b)(3) (“Common Sense Exemption”).
Public Notice
In preparation for the March 31, 2026, City Council public hearing, on March 20, 2026, notice for this request was published in The Stockton Record at least 10 days prior.
On February 26, 2026, Staff presented the Annual Progress Reports to the Planning Commission as an informational item. During the meeting, staff received comments from the Commission and one public comment. Following the meeting, staff made some clarifying adjustments to Attachment A, the General Plan Annual Progress Report related to Safety Element actions, and some formatting changes were made to Attachment B, the Housing Element Annual Progress Report.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
This report summarizes past and existing actions, and the requested action will have no direct fiscal impact.
Attachment A - 2025 General Plan Annual Progress Report (APR)
Attachment B - 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR)