State authorities last week certified San Benito County’s latest housing element—more than six months after it was initially submitted, finally unlocking millions of dollars worth of grants that can be used for local infrastructure and services, according to county officials.
Staff from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) notified County Administrative Officer Esperanza Colio Warren on Feb. 3 that the document—known as the county’s 6th Cycle Housing Element (2023-31)—had been certified.
HCD Senior Program Manager Paul McDougall also informed Colio Warren that recent property rezoning revisions to the element—approved by the board of supervisors in December—will adequately help accommodate the county’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation.
Specifically, that allocation as detailed in the county’s housing element adds up to 754 new homes that need to be built in unincorporated San Benito County by 2031. The housing element does not require or give permission for the construction of those new homes, but identifies properties where such construction will be possible or encouraged over the next six years.
County officials hailed the state’s certification as a “milestone” that will ensure the county remains eligible for state grant funding. The HCD certification also holds off enforcement of the state’s “builder’s remedy” law that would have allowed developers to bypass local guidelines and standards in order to build affordable housing.
“We are very happy to receive the much-anticipated news that the county’s housing element has been completely accepted by HCD,” Board of Supervisors Chair Dom Zanger said. “This is a tangible and monumental step in the right direction toward ending sprawl development and out-of-control growth.
“Additionally, this positions our county to accept the millions of much-needed grant dollars to improve our infrastructure. I’m proud that the board of supervisors and county staff were able to receive approval from the state on such a pivotal plan.”
That grant funding includes a total of about $11.5 million so far this year, most of which the county will spend on road repairs and infrastructure.
At the Jan. 27 meeting, the board unanimously approved spending these funds from the state Community Development Block Grant program on local projects including the reconstruction of Lovers Lane, as well as repairs to segments of Shore Road, Salinas Road, Cienega Road and Bitterwater Road. The board also agreed to spend a portion of the funds to clean up Pacheco and San Juan creeks, and on the upcoming Pacheco Creek Watershed Study.
The HCD requires most counties and cities in California to adopt and maintain an updated Housing Element, a document that details the local jurisdiction’s long-term plan to accommodate the future need for new homes.
County officials, in a press release, described the housing element as “a framework and planning tool for meeting state housing requirements.”
San Benito County’s housing element, specifically, outlines a strategy to expand affordable housing; support accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and workforce housing; facilitate emergency shelters and transitional housing; and promote fair housing and anti-displacement measures, says the press release.
The board initially approved the draft housing element for 2023-31 in early 2025. In April, the HCD notified the county that its submitted Housing Element had not included enough property rezonings to accommodate future residential growth.
The county then began a monthslong public review process to rezone 12 properties in unincorporated areas in order to meet the HCD’s requirements. The supervisors unanimously approved those rezonings in December, incorporating them as viable future residential sites into the housing element.
Thus the county now “substantially complies” with the state’s housing element laws, McDougall wrote in the Feb. 3 letter to county officials.
“Upon review of the zoning documents, HCD is pleased to find that the county has completed the rezoning actions necessary to comply with the applicable statutory requirements described above,” McDougall wrote.
The certified housing element identifies where the county could plan to build its required RHNA assignment of 754 new homes by 2031. The units are broken down by income categories based on the area’s average median income (AMI), which in San Benito County is $140,200 for a family of four, according to the HCD’s 2023 income limits.
HCD also tasks the county with monitoring and periodically reporting the results of various housing programs and requirements detailed in the element.
From April to December 2025, the county had received more than a dozen applications from developers for housing development projects on different properties, with those plans totaling more than 2,600 residential units “including sprawl development,” county staff said in December. But now, with the housing element certified, county officials say the builder’s remedy does not apply in San Benito County.
