WATSONVILLE >> With Watsonville now in the second year of its sixth Housing Element cycle, the city will take a look back at the previous year in housing and its progress on current goals. The 2024 Housing Element Annual Progress Report will go before the City Council at its Tuesday meeting.

The Housing Element is a component of cities and counties’ general plans that dictate the appropriate number of housing units to meet a jurisdiction’s planned growth over eight-year cycles and meet state Regional Housing Needs Allocation numbers. Per California government code, jurisdictions are required to update the housing element portion of their general plan in cycles every eight years, subject to the review and approval of the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Watsonville’s sixth Housing Element cycle began in 2024 and will run through 2032. According to a staff report by Housing Manager Carlos Landaverry, 122 housing units were completed during the first year and a half of the current cycle. The city has a Regional Housing Needs Allocation goal of building 2,053 units by the end of the cycle, and the units constructed last year will count toward that goal, representing 6% of the total allocation.

Landaverry wrote that there were some challenges ahead.

“The City’s responsibility under the RHNA is to ensure that there is adequate land available and zoned appropriately to allow the development of the specified number of housing units,” he wrote. “However, because cities do not construct housing, we must rely on private developers to construct housing units. The state continues to push cities to relax development standards and provide additional incentives to developers to entice development and reduce the risks and costs inherent in new construction.”

One thing Landaverry emphasized that could help reach that goal was the adoption of the Downtown Watsonville Specific Plan in 2023, meaning the city could see a lot of new housing proposed in the downtown area within the next seven years.

Last year, Watsonville received 42 housing applications collectively proposing a total of 64 units. These units include a Habitat for Humanity project on Airport Road, a five-lot subdivision on Evan Circle and 38 accessory dwelling units. A total of 53 units were approved, and none were disapproved.

Additionally, the city issued 84 building permits in 2024 including The Residence at 558 Main St., 14 units in the Hillcrest Estates development and a mix of multi-family and accessory dwelling units. There were also 125 units completed at the Sparrow Terrace project on Miles Lane and Tabasa Gardens complex on Freedom Boulevard.

In terms of Regional Housing Needs Allocation goals, 10 very low-income units have been constructed of the allocated 283, 52 low-income units have been constructed of the allocated 186 and 60 above moderate-income units have been constructed of the allocated 1,063. The city also has a goal of 521 moderate-income units and 142 extremely low-income units over the next seven years but has not yet constructed any in either category.

The council is being asked to approve the report.

In other business, the council will consider an appeal of the Planning Commission’s Jan. 7 decision to uphold the zoning administrator’s denial of an administrative use permit to demolish a one-story detached garage on Monte Vista Avenue to make way for a new detached garage with a second-story accessory dwelling unit.

The council will meet publicly at 6 p.m. Tuesday on the top floor of the Watsonville City Council Chambers, 275 Main St. A closed session to discuss legal matters will precede the regular meeting at 4:30 p.m.