Claremont was one of the cities Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized earlier this year for not meeting state-mandated housing goals. Here’s how that happened.

Claremont was caught off guard when it received a letter from the state in March 2018, indicating its planning document was not in compliance, a key city official said this week.

“It was an unexpected response from the state,” Brad Johnnson, Community Development director, said.

Every city in the state is required to submit a housing element, which details where various types of housing, including those for lower-income and homeless individuals, can be built.

Claremont submitted its 2014-2021 Housing Element in December 2017 to the State Housing and Community Development Department. Johnson said the kerfuffle began last year after a slew of housing bills were introduced that delayed the process.

He and staff worked with sate officials to determined what those bills meant for Claremont and how any new legislation factored into the update of the city’s housing element.

“It came down to just a very couple of simple little items,” Johnson said. It was “a little frustrating on the staff’s end that we, in our opinion, needed to change the date at the front of the document and send it back to the state.”

The changes included identifying what has been completed since the adoption of the 2014-2021 Housing Element, changing language to allow the proper density for the two sites selected by the city where affordable, transitional and supportive housing could be built.

The city was also asked to update its zoning code glossary of definitions to include the state’s definition of transitional and supportive housing, which helps people exit homelessness.

Johnson said the city also had to update information about the city’s demographics.

The plan requires Claremont show how it will accommodate the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, determined by the Housing and Community Development Department so that all communities plan for the larger community’s growth . Claremont’s share is 373 new housing units, which would be allocated to five income categories.

“A city in an urban environment like Claremont does need to zone some properties to meet our low, and very-low, and extremely low (income units) at a minimum dwelling of 38 units per acre,” Johnson told the council.

That breaks down to 157 for extremely low-income, very low income and low income families, and the remaining 216 would be for moderate income and above moderate income housing.

“We’ve actually produced 831 above moderate units and 80 moderate,” he said. “Where we struggle, and this is common for most cities in Southern California, is the three lower categories: low, very low, and extremely low.

“We have zeros.”

Claremont did have a difficult time identifying and picking the two sites in the housing element where the latter three categories could be built. In 2009, prior to Johnson’s arrival, 19 sites were considered by the council, but all but two faced neighborhood opposition. Those two sites were selected by the city in 2017.

The first is a .8-acre parcel owned by Pilgrim Place on the northeast corner of Cambridge and Harrison avenues. The senior community is looking to build some transitional supportive housing. The site could support a minimum 18 units, Johnson said.

The second site selected is owned by the Claremont Colleges at the northeast corner of Indian Hill Boulevard and Via Zurita Street — a former driving range. The 7-acre parcel could accommodate a minimum of 161 units, he said.

The council has approved high-density zoning for that site, and if they are affordable, will be permitted by right rather than requiring a public hearing, Johnson said.

So while zero homes has been built, when it comes to having plans in place, the city now meets the requirement for low, very and extremely income sites, he said.

The income bracket for a family of four, based on figures from Los Angeles County, are as follows:

Extremely low-income is under $31,000.

Very low-income is under $52,000.

Low-income is under $83,500.

The City Council on Tuesday night voted 4-0 to replace its existing 2014- 2021 Housing Element with an updated 2018- 2021 Housing Element to comply with state requirements.

In the past, the housing element was a document that had to be approved every five years. The state has since moved to an eight-year approval cycle. However, because Claremont didn’t adopt its planning document in 2014, it is being required to review and approve its housing element every four years.

To move to the normal cycle, the city needs to have two, four-year housing element documents approved by the state on time.

The housing element approved this week doesn’t count, Johnson added.