Unusual Circumstances
Housing Element Sites Inventory Guidebook (AB 1397) · 2026 edition · updated 2026-09-22 · California
Sites rezoned or identified for rezoning to accommodate a RHNA shortfall Previously identified sites can also include sites that were subject to a previous housing element’s rezone program but that were ultimately not rezoned. For example: a previous housing element’s rezone program to address a shortfall of sites for lower income households committed to rezone four acres to R-4 zoning, and identified five candidate sites for rezoning, A through E, and each site was two acres in size. If the program was completed in the prior planning period and four acres were rezoned, only those sites rezoned are considered “previously identified.” However, if none or fewer than four acres were rezoned, all the non-rezoned sites identified as candidate sites would be considered as “previously identified.”
Sites rezoned to a higher density as part of a general plan update (not needed to
accommodate a shortfall)
Due to updates in the prior planning period to the general plan or other planning activities, such as the creation of a specific plan, some sites previously identified in the housing element may have been rezoned allowing a higher density, and therefore increasing the potential housing capacity of the site. Because the zoning characteristics of this site have changed, it can be considered a new site for the purposes of the housing element inventory. This is only the case if it was not utilized to accommodate a shortfall of sites to accommodate the RHNA. End unusual circumstances
4 Sites in unincorporated areas in a nonmetropolitan county without a micropolitan area are exempt from this step. This includes the unincorporated parts of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Glenn, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Trinity.
Site Inventory Guidebook
Page 11
May 2020
Step 1A:
Indicate in the housing element site inventory that this parcel was used in a prior housing element planning period.
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