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Hollister says it has met 337 of the state’s goal of 4,163 of housing units in the first two years of the six-year cycle, according to a progress report approved by the Hollister City Council on March 16.
The units represent about 8% of those the state wants to see built in the community.
Every eight years, the state provides each jurisdiction with a housing goal known as the Regional Needs Housing Allocation. In 2021, California required San Benito County to plan for 5,005 units, which were distributed among the two incorporated cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista and unincorporated areas of the county.
Of the units counting toward the state’s housing allocation, Assistant City Manager Rod Powell said the largest project approved by the city last year was the nonprofit Community Services Development Corporation’s 100% affordable 17-unit apartments on Fourth Street, adjacent to Dollar General store.
He added the city has granted occupancy certificates to 162 units since January 2024.
According to the table he presented to the City Council, as part of the 6th Cycle of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, the city has gotten credit for five units in the low income level, 17 in the moderate income level and 315 in the above moderate (market rate) income level.
The city does not have credits in the acutely low, extremely low and very low categories, though it is required to plan for 846 units in those categories.
Mayor Roxanne Stephens’ questioned why the city did not have any units in the lower income level category, Planning Manager Eva Kelly said the city does not have “many” affordable units in the pipeline.
Over the years, developers have told local officials that it’s not profitable for them to build only affordable units.
City Manager Ana Cortez said the market does not provide for affordable housing.
“That’s why we have a housing crisis,” she said. “This is not an area where folks are going to jump in and want to build affordable housing. It takes us establishing a partnership with nonprofit developers who do develop affordable housing.”
Hollister adopted an ordinance in 2024 requiring developers to designate 15% of the units affordable if the projects consist of 10 or more units. Affordability is defined as at or below 120% of a county median income. According to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the San Benito County area’s median income in 2025 was $140,200.
“When we say affordable, what that really means, for a lot of people, “affordable” is still not affordable,” Stephens said.
Powell said the city gets credit for the units when building permits are received by the developer.
He also said the city included in its report multiple accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the lower level income housing units because the applicants participated in a voluntary survey when they applied to construct such units.
“That was a surprise characteristic for us,” he said.
Councilmember Rolan Resendiz said the survey was important to the city.
“I think we should probably push a little bit more of the community education out there to let people know they’re not going to get in trouble,” he said. “This is going to be useful in a number of ways not just for the RHNA but for us to get an actual count of what we have out there.”
The report that will be submitted to the state comes as Hollister still needs to rezone identified properties for residential development for its 6th Cycle of the Regional Needs Housing Allocation in order to receive certification by the state for its Housing Element.
Being out of compliance, Hollister is susceptible to a state action known as builder’s remedy. It has also been ineligible for certain state grants. The city is expected to complete the Housing Element process in April.
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