City Council
Staff Report

Inclusionary Housing Requirements Ordinance Amendment / Zoning Ordinance Amendment, ZOA 2026-0002; and Environmental, ENV2026-0020

Conduct a Public Hearing and Consider the Following Actions: 

1. Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Rocklin Approving a Notice of Exemption (Inclusionary Housing Requirements Ordinance Amendment ENV2026-0020).
2. Introduce, Waive Full Reading, and Read by Title Only, an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Rocklin Amending Rocklin Municipal Code Title 17 Inclusionary Housing Requirements Chapter (ZOA2026-0002).

The City of Rocklin adopted its most recent Housing Element in 2021, covering the planning period from 2021 through 2029. The Housing Element outlines the City’s housing goals, policies, and implementation strategies to meet the needs of both current and future residents.

This proposed amendment supports Program 19, which reads:

The City will explore the feasibility of an affordable housing impact fee. This would help to offset the impact of new development on the need for affordable housing The City will explore both Commercial linkage fees and residential impact fee options.

Current Inclusionary Program - Overview

On March 5, 2024, the City Council and Planning Commission held a joint housing workshop on the City’s current Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). Despite significant affordable housing construction in the city, there is still a need for more affordable housing units to meet the City's RHNA obligations. The City’s Housing Element encourages new developments to construct 10% of units as affordable under certain circumstances; however, there was no mechanism in the Housing Element to require developers to include affordable housing as part of a project. Subsequently, the City Council contracted with Keyser Marston and Associates (KMA) to complete an analysis of the City’s current housing market and propose an Inclusionary Housing program to require production of affordable housing units, and an affordable housing impact and in lieu fee to provide funding for the production of those units. 

On June 24, 2025, the City Council discussed the progress in developing an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and In-Lieu fee program and directed staff to research timeframes for potential alternatives for consideration of an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance.

On August 12, 2025, staff presented the City Council with an overview of three anticipated timeframes and alternatives for the potential adoption of an inclusionary housing program. The City Council directed staff to proceed with an ordinance to be presented as soon as possible to establish inclusionary housing requirements within the Rocklin Municipal Code (RMC), while also continuing to proceed with KMA’s efforts towards an Inclusionary Housing policy and the establishment of an In-Lieu fee.

On October 7, 2025, staff presented to the Planning Commission an initial Inclusionary Housing Ordinance (ZOA2025-0003) that established requirements for new residential developments to include a minimum number of affordable units as described below:

• A minimum of fifteen percent (15%) of all dwelling units be developed, offered to, and sold or rented to low-income households; or
• A minimum of ten percent (10%) of all dwelling units be developed, offered to, and sold or rented to very low-income households; or
• A minimum of five percent (5%) of all dwelling units be developed, offered to, and rented to extremely low-income households.
• Alternative methods of compliance:
• Off-site construction (requires application by developer and approval by the city)
• Rehabilitation (requires application by development and approval by the city)
• In-lieu fee, but only when established by Resolution of the City Council

The Planning Commission voted 4-0 (1 absent) to recommend approval of the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance to City Council. Ordinance No. 1195, the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, was introduced at the October 28, 2025 City Council meeting, adopted at the November 11, 2025 City Council meeting and became effective on December 11, 2025.

On March 3, 2026, staff presented to the Planning Commission a comprehensive analysis of the current market conditions in Rocklin for residential and commercial development, a nexus-based analysis to determine the impact of market rate housing on creating the need for affordable housing, and a feasibility study to test different methods to increase the creation of affordable units in the city (collectively “the KMA Report”). The Planning Commission provided the following recommendations:

• Adoption of an in-lieu fee competitive with neighboring jurisdictions.
• Staff explore allowing single family residential developments to meet on-site inclusionary obligations with ADUs.

On March 24, 2026, staff presented the KMA Report to the City Council. The City Council provided feedback on the KMA Report and requested the following additional information:

• The amount of vacant land for residential development left in Rocklin and the potential fee revenue expected to be generated from the land.
• Different fee scenarios depending on unit size.
• The use of ADUs to meet inclusionary requirements.
• The number of affordable units that could be constructed with In-Lieu fee revenue.

On April 28, 2026, staff presented responses to the City Council request. After reviewing the additional analysis, the City Council directed staff to amend the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance to require residential developments to build at least 5% at Low Income levels.

On June 9, 2026, City Council adopted a resolution establishing an Inclusionary Housing In-Lieu fee program.

Summary of Proposed Changes 

The proposed modifications to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance are to the existing RMC Chapter 17.95 – Inclusionary Housing Requirements to remove the requirement to construct Very Low or Extremely Low income units. (Existing RMC Chapter 17.95 is renumber Chapter 17.26 in the Zone Rocklin project revisions to Title 17). The proposed Inclusionary Housing Ordinance amendments will require residential development to construct 5% of all dwelling units to be available to purchase or rent to Low Income households at a price that is affordable to Low Income households. Because the proposed modifications remove the requirements for Very Low and Extremely Low-income units, those definitions have been removed from the revised Title 17 Zone Rocklin section 17.26.020 – Definitions.

Other revisions have been made at the recommendation of KMA to align definitions with best practice and industry standards. Housing developments can still meet inclusionary obligations through alternative methods of compliance, including off-site construction, payment of an in-lieu fee, or the rehabilitation of  existing units. The rehabilitation alternative was clarified that rehabilitated units must be deed-restricted to ensure affordability.

On September 1, 2026, staff presented the proposed changes to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance to the Planning Commission. Public commentors voiced concerns about the timing of in-lieu fee payments and requested additional clarifying revisions. The Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the proposed changes and directed staff to explore clarifying language for the timing of fee payments. The proposed section 17.26.606 B.2., Timing of Payment, includes clarifying language that the in-lieu fee will be due prior to building permit issuance for each unit or subdivision lot. 

On October 13, 2026 City Council conducted a public hearing and introduced the Zone Rocklin Comprehensive Zoning Amendment (ZOA2026-0003). The second reading of this ordinance is on the Consent Calendar for the October 27, 2026 City Council meeting. The Zone Rocklin code contains the existing Inclusionary Ordinance and does not include the updates included in this ordinance. If approved, the amendments included as part of this staff report will replace the Inclusionary Ordinance in the Zone Rocklin update. The chapter and section numbers of this amended Inclusionary Ordinance have also been updated to align with the new numbering conventions in the Zone Rocklin update.

The proposed Inclusionary Housing Ordinance Amendments do not authorize any actual development project. Instead, each future development proposal will undergo an appropriate environmental review at the time it is submitted and/or analyzed. The proposed Zoning Code text amendments to Title 17 – Zoning are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, as the activity will not result in a direct physical change, nor is it reasonably foreseeable to cause an indirect physical change to the environment.

There is no direct fiscal impact in adopting the proposed amendments.