Carmel nears the finish line for its housing plan.

Pam Marino here, reflecting on Carmel’s long and winding journey to add housing units in unique ways that could very well set a precedent for other cities in the state struggling to add units.

The city appears to be in the homestretch of that journey, which started in 2024 after it received certification of its housing plan, known as a housing element, from the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Like all cities, Carmel was required by the state to add additional housing units to its plan for the period 2023-2031. In Carmel’s case 349, including 149 low- to very low-income households, not an easy feat in an expensive, small and built-out town.

A group of residents became alarmed when they realized that element included a promise by the city to allow possible development of the 149 low-income units on city-owned parking lots. The residents organized themselves as Affordable Housing Alternatives, or AHA.

Working closely with city staff, the group did extensive research to craft inventive ideas to incorporate affordable units throughout the city through accessory dwelling units, converting hotels into housing, building above commercial spaces and on church properties. An amended housing element incorporating those ideas was submitted to HCD in November.

It wasn’t clear at the beginning whether HCD staff would buy into those ideas, but after working closely with Carmel staff, they are on board. In a response letter to the city on Jan. 13, an HCD manager said only minor adjustments were needed before the amendment could be certified. 

“Significant progress has been achieved in developing community driven solutions that meet housing needs, the unique circumstances and conditions of the City and statutory requirements,” Paul McDougall, senior program manager for HCD said. He acknowledged Carmel’s hard work and diligence, and said his department appreciates “the extensive collaboration and innovative approaches employed” during the process.

There is homework—for example the city needs to speed up some of its efforts to pave the way for more housing through 2031 to make up for lost time, says Marnie Waffle, principal planner for Carmel. In one instance, they are prioritizing a plan that will allow owners of underperforming hotels to sell the rights to their rooms to other hotels, in order to convert rooms into housing. Those hotels would then use those rights to add rooms to their properties. 

Some encouraging news from this process is that three of Carmel’s four churches are interested in adding housing to their properties, driven by a passion to help those in need find homes, Waffle says. If all three are successful, that could add 65 units of low- to very low-income units to the city’s inventory. 

Waffle says getting this far with the amendment has been a “monumental effort that’s required a lot of time and resources,” from city staff but also from AHA. “The AHA group has been fundamental in this whole process.” 

The state has taken heat for “cookie cutter” solutions to the housing crisis, but here’s an example where collaboration between citizens, city planners and state officials has resulted in solutions to fit the very distinctive needs of a 1.1-square-mile village by the sea.