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The City of Lakeport has a vital role in addressing the supply and affordability of housing.  Aside from its involvement in the issuance of building permits and the inspection of new housing and existing home remodeling activities, the City has planning responsibility associated with new subdivisions, parcel maps, and individual lot development projects. 

The City also operates a housing rehabilitation program which is dependent on State and Federal grant funding. 

Here is the final release of our Housing Activities Update.

The objective of the City of Lakeport Housing Program is to improve housing conditions and opportunities for low and moderate income persons, in a manner that conserves the existing housing stock, contributes to neighborhood revitalization and preservation, and satisfies other identified housing needs as set forth in the Lakeport General Plan.

In 2010, the City Council, in accordance with the provisions of California State Law, adopted the Housing Element of the Lakeport General Plan.  The Housing Element is one of seven General Plan elements that are mandated by California Law.  It is intended to provide citizens and public officials with an understanding of the housing needs in the community and set forth an integrated set of policies and programs aimed at attainment of defined goals. 

State Law states that the Housing Element shall consist of an identification and analysis of existing and projected housing needs and a statement of goals, policies, qualified objectives, financial resources, and scheduled programs for the preservation, improvement, and development of housing.

The Housing Element shall identify adequate sites for housing, including rental housing, factory-built housing, and mobile homes and shall make adequate provision for the existing and projected needs of all economic segments in the community. 

In addition, the City works with developers in encouraging of all housing types, including affordable housing as mandated by California and Local Laws.

Commitment to Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) in Lakeport

Affirmatively furthering fair housing means taking meaningful actions that, taken together, address significant disparities in housing needs and in access to opportunity, replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns, transforming racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity, and fostering and maintaining compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws. The duty to affirmatively further fair housing extends to all a public agency’s activities and programs relating to housing and community development.

The City of Lakeport actively anticipates opportunities to ensure compliance with HUD/HCD programs. Our goal is not only to meet requirements but also to set Lakeport apart from other applicants in the upcoming CDBG Notice of Funding Availability cycles.

In 2024, the Lakeport City Council adopted Resolution No. 2946 (2024) Adopting a Resolution Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.
This resolution demonstrates the City’s dedication to combat discrimination and foster inclusivity.

Background
Discriminatory government policies, exclusionary tactics, and disparate treatment have long been key components of the housing system and have encouraged spatial inequality based on race. For decades, systemic redlining, restrictive covenants in private land sales, and residential segregation restricted many groups, particularly communities of color, from accessing opportunity and meaningful fair housing choice.

To address this, Congress established the Fair Housing Act in 1968 to prohibit discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, and national origin. Over time the law expanded its protections to include discrimination based on sex, disability, and familial status. The law also introduced the need to go beyond just prohibiting discrimination to instead affirmatively creating real housing choice by affirmatively furthering fair housing.

However, while federal mandates prohibited overt forms of housing discrimination, residential segregation has remained through the use of more subtle, discriminatory methods that reinforce patterns of segregation that persist in California today. AB 686 introduces strong state policy to ameliorate this issue.

In 2018, the California State Legislature passed AB 686 to expand upon the fair housing requirements and protections outlined in the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The law:

• requires all state and local public agencies to facilitate deliberate action to explicitly address, combat, and relieve disparities resulting from past patterns of segregation to foster more inclusive communities.
• creates new requirements that apply to all housing elements due for revision on or after January 1, 2021.

The passage of AB 686 protects the requirement to affirmatively further fair housing within California state law, regardless of future federal actions. It also preserves the strong policy in the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HUD) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule as published in the Federal Register in 2015.

As of January 1, 2019, AB 686 proactively applies the obligation to affirmatively further fair housing to all public agencies in California. Public agencies must now examine existing and future policies, plans, programs, rules, practices, and related activities and make proactive changes to promote more inclusive communities.

Fair Housing Resources
Fair Housing Brochure - English
Are You a Victim of Housing Discrimination? - English
Ha Sido Usted Victima de Discrinacion en la Vivienda? - Spanish
Fair Housing Booklet - English
Equidad en la Vivienda Booklet - Spanish
Fair Housing Poster - English
Equidad en la Vivienda Poster - Spanish