BENICIA — Low rents may be elusive in Benicia, but city officials are taking steps to boost the affordable housing supply.

The City Council last week approved hiring a consultant to revise the city's general plan to meet state-mandated housing targets.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development and the Association of Bay Area Governments requires every municipality to facilitate housing for all income levels. Cities need not build housing, but must remove any zoning or other regulatory barriers.

"We must plan for housing to fit all price ranges. We're not required to build, but we must show how we can accommodate those units," senior planner Lisa Porras said.

Benicia is required to make room for 532 units within the next year. Of those, 246 must be low- and very low-income units. Very low-income is defined as making less than 50 percent of the median income for the county, or less than $30,766 annually. Low-income is classified as less than $49,226 annually, or 80 percent of the median income. The rest fall into either the moderate or above-moderate ranges.

Figuring out the puzzle of where to put the added housing units isn't going to be easy in Benicia, which is mostly built out, city officials and housing advocates said. But planners said the mandate also provides an opportunity to reach environmental goals while creating affordable housing.

"It's not just a numbers game or an exercise in

Since the housing requirements were last assessed in 1999, Benicia met its zoning and planning targets and exceeded goals in actual construction of low-income housing. Since then, the city's mandated housing units increased almost 30 percent. The number of required low- and very low-income units more than doubled.

There are about 200 low-rent public housing units and affordable housing units, 80 senior residences, and about 375 landlords who participate in Section 8 housing. There are also, however, waiting lists for all of them, Benicia Housing Authority operations manager Priscilla Bernal said Thursday. Employees of the Community Action Council, which helps connect residents with housing and other services, said it's tough for affordable housing-hunters in Benicia. Many long-time Benicians and employees at local businesses are forced to move.

"You go where the housing is" said CAC assistant director Mary Frances Kelly Poh, who emphasized the importance of diverse housing.

"You have to have a good variety in every community" or you build a ghetto, "either rich or poor," Poh said.

As part of the general plan update, the city will conduct a community workshop in coming months.

E-mail Sara Stroud at sstroud@thnewsnet.com.