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13. Introduce an ordinance amending the Growth Management Ordinance to allow the City Council to override the annual housing allocation in order to meet the City's total regional housing needs, especially for exceptional affordable housing projects Mr. Roush stated that the City's current Growth Management Ordinance currently allows for 350 building permits to be issued annually and to divided amongst what are called major projects (100 units), first come first served projects (100 units), and affordable housing projects (50 units). He noted that the affordable housing permit allocation (50 units) can be exceeded for affordable housing projects, provided there are unused allocations from previous years and that allocations from future years can be used as well. Mr. Roush said that Housing Element Program 34.5 provides that the Growth Management Ordinance should be amended to allow the Council to override the annual allocation of 350 units if required to meet the total regional housing needs and especially for exceptional affordable housing projects. He noted that although the City has never denied any project as a result of these limitations, the pending litigation alleges that the City's failure to amend the ordinance has had a chilling and adverse impact on opportunities for affordable housing projects. Accordingly, staff has drafted an ordinance that amends the Growth Management Ordinance, consistent with Program 34.5, in order to eliminate this claim in the litigation. The amendment also reflects the availability of 400 units available from past years, and makes other minor revisions to comply with changes that were made in the General Plan update. Councilmember Sullivan read from the ordinance and noted that it discusses granting approvals so that the total regional housing needs can be met. He asked if it could be revised to stipulate only affordable housing needs. Mr. Roush confirmed but said that it may not clearly meet the full intent of Program 34.5. While the City has never encountered the need to increase the number of building permits in order to meet total housing needs, that situation could conceivably arise. Councilmember Sullivan said that the impetus seems to be affordable housing rather than total RHNA numbers. He said he shared the same concerns as Councilmember Sullivan that these steps incrementally dismantle the growth control measures implemented over the last 20 years, and if the focus is truly on affordability, he would like that modification considered. Mr. Brown stated that claims raised by both the Attorney General and petitioner assert that the City's Growth Management Ordinance needs to be amended to address the entire RHNA obligation, not just the affordable obligation. Mayor Hosterman referred to earlier discussion on land use mechanisms for maintaining local control and asked if any are successfully used by other communities to safeguard local control. Mr. Brown said the City has a wide array of opportunities, including those currently in place. It would benefit everyone to have a conversation about the existing ordinance and the protections built in there. In addition, should the housing cap be invalidated in whole or in part, that protection would be irrelevant for several years as the City has not even approached that cap. He said that, in connection with the rezoning just approved, there is still time to address these issues in a careful and considerate way. Mr. Fiaiho concurred. Councilmember McGovern asked how this ordinance changes the annual cap on homes built. City Council Minutes Page 23 of 25 October 20, 2009