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development. For example, the City received a $300,000 competitive grant in 1997 through the State <br /> Developmentally Disabled Services - Rental (DDS -R) program to provide four units within the <br /> aforementioned Promenade apartment project for rental by very low income persons with <br /> developmental disabilities in cooperation with the Regional Center of the East Bay. The City is <br /> currently working with East Bay Innovations to consider applying for funds through the "Money <br /> Follows the Person (MFP)" program (funded with federal HOME dollars) to create a demonstration <br /> project in Pleasanton to help people with disabilities and elderly people move into their own homes <br /> from nursing homes. As noted earlier, the City successfully applied for $450,000 in state HELP <br /> funds in FY 2004 to start its Down Payment Assistance program to promote increased home <br /> ownership in Pleasanton. A new application for HELP funds was submitted and approved in 2005 to <br /> provide S1.5 million in gap financing for the City's Parkview assisted living facility project. The <br /> City will also continue to utilize its Lower Income Housing Fund (supported through payment of the <br /> Lower Income Housing Fee by developers) to finance activities promoting affordable housing. <br /> Land Costs <br /> The City does not have ownership of any sigmificant parcels of land at the present time. Therefore, <br /> the market cost of land is posing an ongoing constraint to new affordable housing development in <br /> which the City has direct involvement. However, the City has worked and will continue to work <br /> with individual developers and with the owners of large land holdings to attempt to reserve <br /> additional sites for affordable housing development during the five -year Strategic Plan period. As <br /> described earlier, the City was recently successful in negotiating a 15 percent set -aside of affordable <br /> housing units (31 rental units for low and very low income households; 56 ownership units for low <br /> income first -time home buyers) on a 200 acre portion of the 500 acre Bernal property south of the <br /> Alameda County Fairgrounds, which will ultimately accommodate a total of 581 new housing units <br /> and new commercial development. This agreement also resulted in the dedication of the remaining <br /> 318 acres to the City of Pleasanton for "public uses." The acquisition of this land will provide the <br /> City with new flexibility and opportunities to consider options for new housing development should <br /> future conditions and community needs warrant. The adoption of an Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance <br /> in late 2000 has yielded positive results in the form of discussions of possible land dedication in lieu <br /> of builders providing affordable housing units. The completion of the updated Housing Element in <br /> August 2011 may provide additional land ownership opportunities that can be utilized to create new <br /> affordable housing. <br /> Housing Development Costs <br /> The City will continue to work to offset the costs of housing development by waiving certain City <br /> fees for affordable rental and ownership housing units and by providing various types of subsidies <br /> through the use of its Lower Income Housing Fund. The example was cited earlier in this report of <br /> extensive fee waivers that have been granted in the past to defray development costs and promote <br /> affordable housing construction. <br /> Action Plan - FY 2011 <br /> City of Pleasanton <br /> Page 32 <br />