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Patricia Belding asked that the Council delay the approval of any additional multi-family housing until such time as the nexus study is complete. She said the City has made a considerable investment of time and money in planning for affordable housing and it would be a shame to throw that out for the sake of approving present developments that do not meet the City's needs in this regard. She said affordable and workforce housing is a real, not theoretical, need in this community and asked that the Council represent the interests of all those who are not present but are in need. Mayor Thorne closed public comment. Councilmember Pentin referred to a letter received from Becky Dennis. He asked how long the nexus study is anticipated to take and whether that parallels the progress of current development applications. City Manager Fialho estimated the nexus study would take another 6 months at best whereas the first of the development applications is scheduled to come before the Planning Commission in the next month. He noted that to delay these approvals until after the nexus study is complete would unnecessarily delay the projects and zonings the City has been mandated to accomplish. While on one hand there is pressure to update the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and Lower Income Housing Fee, on the other hand there are advocates watching the City very closely and wondering why development applications are not being processed as promised. Councilmember Pentin suggested that moving forward without the benefit of an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and a guarantee of 15% affordability would defeat the very purpose of RHNA. Mr. Fialho said that has not been the City's past experience and reiterated that the developers of those projects currently being processed have expressed an interest in accommodating the City's standard. These same developers are seeking variances and development agreements, and the public benefits derived from these documents are things like affordable housing or contributions to Bernal Park. If there is mutual agreement between the City and developer to accomplish that, the Palmer case is irrelevant. Additionally, the recently adopted development standards contain some very specific guidelines including compliance with the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. Councilmember Pentin asked if there is any risk that a developer can claim the City has violated its settlement agreement by not allowing them to build at 30 units per acre. Mr. Fialho confirmed but said there is also risk that if delayed, a third party advocate or the developer can charge the City for its protracted and delayed development review process. Councilmember Brown asked whether developers could be offered options in terms of inclusionary rates versus different fund contributions. Mr. Fialho said it is typically an either/or situation addressed by the Council. He stressed that there is a give and take with each project and that compliance with the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance considers depth of affordability and mix of units in addition to the total number of affordable units offered. He noted a recent instance in which a proposal came before the Housing Commission at a 13% inclusionary rate but included deep three-bedroom unit affordability. While staff felt there was a strong need for this type of affordable unit that justified the flexibility, the Commission wanted to strive instead for a 15% inclusionary rate. MOTION: It was m/s by Cook-Kallio/Brown to wavied full reading and adopt Resolution No. 13-598 approving the annual progress report on implementation of the General Plan Housing Element for the calendar year 2012 and authorize its submittal to the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. Motion carried by the following vote: City Council Minutes Page 4 of 9 March 5, 2013