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BACKGROUND State Planning and Zoning law requires each city and county government to regularly update its General Plan Housing Element to address its share of the regional housing need (RHNA). The due date for Bay Area cities to submit their Housing Elements to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for the 2015-2023 planning period (fifth Housing Element revision) is January 31, 2015. The last Housing Element update was a major undertaking due to significant changes in State housing law since the adoption of the 2003 Housing Element and the need to rezone approximately 70 acres to allow high density multifamily development in order to adequately address our share of the regional housing need. For the 2015-2023 planning cycle, staff anticipates an update rather than a rewrite of most background and analysis sections, and a review and minor updates of the Goals, Policies and Programs. Furthermore, staff anticipates that the City's inventory of vacant housing will be adequate to meet our Regional Housing Needs Assessment, although there are individual property owners who may request zoning changes to allow additional residential development. Although most of the Housing Element document will be drafted in-house, and City staff will direct all aspects of Housing Element preparation and public participation, staff believes the complexities of Housing Element law warrant the use of some specialized professional assistance to ensure that the document submitted to HCD meets all State law requirements. In addition, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documentation will be required. In October 2013, the City Council authorized the appropriation of$60,000 for professional services. CONSULTANT SELECTION PROCESS The City issued a Request for Proposal to planning consultants with Housing Element experience on December 19, 2013, and received two responses by the January 10, 2014, deadline, from PMC and ESA. Staff reviewed the proposals and noted that PMC's Housing and Community Development Team has a 100 percent success rate in receiving HCD certification, certifying 45 Housing Elements since 2008, of which 31 were certified after a single round of review. Examples of recent Housing Elements include: City of Alameda, City of Santa Rosa, City of Clayton, City of Davis and Riverside County. The firm has worked closely with HCD staff, and has experience with the new "streamlined Housing Element Review Process" being offered by HCD. Based on PMC's experience and success with Housing Element certification, and the expertise of the team named in the proposal, staff is recommending the selection of PMC for this project. The draft Professional Services Agreement with PMC is Attachment 1. PROPOSAL PMC's proposal for the Housing Element work including a project description and budget is included as Attachment 2. The work scope includes all aspects of the Housing Element update necessary to prepare a draft that is consistent with State law, including evaluating the effectiveness of existing housing programs, updating the housing needs assessment, reviewing our draft housing sites inventory, analyzing constraints to housing development, and reviewing and refining the City's housing goals, policies and programs. Page 2 of 3