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In response to Councilmember Narum's inquiry, Community Development Director Clark explained the City cannot apply any discretionary approval to housing by-right and gives the City limited ability to review. She reported there is upside to the City reusing sites as they have been vetted and have been through a thorough Environmental Review. In response to Councilmember Narum's inquiries, Community Development Director Clark explained it may make sense to count the 30 and 40 unit DUA properties as being above-market rate. She also advised having the Planning Commission lead both the Housing Element and EPSP will require a considerable amount of work but the logistics have yet to be determined. She reported the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) consultant will likely be the same for both projects. In response to Councilmember Narum's inquiry, City Manager Fialho advised City Council could consider accelerating the appointment of new Planning Commissioners based on vacancies. In response to Councilmember Narum's inquiry, Community Development Director Clark clarified the list of criteria listed in the staff report was the list used in the last RHNA cycle and would be expanded to reflect new state requirements. In response to Councilmember Testa's inquiries, Community Development Director Clark reported Senate Bill 35 (SB 35) states if a jurisdiction failed to meet its production in the Housing Element, then certain types of projects are eligible for very streamlined development review. She noted the City has not received any applications although it is an SB 35 eligible city and projects would need to have a very high rate of affordability which has proven to be a substantial obstacle. She also explained SB 35 is a repercussion for not producing units. In response to Councilmember Testa's inquiries, Community Development Director Clark confirmed the state cannot intervene and plan the Eastside if a Certified Housing Element is in place, confirmed there is no current plan for the Eastside, and confirmed the City has produced more above-moderate units than allocated in the RHNA. In response to Councilmember Testa's inquiry, City Manager Fialho advised City Council can create an environment that generates more non-profit development to maximize affordability. He explained there is a provision in the Housing Element that discourages earmarking efforts on 100% affordability. He suggested the Planning Commission, City Council, and the Housing Commission discuss the possible modification of that policy to maximize more affordability. He noted City policy is to disperse 100% affordability through inclusionary housing policies. In response to Councilmember Pentin's inquiry, Community Development Director Clark sees the Housing Commission's role as being experts in policy matters and will provide a different perspective on housing in the community. Assistant City Manager Brian Dolan agreed the Housing Commission provides insight and guidance around policy. In response to Councilmember Pentin's inquiries, Community Development Director Clark believes planning the Housing Element without including the EPSP would be a point of discussion with HCD but believes it would be in the City's best interest to demonstrate it has the policy framework, the commitment and an action plan ready if the Eastside is to be included and counted. She also explained it would be difficult to determine if enough acreage is available to meet the Housing Element if previous sites were not reused and the EPSP is not planned. In response to Councilmember Pentin's inquiries, Community Development Director Clark advised the Below Market Rate (BMR) can be changed per site but would need to be explained to HCD as they may be hesitant to count the units at the higher range without some sort of commitment from a developer. She noted giving a property owner a Housing Element designation confers a significant amount of value to the land and as long as the City honors the promised amount to the developer she City Council Minutes Page 4 of 7 September 15, 2020