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BACKGROUND <br />On December 17, 2021, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) published the <br />Final Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) report, which confirmed Pleasanton's <br />6th Cycle RHNA at 5,965 units, including 2,758 Lower -Income, 894 Moderate Income, and <br />2,313 Above -Moderate Income units. This final RHNA remains unchanged from the draft <br />RHNA provided to the City in May 2021. <br />Based on an analysis of existing residential zoning capacity (including sites "carried over" <br />from the current Housing Element and other properties with residential or mixed-use <br />zoning), as well as pipeline projects (entitled but not yet built), there is a need to identify <br />new sites sufficient to accommodate approximately 3,143 additional housing units within <br />all of the affordability categories. A complete analysis of the existing residential zoning <br />capacity can be found in the November 10 Planning Commission agenda report included <br />in Attachment 1. <br />New sites must be identified through a detailed, parcel -specific inventory that will be <br />evaluated by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) <br />during its required review of the City's Draft Housing Element. Although HCD will review <br />the entire inventory, it pays particular attention to sites identified to accommodate the <br />City's lower-income RHNA, based on criteria intended to show the various sites' realistic <br />capacity to develop during the eight-year planning period of the Housing Element. <br />It is important to note that the identifying sites to accommodate the RHNA is a planning <br />exercise; it is not a mandate or quota for the City to construct housing units. While the <br />City must report annually on production of housing relative to its RHNA numbers, there <br />are no direct penalties for failing to meet the allocation; however, recent State law has <br />implemented streamlining and reduced local discretion over approval of housing projects, <br />some of which is specifically targeted at jurisdictions whose housing production has fallen <br />short of the RHNA. <br />In August and September 2021, staff began to compile a list of prospective sites from <br />various sources, including developer- and property owner -nominated sites, sites that have <br />known interest in housing development, and sites identified by staff that may have <br />redevelopment capacity based on characteristics such as location, size, and existing <br />utilization/underutilization, and other analysis. To date, these efforts have yielded a total <br />of 29 properties (or multiple sites referred to as "areas" when consolidated) to be <br />considered for rezoning to allow residential development. The preliminary list of sites, <br />density assumptions, and evaluation of site capacity was presented to the Planning <br />Commission on November 10, 2021 and the Housing Commission on November 16, 2021 <br />for initial discussion and input. To solicit community feedback on the potential sites, staff <br />held a Community Workshop on December 1, 2021. Comments from the Housing <br />Commission and from the Community Meeting, along with a final list of sites, were <br />presented to the Planning Commission on December 15 for its recommendation to City <br />Council as to which sites should be carried forward for additional analysis, and which <br />should be excluded from consideration at this time. A summary of the Housing <br />Page 2 of 18 <br />