CCMIN 11022021 - Laserfiche WebLink

In response to Councilmember Balch, Director Clark advised her understanding for SB 478 is there is no specific definition in the state law as to how the FAR is calculated so the City would rely on the Municipal Code to define FAR and how it is counted for habitable space. Councilmember Balch thanked the team for helping advance Pleasanton's legislative agenda. In response to Mayor Brown, Director Clark explained units converted under AB 787 that are approved in 2022 would be reported on the 6th RHNA cycle of 2023. It might depend at what point in time the units came online to determine which RHNA cycle they are reported under. She advised staff would investigate further regarding the timing for the unit count for each RHNA cycle. City Manager Nelson Fialho reported the City's impact fees were last updated in approximately 2018 and noted the City has numerous impact fees that need to be handled differently. He reported the previous Comprehensive Development Impact Fees Study was conducted in 1998 but has been adjusted every 5 to 7 years from that point forward. Mayor Brown clarified for the public the fees need to be appropriate for the expenses within the City. In response to Mayor Brown, Director Clark advised the impact fees for lower-income housing are by the unit. She explained the City would not have to modify it to square feet but would have to include analysis and discussion to make findings why that method has been chosen. In regard to Mayor Brown regarding parking near new development near housing, she advised the State did not address parking which clearly stated the State feels is imperative to build more housing and reduce barriers over concerns about parking. She noted many state laws are pushing in the direction to minimize or eliminate parking requirements. Most developers want to provide parking to make their projects more marketable and recognize Pleasanton is not a very intensely urban environment. Mayor Brown thanked Niccolo De Luca and Andres Ramirez from Townsend Public affairs for working with the Legislative Committee and developing guidelines for advocacy letters sent to State legislators to represent Pleasanton as a premium community and to continue to provide that for residents. Mr. De Luca expressed appreciation for the partnership with the City and noted it is a team effort. He noted that many of the bills are not perfect, but they have confidence in their work with the City and the NC Coalition that a good number of the bills are in a place where they are at least manageable. He reported the legislative process is heading towards the second year of a two-year cycle which will start in January. He does not expect to see the same number of bills being introduced although there are some bills on hold from this year but anticipates a greater focus on the State budget. Mr. Ramirez expressed appreciation for the City's confidence in Townsend Public Affairs and thanked the City staff and the City Council for partnering with them to have tangible success in legislation. He reported in regard to AB 215 they advocated for the removal of the provisions that would have required the City to obtain a pro-housing designation from the HCD if it had not made significant progress towards its RHNA numbers and were successful in having the provision removed. He reported they advocated for and were successful in retaining the exemption of historic districts and historic zones within municipalities in SB 9 and noted that effort was led by the NC Coalition. Additionally, for SB 9, he advised they advocated for explicit clarification around the number of units on what once was a single parcel with one housing unit and noted the bill specifically states no more than four units. He noted they also successfully advocate for an exemption for extremely high fire severity zones to SB 9 provisions. Lastly, he advised they were able to three years of owner occupancy requirements in SB 9 where originally it had only been one year. Mr. Ramirez reported the NC Coalition advocated for the removal of the provisions in SB 10 that would have allowed the upzoning of a parcel up to 10 units in a job-rich area which is a very vague reference and were successful in having removed. He reported they advocated to have for the removal of the ability to overturn a voter-approved ordinance against rezoning and while it was not entirely City Council Minutes Page 10 of 19 November 2,2021