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"Workforce housing" draft definition #1: "Housing intended for and affordable to employees and households earning local wages, as defined by the Decennial Census, American Community Survey, or other approved data set." "Workforce housing" draft definition #2: Housing intended for and affordable to households that earn over 80% area median income (AMI), but which cannot afford market -rate housing. Creating a definition for Workforce Housing, particularly if it were selected to target a particular income group, could clarify the City's policy intent in this regard, and/or provide an opportunity to focus implementation efforts and programs in a more directive way. Rental versus Ownership One strategy that the City Council may consider is whether to recommend policy/ies for affordable housing for ownership, designed for the middle-income households or for the workforce. However, staff notes that, whether for sale or for rent, smaller housing units tend to provide more affordability, and rental housing tends to be more affordable than for -sale housing. Thus, any strategy should not be to the detriment of providing rental housing since this may undermine overall affordability and access to workforce housing opportunities. The most appropriate strategies, therefore, may be to focus on production of units "affordable by design" — whether for rent or for sale, and basic approaches such as those noted with respect to the IZO, to encourage affordable for -sale units. Partnerships There may be opportunity to partner with local employers to provide workforce housing. Partnerships between the City and organizations like the Pleasanton Unified School District (PUSD) or employers such as Valley Care could facilitate identification of the challenges of workforce housing, how to best inform this population of existing programs related to housing, and to brainstorm additional solutions: In its discussion of the PUSD-District Office site, as part of the sites inventory review, the City Council expressed interest in facilitating teacher housing or workforce housing on the site. As the land use agency conferring the necessary re -zoning and approvals necessary to develop the site, the City could consider offering incentives such as reduced fees or streamlined review for a project that specifically targeted the local workforce. In addition to these approaches, as described above, there may be a basis to increase the LIHF associated with new employment generating uses and/or refine the LIHF fee structure to ensure that employers appropriately mitigate the demands for new housing and help to house their local workforce. Numerous Commission and public comments have emphasized the importance of employers helping to mitigate or solve for the workforce housing demand they create. Page 10 of 16