CC MIN 02012022 - Laserfiche WebLink

deadline for adoption of the Housing Element is January 2023 although there is a 120-day grace period. She provided a brief overview of the timeline including past and upcoming events. She explained there have been some recent changes in state law that provided the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) more time for review and is pushing out the City's grace period. Ms. Clark provided a brief overview of the site selection process to date. She reported staff identified 29 initial sites and density assumptions. She advised conducting Planning Commission and public review. She reported the list has been reviewed by the Planning Commission and Housing Commission and community workshops were held. She reported on December 15th the Planning Commission made its final recommendation to the City Council for review today. The City's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) number is 5,965 units distributed across various income categories and the City must show to the State the City can meet that need in each category. She reported the existing zoning capacity shortfall is 3,143 units. She explained the final Housing Element site inventory will go through California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), onto the HCD for review and refinement of final sites, and back to the City Council for final adoption in early 2023. Staff recommends adding 50 percent more units than the identified gap to provide flexibility to adjust sites based on successive inputs during the review process. She explained the importance of having an appropriate balance of density ranges and housing types for each site. She advised high-density sites must be developed at a minimum of 30 units per acre and low and medium-density sites will be . developed at the average density within the range per HCDs guidance. She provided local examples of density ranges. Ms. Clark provided a brief overview of High-Density Housing. She reported in the last Housing Element, the City opted to allow a maximum of 30 —40 units per acre in High Density. She advised the Planning and Housing Commission's consensus is that zoning above 30-40 units per acre in appropriate locations could accommodate RHNA more efficiently, improve design outcomes, encourage the production of smaller and more affordable units, and make projects more financially feasible. She noted that design and environmental impacts must be carefully reviewed. She provided examples of High- Density Housing. Ms. Clark reported 29 sites have been identified and assigned a preliminary density range. She provided a brief overview of the sites including their density ranges and locations. She reported the total estimated zoning capacity if all 29 sites were developed would be 6,629 units. She noted the City Council has the flexibility to pare down that list and take some sites out of consideration. Ms. Clark explained the framework for how each site was ranked and scored based on the Sites Criteria approved by the City Council. She advised other factors and policy considerations will come into play during the process that will elevate or reduce the desirability of some sites over others including community support, property owner support, land-use compatibility, the feasibility of development, and geographic location and distribution. The Planning Commission was supportive of consideration for increasing densities on some of the sites and increasing the maximum density on existing Housing Element sites. Ms. Clark advised their initial feedback was to keep Site 28: Steelwave and Site 20: Boulder Court, Remove Site 26: St. Augustine and Site 13: Pimlico South as recommended by staff, and deprioritize/eliminate Sites 17: Mission Plaza and Site 18: Valley Plaza. A Community Workshop was held on December 1 and noted there were concerns regarding displacement of existing uses and loss of small business and concerns of overall infrastructure capacity such as increased traffic, water supply and quality, and school capacity. Ms. Clark noted there was support for sites near Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) or transportation. She advised the community City Council Minutes Page 13 of 16 February 1,2022