SR 06:078 - Laserfiche WebLink

In addition, the City Council has expressed an interest in including "affordable by design" units which are smaller units, less than 1,500 square feet, that are made available at the lower end of the housing price scale without imposing resale/deed restrictions. In response, the Agreement does include five of these units. Further, in response to concerns raised by the Housing Commission, the Agreement does contain provisions that address "no flip" and preference criteria in an attempt to make these units available to households rather than investors. The "no flip" provisions require the units to be owner occupied for a period of one year, However, the Agreement also includes "Hardship Execptions" that allow the owners of these units to sell the units within the one year timeframe to address matters related to divorce, job change, and change of household due to death of an owner or dependent. Limited preference criteria is also included requiring the "affordable by design" units to be sold first to households where at least one household member has resided in the City of Pleasanton for at least two years prior to execution of a purchase agreement; and second to households where at least one household member has worked in the City of Pleasanton for at least two years prior to the execution of a purchase agreement. Because these units do not contain resale/deed restrIctIons, the opportunities for imposing restrictions for the "affordable by design" units are limited; however, the terms of the Agreement adequately address concerns raised initially by the Housing Commission, As a result of these restrictions, the Agreement requires the developer to use "commercially reasonable efforts" to carry out these requirements, As a result, in the event the developer is unable to identify households meeting the preference or owner occupation requirements, the units can be sold without these restrictions. These conditions will not be applied to future purchasers of the "affordable by design" units. In addition to the terms of the Affordable Housing Agreement and in response to concerns expressed by the Housing Commission, staff did have discussions with the developer regarding project density. Essentially, the developer must balance the interests of the neighborhood, the Planning staff, Planning Commission and the City Council when determining acceptable density. While there have been discussions in the past regarding the potential for higher density on this site, up to 125 units, those plans were not evaluated by the neighborhood or the City Council. As a result, the Council approved the development with the 45 units presented to the Housing Commission. Finally, while not part of the Agreement, SilverStone has agreed to provide literature regarding the City's down payment assistance program to all to prospective buyers of all of the project units with the intent that this may provide needed assistance to families seeking to purchase units. SR 06:078