SR 05:197 - Laserfiche WebLink

As discussed earlier, condo conversions will generally replace rental housing (which is typically affo~dable) with ownership housing. Due to existing market conditions, these new for-sale units are likely to be priced in the "above moderate income" range and hence unaffordable to many households. Clarifying the City's Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance to specifically apply inclusionary requirements for condo conversions would address this issue. The City could also consider providing assistance through its existing Down Payment Assistance program and helping to coordinate marketing of some units to facilitate purchase by low and moderate income households. Inclusionarv Zoning Ordinance A purpose of the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance (IZO) is to enhance the public welfare and ensure that future housing development attains the City's affordable housing goals by increasing the production of residential units affordable to households of very low, low, and moderate income. The ordinance requires that 15 percent of the total number of units of all new multiple family residential projects (20 percent of units in single family projects) shall be affordable to very low, low, and/or moderate income households. The IZO applies to "new" residential projects containing 15 or more units. While a condo conversion could be considered as creating "new" ownership units, the IZO does not clearly apply to condo conversion projects. Staff reviewed the ordinances for several other cities and found that condo conversions are clearly addressed in some cases. For example, the City of Livermore subdivision ordinance states that condo conversions are subject to inclusionary housing requirements. The ordinance was recently amended to clarify that projects seeking condo conversion after having previously met inclusionary requirements would receive appropriate "credit" at the time of the conversion. The Council may wish to incorporate similar provisions in Pleasanton's Inclusionary Zoning and/or Condominium Conversion Ordinances. Condominium Conversion Ordinance The City of Pleasant on has had a Condominium Conversion Ordinance (CCO) since the 1980's (PMC 17.04; please refer to the attached copy). Minor updates to the ordinance were made in April 1996. However, staff believes that there may be a need to review the CCO for compliance with current state law (e.g., the State of California Relocation Assistance Act; the Federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Policies for Federal and Federally Assisted Programs Act) as well as recently adopted City policies and ordinances (e.g., the Housing Element and Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance). This analysis should include an assessment of whether the ordinance supports Pleasanton's goal of attaining its fair share of regional housing needs for all income levels. As stated above, several cities in our region have experienced a similar surge in requests for condominium conversions. This has resulted in modifications and updates to local condo conversion ordinances. Modifications have generally addressed the following areas: SR:05:197 Page 5