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<br />Mr. Sullivan said there has been much discussion about affordable housing, <br />ways to achieve it and ways to fund it. As part of the General Plan update process, he <br />would like to have a workshop specifically on affordable housing, the best way to do it, <br />options, what the community wants, and see if there is interest in pursuing those goals. <br /> <br />Mr. Brozosky indicated the Housing Commission has been asked to prioritize the <br />in-lieu fee, which is just part of this. There is confusion on what is workforce housing <br />and affordable housing, whether it is only subsidized or affordable by design. The <br />Housing Commission does not look at affordable by design, it looks at how to get to the <br />low and very low-income housing and that can't be done with affordable by design. Mr. <br />Brozosky had this discussion at the Chamber of Commerce meeting a couple of weeks <br />ago and there is no general consensus on what all these things mean or how to <br />accomplish it. He was uncertain a joint workshop is the way to do this or to ask a <br />Commission to review the matters. <br /> <br />Ms. Roberts believed a commission had several workshops on affordable <br />housing four or five years ago. <br /> <br />Mr. Brozosky said that was more on opportunities in the Tri-Valley but did not <br />include definitions. It was a forum to present different programs as opposed to getting <br />feedback from the community. <br /> <br />Mayor Hosterman felt that as we move through the subject matter, there are <br />different special interest groups that come up with great ideas. Every time they do, a <br />new word is added to the vocabulary. Most think they understand what it means, for <br />instance workforce housing, but as months and years go by and new words pop up, <br />people are no longer certain of definitions. <br /> <br />Mr. Fialho indicated there are three or four workshops reserved for the future and <br />suggested setting aside time to discuss some of the techniques for establishing <br />affordability. The Council and community can be informed and can set forth what kind <br />of broad policy perspective to take as part of the General Plan update. <br /> <br />Ms. McGovern felt it was not just the type of affordable housing offered but also <br />the city's ability to meet the needs from a financial standpoint. She did not think the <br />community realized that low and very low income housing is always subsidized and the <br />city has to find out how to do that financially, especially when approaching build out <br />when there will not be many more units built. <br /> <br />Mr. Fialho suggested starting at a broad level and then refine concepts later. <br /> <br />Ms. McGovern asked if the increased density downtown would be part of future <br />workshop discussions. <br /> <br />Mr. Fialho said staff has not included anything downtown because it was one of <br />the areas specifically excluded from this General Plan update. <br /> <br />Pleasanton City Council <br />Special Meeting <br /> <br />8 <br /> <br />11/29/05 <br />