CCMIN040406 - Laserfiche WebLink

acres for this housing, which has been needed for so long. She urged Council to plan carefully for the highest priority remaining units under the Cap. She believed waiting for the completion of the General Plan revision was not necessary or desirable. Jack Dove, a Pleasanton resident, pointed out the overall success of the Ridge View Commons facility and the large number of residents over the age of 90 who are living independently. In addressing the affordable housing needs and issues in Pleasanton, he believed senior housing was a need and urged Council to make a distinction between the assisted living facilities in the community. Each one is different and fulfills a need and has added to the overall housing stock. In looking at the cost of the new assisted living facility, he did not believe a Kottinger Place, Pleasanton Gardens or Ridge View Commons resident would be able to afford to reside at the new assisted living facility even with the lower rental rates offered. The best alternative is community living in a place like Ridge View Commons. He urged Council to set aside at least 700 to 800 units for senior housing and implement plans to fulfill this goal. Cynthia Morse, a Livermore resident, urged Council to put the puzzle together and have as its ultimate goal very-low income housing. To help with affordable housing, a member of the Economic Vitality Committee suggested at the February 28 joint Council workshop that a living wage be considered. She noted that a housing wage, which would be the amount of money that a person needs to make per hour to afford the average two-bedroom apartment in this area, is between $25 to $26 per hour, which is considered moderate income. Very-low income people are those who are employed in retail, offices, small and large businesses in the area, those who are employed at Hacienda Business Park and Stoneridge, people who provide childcare and domestic work, and people who are employed in the hospitality industry. She encouraged Council to use all resources and concentrate on the very-low income housing that needs to be made available in Pleasanton and the remainder of the Tri-Valley region. Becky Dennis, a Pleasanton resident, addressed Council from the perspective of a former Council member who wrestled with these problems, both growth and management of growth. She recalled that the preamble in the resolution to place the housing cap and urban growth boundary on the ballot specifically stated the reasons why this was being implemented as a planning tool to meet the City's State housing obligations. She referred to Program 19.1 and the issue of zoning land that is called for in this program, which is important for Pleasanton to meet its housing goals. If Council were to encourage densities that are capable of supporting affordability, particularly at the low and very-low income level, it needs to zone land because without zoning land, the future and the use of the land is uncertain in the community. Council needs to make this commitment up front so that the community can deal with the design of the program. Council needs to create incentives for non-profit developers to come to Pleasanton and without zoned land it is an expensive process for developers. When pulling back on density that might be proposed for a piece of land, such as SilverStone that has high density zoning, Council needs to consider the previous proposal by a non-profit developer for senior housing because it contained more affordable units. The SilverStone development while it is welcome as workforce housing and some level of affordability that complies to the City's Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance, contributed to the deficit in the very-low income area because it used up units under the housing cap. As the staff report indicated, 50 percent of every development would have affordable housing for low and very-low income families. All projects that Council approves that do not meet this standard make it harder for the City to meet its regional housing numbers. She recalled the struggle the City had in its most recent negotiations with ABAG to decrease the number of affordable housing units. She noted that Pleasanton is a job-centered city and when affordable housing numbers are considered this will always be taken into Pleasanton City Council Minutes 8 04/04/06