Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Second Amendment to the Service Provider Agreement with City ConText to Increase Compensation by $76,080 for a Total Aggregate Compensation Not to Exceed $150,000, and Extend the Term to December 31, 2023, to Continue Providing Technical Planning Support to the City of Alameda Housing Element Update and Related Zoning Amendments. (Planning, Building and Transportation 209)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2019, the City of Alameda (City) entered into a contract with City ConText to assist with planning services and zoning text amendments. To date, their work product includes the Bird Safe Buildings and Dark Skies ordinances as well as the Objective Design Review Standards. Staff is requesting an amendment to the City ConText contract to increase the contract amount to an amount not to exceed $150,000 for work on zoning text amendments related to the Fiscal Years (FY) 2023-2031 Housing Element Update. The contract will be funded by the State’s $300,000 LEAP grant, which was awarded to the City in 2020. Community Planning Fees in the Planning & Building Department Biannual Budget may also be used to fund this contract.
BACKGROUND
Under State law, the General Plan Housing Element must be updated every eight years to accommodate the local share of the regional housing need, also known as the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). By December 2022, the City Council must approve an updated Housing Element of the General Plan identifying the sites with appropriate zoning to achieve the City’s RHNA. The updated Housing Element will require various amendments to the Zoning Ordinance text, in order to align the Zoning Ordinance with the Housing Element as required under State law.
DISCUSSION
In the fall of 2020, the City received its draft RHNA for the State mandated update of the General Plan Housing Element, which must be adopted the end of 2022. Groundwork on the Housing Element update has already begun. In December 2020 and February 2021, the City Council held the first two in a series of planned public workshops on the update of the Housing Element to accommodate the new RHNA. The Planning Board also held public workshops in January 2021 and on March 8, 2021 to review the proposed schedule and work plan for the Housing Element update to be completed in 2022.
The updated Housing Element must include not only goals, policies and an inventory of developable housing sites during the 2023-2031 planning period, but also a zoning ordinance with development standards and processes that are in alignment with the Housing Element. City ConText will assist staff in drafting the zoning text amendments necessary to implement the Housing Element goals and policies.
City ConText, led by Heather Coleman, is a qualified planning and design consultant with a long history of work in the Bay Area and for the City over the last two years. Ms. Coleman specializes in assisting cities with writing codes and development standards. City ConText is on the City’s list of qualified on-call planning consultants, which was created following a Request for Qualifications issued by the City in 2019. City ConText has provided important technical support for staff, and the quality of their work has been excellent. Staff believes that their continued support throughout the Housing Element Update process is critical.
ALTERNATIVES
The City Council may:
• Authorize the City Manager to execute the contract amendment as recommended;
• Authorize the City Manager to execute the contract amendment with revisions determined necessary by the City Council; or Not authorize City Manager execution of the contract amendment and direct staff to complete the Housing Element update process and related zoning text amendments without assistance from City ConText.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The necessary funds are available and budgeted for this use in the Planning & Building Department’s FY 2020-21 Budget. In addition, in 2020, the City received a $300,000 state LEAP grant to fund the Housing Element update. These grant funds are designed to supplement the Community Planning Funds collected over the past 10 years to fund General Plan and Zoning Ordinance updates, as authorized under state law.
The City Manager previously approved the original contract and the first amendment as presented below:
|
Contract |
Approval Date |
Authorized Amount |
Expended to Date |
|
Original Contract |
|
$50,000 |
$50,000 |
|
1st Amendment |
|
$23,920 |
$23,920 |
|
2nd Amendment |
Proposed |
$76,080 |
|
|
Total |
|
$150,000 |
$73,920 |
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This contract amendment is necessary to provide continued staff support on work related to the state-mandated Housing Element update for the 2023-2031 planning period.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. This action is not a project pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines section 15378.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no direct climate impacts from authorizing the City Manager to execute a second amendment to the City ConText contract. The work funded by the contract amendment would implement the General Plan and the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan by translating broader climate action policies into land use regulations and development standards for new development.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager to execute a second amendment with City ConText to increase compensation by $76,080, for a total aggregate compensation not to exceed $150,000, and extend the term to December 31, 2023 to continue providing technical planning support to the City of Alameda Housing Element Update and related Zoning amendments.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager recommends approval of authorization to increase compensation by $76,080.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
By,
Allen Tai, City Planner
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Annie To, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Original Agreement
2. First Amendment to Agreement
3. Second Amendment to Agreement
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager