Title
Public Hearing to Consider a Resolution to Certify a Negative Declaration and Approve a General Plan Amendment to Amend the Housing Element for the Period 2015 through 2023. (Community Development 481002)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: John A. Russo, City Manager
Re: Public Hearing to Consider a Resolution to Certify a Negative Declaration and Approve a General Plan Amendment to Amend the Housing Element for the Period 2015 through 2023
BACKGROUND
In July, 2012, the City of Alameda completed a multi-year effort to update the Housing Element of the General Plan for the period 2007-2014. The 2012 Housing Element was certified to be in compliance with State law by the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Due to State requirements, all the cities and counties in the Bay Area must now update their Housing Elements for the period 2015-2023.
In early February, 2014, the City released the draft 2015-2023 Housing Element for public review. On February 27, 2014, the Planning Board held its first hearing on the draft Housing Element. On March 19, 2014, the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners held a public hearing on the draft Housing Element and suggested a number of minor revisions. On April 28, 2014, the Commission on Disability Issues held a public hearing and submitted comments on the draft Housing Element. Later on April 28, 2014, the Planning Board held a second public hearing to review the draft Housing Element. The April 28th draft Housing Element included a number of revisions recommended by staff based upon the comments received during the first three months of public review and comment.
On June 9, 2014, the Planning Board held a final public hearing and passed a motion recommending that the City Council approve the draft Housing Element (Exhibit 1). The Planning Board was unanimously in support of the draft Housing Element, but divided on a motion to add a new program establishing a Task Force to study the issue of rising rents and displacement in Alameda. The Planning Board voted to include the new program establishing the Task Force in the Element on a 4 to 3 vote. The Task Force program is discussed in more detail below.
DISCUSSION
Given that the City of Alameda completed a major revision to its Housing Element 24 months ago, the 2015-2023 draft Housing Element has been a relatively focused effort. The following sections of this report describe the major Housing Element policy and technical issues discussed during the public review process. (All of the written comments received are included in Exhibit 2.)
Available Sites: The City of Alameda has enough land zoned for residential use to meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for the 2015-2023 planning period. No additional site re-zonings or zoning amendments are necessary to comply with State law. In fact, Alameda has a large surplus of available land to accommodate the RHNA. The housing opportunity sites identified in the Housing Element to meet the RHNA are located in the Priority Development Areas (PDAs) designated by the City of Alameda and the Regional Sustainable Communities Strategy - Plan Bay Area. PDAs are eligible for State transportation, housing, infrastructure, and open space grant funds. Some small sites (e.g. Neptune Point on McKay and the CVS Site on Santa Clara) were removed from the Housing Element inventory because their availability for housing is in question.
Policy Objectives: The City of Alameda's housing policy goals and challenges for the next eight years will include:
· Providing housing opportunities to support and enhance Alameda's diverse community and excellent quality of life.
· Expanding housing opportunities for lower-income, special needs, and senior households.
· Creating transit-oriented, pedestrian friendly residential developments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and vehicular traffic from new development.
· Ensuring high quality architectural and sustainable urban design in all new residential developments.
Housing Element Organizational Revisions: To streamline, clarify, and improve implementation and integration of Housing Element policy objectives with other citywide objectives, the 2015-2023 Housing Element is organized as two documents: a Policy Plan and Program and a Background Report. The Policy Plan and Program includes the Housing Element policies and programs for the next eight years. The Background Report is a technical document that includes a review of the 2007-2014 Housing Element accomplishments, an analysis of Alameda's demographics, housing needs, and housing stock, an inventory of housing opportunity sites to accommodate the RHNA, and an analysis of housing constraints in Alameda.
To improve policy implementation and public oversight of the Housing Element, the policy section was revised and re-organized to include four over-arching housing goals for the next eight years. Each goal is followed by a series of policies to guide future decisions consistent with that goal. Each policy is followed by one or more programs, which the City will undertake to implement.
As required by law, the City will provide annual reports to the State over the eight-year period documenting progress on housing production and Housing Element implementation. The Housing Element requires that the Planning Board hold an annual public hearing to review the annual report and make recommendations to the City Council on any changes or new initiatives that may be needed to reach the City's housing goals. The City Council will approve the annual reports for transmittal to HCD.
Transportation and Housing: Accommodating additional housing without worsening existing transportation problems has been a central issue for public discussion and debate. In 2013, the regional agencies (the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission) adopted Plan Bay Area. Plan Bay Area is the Bay Area's plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as required by SB 375. The Plan proposes to reduce regional emissions by directing new development and growth to locations where existing transit and transportation facilities can be cost effectively improved to support the new growth. Plan Bay Area establishes PDAs within the region. The PDAs are areas where housing and job growth will be concentrated over the next 20 to 30 years. To support those communities with PDAs, the regional transportation plan prioritizes transportation funding for improvements needed to support the PDAs. Alameda has two PDAs designated in Plan Bay Area: the Northern Waterfront PDA (generally located along the northern waterfront from Tilden to Sherman Street) and the NAS Alameda PDA (Alameda Point, Alameda Landing, and Bayport).
In 2011, the City established the Cross Estuary Shuttle that currently provides commute hour supplemental shuttle services between Northern Waterfront employers, the College of Alameda and BART. In 2013, the West Alameda Transportation Management Agency (TMA) began commute hour shuttle services between the Alameda Landing Mixed Use development and BART. Pursuant to the Alameda Landing Development Agreement, each new housing unit at Alameda Landing pays over $300 per year to fund shuttle operations and other transit enhancements. Non-residential tenants pay a per square foot annual fee. The West Alameda TMA is also designed to be able to expand and/or partner with the future developments at Alameda Point to create expanded transportation services for the entire west end of Alameda. The Alameda Point Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan requires that all future residents and businesses at Alameda Point pay annual fees to support supplemental transit services from Alameda Point to BART, Downtown Oakland, and San Francisco.
Along the Northern Waterfront, the City is working to create expanded transportation services for future projects between the Webster Posey Tubes and the Park Street Bridge and the adjacent neighborhoods. All housing developments currently underway along the Northern Waterfront (Boatworks, Marina Cove II, Del Monte, etc.) are required to fund supplemental transit services to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips, similar to the requirements for the Alameda Landing project. These funds will be used to expand and supplement transportation services throughout the Northern Waterfront PDA.
The 2015-2023 Housing Element includes new and expanded policies that support the City's ongoing efforts to link new housing with expanded and improved transportation services. These new Housing Element policies support and complement existing City and regional policies to link infill development with transportation facilities and services to ensure that new development in Alameda supports livable, healthy residential environments and reduces greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion.
Rent Stabilization: At the February and April Planning Board hearings, Renewed Hope, East Bay Housing Organization, and other local housing advocacy organizations requested that the City of Alameda amend the Housing Element to include a program to study the need for rent control in the draft Housing Element. The request generated a significant public response both for and against the proposal. (See Exhibit 2.)
Preparation of rent control or rent stabilization ordinances is a complex process. To be effective, these ordinances must be very carefully crafted to address the specific issues that are important to the community, and they require a great deal of technical information and data. Implementation of these ordinances can be resource-intensive. Rent stabilization programs also require dedication of city financial resources, administrative resources, technical resources, and legal resources.
Based upon the comments received (both in favor and in opposition), staff recommended that the Housing Element include Program 2.8 that provides that:
· The City continue its existing program in support of the Rent Review Advisory Committee (RRAC), which currently provides mediation services between tenants and landlords to moderate excessive rent increases.
· The RRAC maintain a record of its activities and send an annual report to the City Council documenting the number of cases heard, the outcome of each case, and any recommendations that the RRAC wishes to make to the City Council about any additional tools, regulations, or laws that should be enacted to support the work of the RRAC and/or minimize displacement from excessive rent increases.
· The City Council consider the report annually and take any necessary actions that the City Council determines appropriate to implement or initiate any of the RRAC's recommendations.
At the Planning Board hearing on June 9, 2014, Planning Board member Knox White introduced an additional program 2.8.b. to establish a "Housing Costs and Rents Task Force" to study the issue further. The additional program reads as follows:
Program 2.8b Housing Costs and Rents Task Force: Create a Council-appointed task force to provide information on the state of housing and rental pricing in Alameda, including trends, impacts on residents and families due to rising costs. The task force will include a balanced membership of all stakeholder groups, including housing advocates, Realtors, landlords, and tenants. The task force will identify the root causes for recent price increases, existing efforts and policies in other Bay Area cities to combat these increases, including effectiveness and best practices and research into potential solutions. The findings of this research will be presented in a final report which should include multiple options and if consensus is reached a recommendation for Council action on a preferred option.
Responsible Department/Agency: Executive Management
Funding Source: TBD
Timing: June 30, 2016
Quantified Objectives: A final written report
Although all members of the Planning Board were in support of the idea of a Council-appointed task force to study the issue, three of the seven members did not agree that the program calling for a Housing Costs and Rents Task Force should be in the Housing Element.
At the meeting, staff did not recommend adding the program to the Housing Element. Staff suggested that the Planning Board consider a separate "advisory motion" to the City Council recommending the task force instead of adding the task force as a Housing Element program, for the following reasons:
· The program is not necessary to comply with State of California requirements for Housing Elements.
· Housing Element programs are commitments by the City to the State complete specific tasks within a specified amount of time. The Housing Element includes a number of specific programs which staff believes the City can complete on a specified schedule with the resources available to the City. Staff is concerned that undertaking this commitment will jeopardize the City's ability to complete the other programs in the Housing Element (e.g. Universal Design Ordinance, streamlined review for market rate and affordable housing, etc.) If the City is not able to complete its work on this task force by the promised date of June, 2016, or if this work causes the City to miss other Housing Element commitments, the City will need to report in its Annual Report to the State of California that it has failed to meet one or more of its commitments in its Housing Element. Staff does not recommend adding a new commitment in the Housing Element that impacts the City's ability to complete its other pre-existing Housing Element commitments, which are related to the provision of new housing opportunities.
· Based upon the public discussion at the June 9th Planning Board meeting, it is clear that the task force will be pressured to expand its scope to discuss a large number of peripheral issues affecting rents. Although these issues are all interesting and potentially relevant to the discussion, an ever expanding scope will increase City resource costs, time necessary to work, and impacts on other important work initiatives.
· The City Council could choose to establish a task force to study this issue, without making it a program in the Housing Element. The success or failure of the task force to meet pre-determined deadlines should not impact the City's ability to comply with its own Housing Element. Staff strongly recommends that the task force not be made a part of the Housing Element.
As noted above, on June 9, 2014, the Planning Board took two actions on the draft 2015-2023 Housing Element. The first action was a motion, on a vote of 4-3, to recommend that the City Council adopt the draft Housing Element as presented by staff with the inclusion of the additional program, 2.8.b Housing Costs and Rents Task Force, described in this staff report. The second action was a motion, on a vote of 7-0, to inform the City Council that the Planning Board was unanimous in its support of the draft Housing Element, but split on the inclusion of program 2.8b.
The attached draft Housing Element reflects staff's recommendation and does not include program 2.8b. After taking public comment on the Housing Element, the City Council could:
1. Approve the Housing Element, as recommended by staff;
2. Approve the Housing Element with Program 2.8.b included, as recommended by the Planning Board; or
3. Approve the Housing Element as recommended and consider the proposal to establish a Housing Costs and Rents Task Force as described above and provide direction if any, to staff.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Adopting the proposed Housing Element does not have impact on the City of Alameda General Fund. An approved 2015-2023 Housing Element will reduce the City's exposure to potentially expensive lawsuits and will ensure that the City remains eligible for certain State grant funds for transportation, housing and open space improvements.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
Approving a 2015-2023 Housing Element is necessary to ensure that the City of Alameda General Plan is in compliance with State Law.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Adoption of the 2015-2023 Housing Element is an action that is subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. In April, 2014, the City of Alameda completed and released for public review a Draft Negative Declaration (Exhibit 3) and initial study that evaluates the environmental impacts of the action to approve the Housing Element. The 2015-2023 Housing Element does not include any programs to rezone property for residential purposes, nor does the draft Element propose any new policies or programs that would have an effect on the physical environment. The Negative Declaration finds that there would not be any new significant environmental impacts from adopting the Housing Element and continuing to implement existing policies and programs.
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public hearing to consider a resolution to certify a negative declaration and approve a General Plan Amendment to amend the Housing Element for the period 2015 through 2023.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
By,
Andrew Thomas, City Planner
Exhibits:
1. 2015-2023 Housing Element
2. Public Comments Received
3. Negative Declaration