Title
Recommendation to Approve an Amendment to the City Affordable Housing Agreement Standard Form and Amend and Record Five Previously Executed Agreements. (Housing 236)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Approve an Amendment to the City Affordable Housing Agreement Standard Form and Amend and Record Previously Executed Agreements
BACKGROUND
The City's inclusionary housing requirements are set forth in Municipal Code Section 30-16. The general requirement is that all new residential development of five or more units must provide for the sale or rental of at least 15% of total units at a restricted price. Developments of five to nine units may satisfy this requirement by paying a fee. In all developments with restricted units, the affordability restrictions are enforced by a regulatory agreement that is recorded against the property. The Council has previously approved a standard form of Affordable Housing Agreement ("Agreement") to serve this purpose.
Staff is recommending that the standard form of the Agreement be amended to better align with other funding programs and that the same amendments be approved for existing Agreements (Exhibits 1 and 2).
DISCUSSION
The Agreement requires that affordability of restricted units must remain in force for a minimum of 59 years. The Agreement also establishes specific occupancy standards with respect to the minimum and maximum allowable number of persons in a household according to unit bedroom size. Further, the affordable sale or rental price for each income level is determined by reference to California Health and Safety Code Section 50053 (or any successor statute). This reference to the Health and Safety Code does not always conform to the affordable rent calculation methodology established by the Internal Revenue Code, Section 42 that governs rental projects that are developed with Low Income Housing Tax Credits. This potential...
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