Title
Public Hearing to Provide Direction on Recommendations Regarding Amending the City's Inclusionary Affordable Housing Ordinance and Adding a "Middle Income" Housing Requirement. (Community Development 481005)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Public Hearing to Provide Direction on Recommendations Regarding Amending the City's Inclusionary Affordable Housing Ordinance and Adding a "Middle Income" Housing Requirement
BACKGROUND
On June 16, 2016, the City Council directed staff and the Planning Board to consider revisions of Alameda's Inclusionary Housing requirements to:
* Increase the overall percentage of required affordable units as defined by the current Housing Element of Alameda's General Plan and State housing laws within residential developments; and
* Add a "work force housing" requirement as part of the affordable housing requirement.
The City Council further asked that the recommendations from staff and the Planning Board consider alternatives that would not require an increase in the total number of units allowed by zoning and that the changes help Alameda meet its Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) for affordable units. The referral is attached as Exhibit 1.
On July 24, 2017, the Planning Board reviewed the staff analysis included in this report and added its own perspective on the issue of affordable housing in Alameda. The Planning Board's recommendations and suggestions are included below before the staff recommendation.
DISCUSSION
The City Council's 2016 referral statement stated that due to, "the high home prices and rents in Alameda, low and even middle income households are in need of increased opportunities in new developments" reflects a long-standing policy objective of the Alameda City Council to increase affordable housing opportunities in Alameda that goes back at least 14 years:
* In 2003, the City Council adopted the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, which r...
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