Title
Final Passage of Ordinance Amending Alameda Municipal Code to Add Section 30-18 Universal Residential Design. (Community Development 209)
Body
CITY OF ALAMEDA ORDINANCE No.________
New Series
AMENDING ALAMEDA MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADD SECTION 30-18 UNIVERSAL RESIDENTIAL DESIGN
BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Alameda:
Findings.
In enacting this Section, the City Council finds as follows:
1. The amendment maintains the integrity of the General Plan.
The proposed zoning text amendment is necessary to implement the City of Alameda General Plan Housing Element policies that require that the City "Provide housing that meets the City's diverse housing needs, specifically including affordable housing, special needs housing, and senior housing."; and "Encourage and support residential opportunities for senior citizens, including senior housing projects, multifamily housing projects with accessible and small housing units, assisted living projects, and in-law projects", and "Consider amendments to the Zoning Ordinance to require universal design elements in all new housing projects of five or more units.
2. The amendment will support the general welfare of the community.
The proposed zoning amendment supports the general welfare and housing needs of people within the community with mobility issues. Whether due to disability or age, individuals with mobility difficulties or other functional limitations or access needs often require special accommodations to their homes to allow for continued independent living. Research shows that over the lifespan of a new, typical housing unit, that 25-60% of those units will house a disabled person. Additionally, 53-91% will have a disabled visitor over the course of the unit's lifetime.1 Those numbers do not include people with temporary disabilities, such as a broken leg or healing from surgery, which would greatly increase the numbers.
Approximately nineteen percent (19%) of the population ...
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