Title
Recommendation to Amend the Inclusionary Housing Program Preference Point System, Program Guidelines, including Adopting Underwriting Standards, and Prepare Revisions to the Appeal Process via an Ordinance. (Housing 266)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Acting City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Amend the Inclusionary Housing Program Preference Point System, Program Guidelines, including Adopting Underwriting Standards, and Prepare Revisions to the Appeal Process via an Ordinance
BACKGROUND
In 2003, the City Council adopted the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance which requires that each market rate residential project include at least 15% of the units with deed restrictions ensuring affordability for very low-, low- and moderate-income households. AMC Section 30-16 Inclusionary Housing Requirements for Residential Projects currently requires that all residential projects with five (5) or more units provide at least 15% of the units with deed restrictions to ensure that the units are affordable to very low-income (4%), low-income (4%), and moderate-income (7%) households. Residential projects with nine (9) units or less may pay a per unit fee in lieu of providing the deed-restricted units. Any project with 10 or more units must construct the deed-restricted units.
To enforce AMC Section 30-16, developers must enter into an Affordable Housing Agreement with the City which defines the requirements, details marketing guidelines, and includes the Inclusionary Housing Program Buyer Selection Guidelines (Guidelines), attached as Exhibit 1. Staff, developers and the public rely on the Guidelines for the rules and regulations of program implementation. Developers rely on the Guidelines for establishing the sales/rental price of the inclusionary units, staff uses the guidelines for determining buyer/renter income and evaluating other underwriting criteria, and the public knows how the program operates base...
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