Title
Public Workshop to Review and Comment on the Draft Housing Element Update and Zoning Code Amendments to Accommodate the Regional Housing Needs Allocation for the Period 2023-2031 in Compliance with State Law
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Housing Element workshop provides an opportunity for the Planning Board and the public to review and comment on a proposed zoning code amendment to permit, facilitate and encourage development to accommodate the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for the 2023-2031 Housing Element cycle.
Over the course of the last three months, the Planning Board has been holding public workshops to review and comment on draft zoning amendments and programs designed to encourage and facilitate the construction of housing in specific areas of the City. The attached Exhibit 1 consolidates all of the amendments into a single document for consideration by the Planning Board and community.
No final action is required at this time. Staff is requesting Planning Board and community comments on the draft zoning code amendment shown in Exhibit 1 (Housing Element Zoning Amendments). Based upon the comments received at the workshop, staff will continue to revise and improve the amendments for Planning Board consideration and recommendation to the City Council at a future Planning Board meeting.
BACKGROUND
Housing Element Update and Schedule
As described in prior reports, the City of Alameda (City) must identify lands that can be feasibly developed for housing during the 2023-2031 period to accommodate over 5,353 units, per State of California Government Code requirements. State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) guidelines require that the City provide a minimum 15% to 30% buffer to avoid “no net loss”. With a 20% “buffer”, the City’s 5,353 unit RHNA increases to approximately 6,400 units.
Over the course of the last three months, the Planning Board has been holding public workshops to review and comment on draft zoning amendments and programs designed to encourage and facilitate the construction of housing in specific districts and areas of the city to meet the RHNA and address fair housing requirements. The workshops and hearings have considered:
• Amendments to the R-1 Single Family Zone to increase housing opportunities and comply with SB 9 in single family zoning districts. Those amendments have been approved by the City Council and are not included in Exhibit 1.
• Amendments to increase housing at shopping center sites. The proposed shopping center multifamily overlay district is included in Exhibit 1.
• Amendments to address special needs housing in all zoning districts.
• Amendments to the CC District to increase housing opportunities and address special needs housing on Park Street and Webster Street. (See Exhibit 1)
• Amendments to the R-2 through R-6 residential districts to increase housing opportunities and address special needs housing in all residential districts. (Not yet included in Exhibit 1.)
• A program to build 1,489 units at Alameda Point and a separate public workshop to review zoning amendments for residential districts.
Schedule: The upcoming milestones in the Housing Element update public process will include:
• April: Distribution of the draft Housing Element for a 30-day public review period.
• May: Transmittal of draft Housing Element to HCD for 90-day review.
• May - July: Planning Board public hearings on Zoning Amendments.
• August or September: Planning Board public hearings to consideration of HCD comments.
• October: Planning Board public hearings and final recommendations to City Council on Draft Housing Element and Zoning Amendments.
• November or December 2022: City Council public hearings and action on draft Housing Element and Zoning Amendments.
DISCUSSION
The April 2022 Draft Housing Element is expected to be available for public review on or about April 1, 2022. The draft will include all the required sections including:
• Goals and policies,
• Programs,
• Site inventory,
• Review of the past Housing Element programs,
• Fair housing analysis,
• Housing conditions and needs analysis,
• Housing constraints analysis, and
• Housing resources analysis.
As described in prior staff reports and early drafts of the Housing Element, the site inventory identifies sites to accommodate the RHNA and a “buffer” of 20%.
Project Sites: The site inventory identifies opportunities for 2,198 units in nine projects on land currently zoned for residential development and opportunities for an additional 1,482 residential units on City-owned land at Alameda Point zoned for residential use. Cumulatively, these project sites will accommodate approximately 3,680 units.
Areas to be rezoned: To accommodate the remaining 2,720 units, the draft Housing Element includes programs to up-zone specific areas and districts of Alameda to encourage and/or permit additional housing. The areas and districts include:
• Shopping Centers (1,200 units on approximately 100 acres): Exhibit 1 includes the revised draft Shopping Center Overlay Zoning District discussed at the January 10, 2022 Planning Board Workshop. The new overlay district would be applied to four shopping centers comprising approximately 100 acres of land. Based on communications with owners of the four shopping centers (South Shore, Harbor Bay, Alameda Landing, and Marina Village), staff estimates the realistic capacity of the four sites to be 1,200 housing units or approximately 150 units per year for 8 years. Under the current zoning, these sites have produced no housing units annually.
• Park Street, Webster Street and Neighborhood Stations (400 units on approximately 90 acres). Exhibit 1 includes the revised amendments to the CC-Community Commercial District discussed at the February 14, 2022 Planning Board workshop. To accommodate 400 units, similar amendments to the C-1 Neighborhood Commercial Districts and the North Park Street Zoning Districts are also included in Exhibit 1. Under the current zoning, which has been in place since 1972 and the passage of Measure A, no new housing has been constructed on these mixed use corridors and sites. The 400 unit realistic capacity (50 per year) is based on a list of over 20 sites that staff believes represent housing opportunity sites. (This estimate may be too optimistic given that staff has not yet had direct communication with more than a few of these property owners.)
• Residential Districts (1,120 units on approximately 2,522 acres). The residential districts (R-1 through R-6) include over 2,522 acres of land. Staff is still developing the draft ordinance amendments for the residential districts based upon the Planning Board’s March 14, 2022 workshop, but the draft Housing Element programs anticipate that over the next 8 years:
o The R-1 through R-6 districts will continue to generate approximately 560 accessory dwelling units (ADUs) under the existing ADU ordinance (approximately 70 per year).
o The R-1 District will generate approximately 72 SB 9 units (approximately 9 per year). (This estimate may be too optimistic given that since the passage of SB 9 on January 1, 2022, the City has not received a single SB 9 unit application.)
o The City will rezone a vacant 4-acre site at 2199 Clement for residential use and accommodate at least 125 units if the zoning establishes a minimum residential density of 30 units per acre. (The vacant waterfront site is immediately adjacent to the Boatworks property. The current site zoning prohibits residential uses.)
o The Alameda Unified School District will surplus 4 acres of land for residential use at either Thompson Field or Lum School, which will result in at least 125 units if the sites are zoned for a minimum density of 30 units per acre. Lum School is currently zoned R-1, and Thompson Field is currently zoned Open Space.
o The City will amend the R-2 through R-3 Zoning Districts to permit multifamily housing, which will result in 238 additional units (approximately 30 per year). Under the current zoning, the R-1 through R-6 Districts currently produce about one (1) unit per year in addition to ADUs.
Conclusions:
This report serves as a briefing and update to the Housing Element public process and draft products. Staff is available to answer questions or take direction on either the public process or the draft zoning amendments included in Exhibit 1.
No specific actions are being requested at this time.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Conducting a workshop to review and comment on a draft Zoning Ordinance amendment is not a project under Public Resources Code section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines section 15378. Final adoption of the ordinance will be subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Accommodating the RHNA supports the region’s Sustainable Communities Strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A decision by the City to not meet the RHNA would likely have a negative impact on the region’s ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
RECOMMENDATION
That the Planning Board review and comment on draft Zoning Amendments shown in Exhibit 1.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
Allen Tai, City Planner
Henry Dong, Planner III
Brian McGuire, Planning Technician
Exhibits:
1. Draft Zoning Amendments
2. Zoning Map