Title
Public Workshop to Review and Comment on the April 2022 Draft Housing Element and the proposed 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 the April 2022 Draft Housing Element and proposed zoning code amendments to permit, facilitate and encourage development to accommodate the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for the 2023-2031 Housing Element cycle. The April Draft Housing Element and the April draft Zoning Code Amendments were distributed to the Planning Board for the April 11, 2022 Planning Board workshop. Both documents continue to be available for public review at www.alameda2040.org <http://www.alameda2040.org> or www.alamedaca.gov <http://www.alamedaca.gov>.
No final action is required at this time. Staff is requesting Planning Board and community comments on the draft documents.
BACKGROUND
As described in the draft Housing Element, the City of Alameda is in the third year of work to update the Housing Element to ensure compliance with State Housing Law. As described in prior staff reports and the draft Housing Element, the City of Alameda (City) must identify lands that can be feasibly developed for housing during the 2023-2031 Housing Element 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.
DISCUSSION
After three years of discussion about housing in Alameda, the City must now prepare to complete work on the Housing Element in 2022. Over the course of the last three months, the Planning Board has held six 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.
• Amendments to increase housing at shopping center sites.
• 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.
• Amendments to the R-2 through R-6 residential districts to increase housing opportunities and address special needs housing in all residential districts.
• A program to build 1,489 units at Alameda Point and a separate public workshop to review zoning amendments for residential districts.
These recent workshops informed the draft Zoning Code Amendments shown in Exhibit 2.
During this same period, the staff/consultant team has been working on the April 2022 Draft Housing Element to ensure that the Housing Element includes all of the mandatory sections and information required by State Housing Law, including:
• Goals and policies,
• Programs, which are specific actions and commitments to address housing needs to accommodate the RHNA and fair housing statutory requirements,
• Site inventory (the site inventory lists the specific locations and parcels that are available and that are, or will be, zoned appropriately to accommodate the RHNA and address fair housing deficiencies in the existing zoning),
• Review of the past Housing Element programs,
• Fair housing analysis,
• Housing conditions and needs analysis,
• Housing constraints analysis, and
• Housing resources analysis.
The Draft Housing Element is attached as Exhibit 1.
Major Improvements in April 2022 Draft. At the last Planning Board workshop, the Board requested an overview of the changes that were made in the April 2022 Draft Element. The April 2022 Draft Housing Element represents a significant improvement over the November 2021 Draft Housing Element. The major improvements include:
1. Inclusion of all of the appendices and reports required by State Housing Law, including: Appendix A - Community Consultation, Appendix B - Review of Past Housing Element, Appendix C - Housing Needs Assessment, Appendix D - Assessment of Fair Housing, Appendix F - Housing Constraints, and Appendix G - Housing Resources.
2. An improved and complete Housing Sites Inventory (Appendix E). In addition to providing significantly more information about each site as required by State Housing Law, the inventory differs from the November draft in that the inventory also introduces the need for a “buffer” allocation of units to avoid the “no net loss” consequences if a site does not develop as many housing units as estimated in the inventory.
3. A revised and improved set of policies and goals. The four goals in the November 2021 draft were consolidated into three overarching goals: 1) Provide adequate supply of sites to meet the housing need, 2) Affirmatively further fair housing, and 3) End and prevent homelessness.
4. An improved and complete set of “programs” to implement the Housing Element as required by State law. The programs represent the City of Alameda’s commitments to the State of California. The programs are informed by the findings in the appendices and the need to make additional land available to accommodate the regional housing needs as shown in the Land Inventory. Each of the major rezoning proposals are described in the programs section of the Element. As required by State law, each program establishes a time frame, responsible party and objective standard to measure whether the program has been successfully implemented.
Housing Element Completion Schedule. The milestones in the Housing Element update public process include:
April 5- May 9. Housing Element Public Review Period. On April 5, 2022, the City initiated a 30-day public review period for the draft Housing Element to solicit public comment on the April 2022 Draft Housing Element.
Written comments on the Draft Housing Element and zoning are provided in Exhibit 1. Based on the verbal comments received to date from the Planning Board on April 11th and the public comments received to date, staff has begun a list of changes to be made to the draft Housing Element and draft Zoning Code Amendments, before sending the draft Housing Element to HCD for review. Those draft preliminary changes are included in Exhibit 2.
May - August. Housing Element HCD Review Period. After considering the changes suggested by the public and making any necessary changes to the Housing Element, the City will send the draft document to HCD for their review. Within 90 days, HCD will transmit their comments on the draft document for public, Planning Board, and City Council review.
May - August. Zoning Code Amendments, Planning Board Public Hearings. While HCD is reviewing the draft Housing Element, staff plans to continue work with the Planning Board and community to continue to refine and improve the draft Zoning Code Amendments shown in Exhibit 2. (The zoning amendments will not be sent to HCD in May, and the Planning Board will not complete its final recommendations on the Zoning Code Amendments until the City has received initial comments from HCD on the draft Housing Element.)
August - September. Address HCD Comments. Upon receipt of the comments from HCD, staff will prepare amendments to the Housing Element and the Zoning Code Amendments, if necessary, to address any inadequacies identified by HCD. These amendments will be considered by the Planning Board at public hearings in September.
October. Planning Board Final Recommendations. In October, the Planning Board will hold a public hearing and transmit its final recommendations to the City Council on the draft Housing Element and Zoning Code Amendments.
November/December. City Council Final Actions. In November or December, the City Council will hold public hearings and take action to approve the Housing Element and Zoning Code Amendments.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
On November 30, 2021, by Resolution No. 15841, the City Council certified a Final Environmental Impact Report (State Clearinghouse No. 2021030563) in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, and adopted written findings, a Statement of Overriding Considerations, and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the General Plan Amendment to update the Alameda General Plan (General Plan EIR), which evaluated the environmental impacts of 12,000 additional housing units in Alameda over 20 years, including 5,353 housing units to accommodate the RHNA between 2023 through 2031.
Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15162 and 15163, none of the circumstances necessitating further CEQA review are present with respect to the General Plan Amendment EIR. The proposed project to update the Housing Element of the General Plan would not require major revisions to the General Plan EIR due to new significant impacts or due to a substantial increase in the severity of the significant environmental effects. There have been no substantial changes with respect to the circumstances under which the project would be undertaken that would require major revisions of the General Plan EIR due to new or substantially increased significant environmental effects. Further, there has been no discovery of new information of substantial importance that would trigger or require major revisions to the General Plan EIR due to new or substantially increased significant environmental effects. For these reasons, no further environmental review with respect to the General Plan EIR is required.
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 Housing Element and Zoning Amendments.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
Allen Tai, City Planner
Henry Dong, Planner III
Brian McGuire, Planning Technician
Exhibits:
1. Comments received to date
Initial list of revisions to Housing Element and Zoning Code