Housing Element of the General Plan (GPA 10-01)
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EMERYVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT Agenda Date: June 24, 2010 Report Date: June 18, 2010 TO: Emeryville Planning Commission FROM: Planning and Building Department SUBJECT: Housing Element of the General Plan (GPA 10-01) PROJECT LOCATION: Citywide PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Consideration of revised Housing Element. Revisions include updated data and added information in response to the State Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) review comments. ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS: A Negative Declaration for the Housing Element was approved by the City Council on June 16, 2009; an Environmental Impact Report for the General Plan was certified by the City Council on October 13, 2009. APPLICABLE ZONING ORDINANCE PROVISION: Section 9-4.81 General Plan Amendment Procedure COMMISSION PROCEDURE: After taking public testimony, the Planning Commission may recommend or not recommend adoption of the Housing Element (a General Plan Amendment). If more information is required, the Planning Commission may continue the hearing. RECOMMENDED COMMISSION ACTION: 1. Open public hearing and take testimony regarding the 2009-2014 Housing Element 2. Close public hearing and consider the 2009-2014 Housing Element and Staff Report. 3. Adopt Resolution CPC No. GPA10-01 approving the 2006-2014 Housing Element and forwarding it to the City Council for adoption. Planning Commission Meeting Staff Report GPA 10-01 Housing Element June 24, 2010 Page 2 of 4 BACKGROUND: State law requires cities to revise the housing elements of their General Plans periodically to assess the needs and meet the demands for future housing. The Emeryville City Council adopted the City’s 2009-2014 Housing Element in June 2009 and submitted it to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (State HCD) for certification prior to the June 30, 2009 deadline for submittal. The State had 90 days to review the document and either grant certification or request further revisions. In September 2009, the City received a written response letter indicating that further revisions were necessary in order for the State to certify the Emeryville Housing Element. (The letter is included as Attachment B to this report.) Revisions have been made to the Element to meet HCD requirements. City staff met with the State HCD reviewer in November 2009 to discuss the comments and get a better understanding of what would be required as revisions to the document. In discussing options for the certification process, staff determined that it would be most effective to complete a revised draft version of the document for submittal to the State, and obtain the State’s written comments on this draft within 60 days. The State reviewer indicated that if the draft Housing Element submittal met the statutory requirements of State housing element law, State HCD would be able to provide the City a letter stating that the draft Housing Element meets the law and would be certifiable upon adoption and re-submittal to the State. Revisions were submitted and on May 24, 2010, State HCD provided a letter (Attachment C) indicating the City’s revised Housing Element will be in compliance with State Housing Element law when the revisions are adopted and submitted to the State. The Emeryville Housing Committee reviewed the Element at their June 2, 2010 meeting and approved its forwarding to the Planning Commission and City Council for adoption. DISCUSSION: Housing Element Revisions This report describes the revisions that have been made to the Emeryville Housing Element from the version adopted by the City Council in June 2009. Revisions were mainly made in Chapter 3, the Resources and Constraints chapter of the Housing Element, which includes the sites inventory and analysis section. Revisions were also made to Chapter 5, the Goals, Objectives, Policies and Programs chapter, and Chapter 6, the Action Program. The appendices were also amended. These revisions are described below. The full 2009-2014 Housing Element and Appendices are included as Attachments E and F respectively. Chapter 2 Revisions: Table 2-55 (“Emeryville Housing Production 2006-2014”) was revised to match up with Table 3-2 in Chapter 3 (“Completed and Proposed Projects 2006-2014”) Planning Commission Meeting Staff Report GPA 10-01 Housing Element June 24, 2010 Page 3 of 4 Chapter 3 Revisions: Table 3-3 (“Tentative Sites”) was added back to the Housing Element. It was included in the 2008 draft version, but not included in the June 2009 version. The table was added back to demonstrate the City has adequate sites and zoning to meet the goals of the Regional Housing Need Allocation by income level. Table 3-3 includes descriptions of the affordability assumptions used for each of the six sites included in the table, and the redevelopment potential of the six sites. Table 3-5 (“Residential Development Standards”) was revised to reflect the new General Plan and Interim Zoning Ordinance. The text was updated throughout to reflect the recently adopted General Plan and Interim Zoning Ordinance. Additional text was provided about the City’s process to meet reasonable accommodation requests. Chapters 5 and 6 Revisions: Policy II-A-2 was revised regarding revising the Density Bonus Ordinance to be in compliance with State Density Bonus Law. Policy II-A-5 regarding incentives for the provision of extremely low, very low, low, and moderate income housing was removed and language was combined into Policy II-A-2. The Action Steps of Policy II-A-4 regarding the Affordable Housing Set Aside Ordinance were amended to add an action step around annually reviewing the Ordinance to consider its impacts on housing production and to make amendments to the Ordinance as necessary. The timing for completion of the Zoning Ordinance update was revised from the end of FY09/10 to the end of FY10/11 in several zoning-related policies (II-A-1; II-A-2; II-A-3; III-A-3; IV-A-1; IV-A-2; IV-A-3; IV-A-4; IV-A-5). Policy IV-A-4 was revised regarding revising the Zoning Ordinance to be in compliance with Senate Bill 2, to delete the phrase “by right” and substitute in the phrase “without a conditional use permit or other discretionary approval.” Policy IV-A-6 was added to revise the Zoning Ordinance to allow exemptions from design review for projects with negligible visual impact and reduce level of review to minor design review for one- and two-unit residential buildings. Policy IV-A-7 was added to indicate the City will amend the Zoning Ordinance to adopt the interim densities as identified in the sites inventory contained in the Housing Element pursuant to the General Plan Update. Appendices Revisions: The appendices were amended to add the reasonable accommodation request form, the new General Plan land use, Floor Area Ratio, and Building Heights maps, the new Planning and Building fee schedule, and the Agency Housing Compliance Plan adopted by the Agency in December 2009. Planning Commission Meeting Staff Report GPA 10-01 Housing Element June 24, 2010 Page 4 of 4 Environmental Review A Negative Declaration for the Housing Element was approved by the City Council on June 16, 2009 (Attachment D). An Environmental Impact Report for the General Plan was certified by the City Council on October 13, 2009. The proposed revisions to the Housing Element are consistent with the General Plan and present no new impacts that were not identified in either the Negative Declaration or the General Plan EIR. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 no additional environmental review is necessary. Schedule for Adoption and Certification Below is the anticipated schedule for adoption and certification of the 2009-2014 Emeryville Housing Element: Planning Commission Review June 24, 2010 City Council Public Hearing and Adoption July 20, 2010 Submit to State HCD July 21, 2010 Certification by State HCD within 90 days No later than October 21, 2010 RECOMMENDED ACTION: After hearing public testimony, it is recommended that the Commission adopt Resolution CPC No. GPA10-01 (Attachment A) approving the 2006-2014 Housing Element and forward it to the City Council for adoption. Attachments: A. General Plan Amendment Resolution B. September 25, 2009 State HCD Letter C. May 24, 2010 State HCD Letter D. Initial Study/Negative Declaration E. 2009-2014 Emeryville Housing Element Document F. 2009-2014 Emeryville Housing Element Appendices* *Planning Commission only. Others may access this document at http://www.emeryville.org/econdev/housing-update.html. RESOLUTION CPC NO. GPA10-01 RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF EMERYVILLE RECOMMENDING ADOPTION OF THE 2009-2014 HOUSING ELEMENT OF THE CITY OF EMERYVILLE GENERAL PLAN. WHEREAS, state law requires cities to revise the housing elements of their General Plans periodically; and Bay Area housing elements were due for submission to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) by June 30, 2009; and WHEREAS, the Emeryville City Council adopted a new Housing Element on June 16, 2009 and submitted it to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for certification prior to the June 30, 2009 deadline for submittal; and WHEREAS, on September 25, 2009 the City received a response letter from HCD indicating that revisions were necessary in order for the State to certify the Emeryville Housing Element; and WHEREAS, revisions have been made to the 2009-2014 Housing Element and, in a May 24, 2010 letter, HCD stated that the revised Element meets State law and will be certifiable upon adoption and resubmission;