HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Commission Resolution 2018-24 07/24/2018RESOLUTION 2018-24
CITY OF PETALUMA PLANNING COMMISSION
RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL ADOPT AMENDMENTS TO THE CITY'S INCLUSIONARY
HOUSING PROGRAM, PROGRAM 4.3 IN THE CITY OF PETALUMA'S GENERAL PLAN 2025,2015-2023
HOUSING ELEMENT AS ADOPTED BY RESOLUTION NO. 2014-190 N.C.S.
FOLLOWING HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
APPROVAL OF THE AMENDMENTS OR EXPIRATION OF THE TIME FOR HOUSING AND
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT REVIEW OF THE AMENDMENTS
WHEREAS, the California Planning and Zoning Law, Government Code Section 65000 et seq.
("Planning Law"), in Section 65300 requires California cities to prepare and adopt general plans to
guide future development of the city, and specifies in Section 65302 the mandatory elements general
plans must contain, including housing elements; and
WHEREAS, Section 65585, subdivision (a) of the Planning Law requires consideration of guidelines
adopted by the California State Department of Housing and Community Development ("HCD") in
Health and Safety Code Section 50459 in the preparation of housing elements; and
WHEREAS, Section 65588, subdivision (e) of the Planning Law prescribes the timetable for
complying with housing element update requirements; and
WHEREAS, on May 19, 2008, the City Council approved Resolution No. 2008-085 N.C.S., adopting
the City of Petaluma General Plan 2025 ("General Plan"), which contained the City's then -existing
housing element; and
WHEREAS, on June 15, 2009, the City Council approved Resolution No. 2009-094 N.C.S., adopting
the Petaluma 2009-2014 Housing Element; and
WHEREAS, Section 65585 the Planning Law requires that local agencies submit proposed housing
element amendments to the HCD for review 60 days prior to adoption, and requires that local
legislative bodies consider HCD findings prior to adoption of housing element amendments, if such
findings are made available within the 60 day review period, and permits local legislative bodies to
adopt housing element amendments without HCD findings if they are not made available within the
review period; and
WHEREAS, HCD reviewed the Petaluma Housing Element 2015-2023 as presented to the Planning
Commission on October 28, 2014, and determined that the element meets the requirements of the
Planning Law; and
WHEREAS, on December 1, 2014, the City Council approved Resolution No. 2014-190 N.C.S.,
adopting the Petaluma 2015-2023 Housing Element; and
WHEREAS, on January 23, 2015, the HCD approved the 2015-2023 Housing Element as approved
by the City Council; and
WHEREAS, on November 2, 2015 the City Council approved Resolution No. 2015-171 N.C.S.,
adopting a First Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element Program 4.3 to ensure consistency
between the City's Housing Element and the holding in Palmer/Sixth Street Properties, L.P. v. City of Los
Angeles, (2009) 175 CA 4th 1396, which held that the Costa -Hawkins Act, Civil Code section 1954.53(a),
prohibits local agencies from requiring on-site inclusionary housing in rental housing developments; and
Planning Commission Resolution No. 2018-24 Page 1
WHEREAS, recent amendments to the Planning Law pursuant to AB -1505, which took effect
January 1, 2018 and are codified in sections 65850 and 65850.1, permit cities to adopt ordinances
requiring inclusion of affordable residential units for moderate, low, very low, and extremely low income
households in rental housing developments, and require that such ordinances provide alternate means
of compliance that may include, but are not limited to, in -lieu fees, land dedication, off-site
construction, or acquisition and rehabilitation of existing units, and grant HCD the authority to review
certain such ordinances that require more than 15 percent of the total number of units in a residential
rental development to be affordable to households earning 80 percent or less of area median income;
and.
WHEREAS, the 2015-2023 Housing Element as amended identifies and analyzes existing and
projected housing needs and states goals and policies, and quantifies objectives and special programs
for the reservation, improvement and development of housing in the City from 2015 through 2023; and
WHEREAS, the City has 2,161 housing units in pipeline development but only 75 units are
affordable in accordance with the City's inclusionary housing requirements; and
WHEREAS, in -lieu fees collected by the City in accordance with Program 4.3 of the 2015-2023
Housing Element are insufficient to fund construction of sufficient numbers of affordable housing units to
meet the City's projected housing needs; and
WHEREAS, on February 12, 2018 the City Council held a workshop to discuss inclusionary housing
policies and directed staff to prepare amendments to the 2015-2023 Housing Element and other
legislative documents as needed to utilize the authority provided in AB -1505 to require construction of
on-site inclusionary units in residential rental developments; and
WHEREAS, the City contracted with Economic and Planning Systems (EPS) to complete a nexus
study ("EPS Study") to identify funds the City could lawfully recover from inclusionary housing in lieu fees
and to provide information and analysis in support of potential updates to the City's affordable housing
in lieu fee; and,
WHEREAS, EPS issued an administrative report in August 2017 that detailed a gap between
market prices of housing in the City and prices affordable to very low, low, and moderate income
households, and included a proposed per square foot in lieu fee for rental and ownership projects
based on the affordability gap; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City Council to approve a Second Amendment to the
inclusionary housing policy contained in the 2015-2023 Housing Element in accordance with the
authority in AB -1505 to require on-site inclusionary housing units as part of residential housing
development projects, both homeownership and rental, in the City to ensure the provision of affordable
housing to help address the City's Regional Housing Need Allocation and the acute housing crisis in
Sonoma County, and to provide for alternate means of compliance as AB -1505 requires; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City Council to increase the City's Inclusionary Housing In Lieu fee
in accordance with the EPS Study to apply to developers of residential housing that the Council permits
to make a payment in -lieu of providing affordable housing on site to more closely approach
developers' fair -share responsibility toward contributing to implementing the City's 2015-2023 Housing
Element policies and programs; and
WHEREAS, the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element is substantially
consistent with the 2015-2023 Housing Element as adopted by the City Council on December 1, 2014,
because it implements the same objectives; and
WHEREAS, on December 1, 2014, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2014-189 N.C.S.
approving a negative declaration of environmental impacts for the 2015-2023 Housing Element, all in
Planning Commission Resolution No. 2018-24 Page 2
accordance with the requirements of Public Resources Code Section 21000 et. seq. ("CEQA"), the
CEQA Guidelines at 14 CFR 15000 et seq. ("CEQA Guidelines") and the City of Petaluma Environmental
Review Guidelines; and
WHEREAS, the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element is categorically
exempt from environmental review under Section 15061(b) (3) of the CEQA Guidelines because CEQA
applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment, and
it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposed Second Amendment to the
2015-2023 Housing Element may have a significant effect on the environment, since the proposed
amendment does not create changes in the physical environment, does not result in any changes to
the General Plan or Implementing Zoning Ordinance land use policies, and any development that
occurs in the future subject to such standards will undergo an independent analysis pursuant to the
requirements of CEQA; and
WHEREAS, on May 31, 2018, public notice of the June 12, 2018 public hearing before the
Planning Commission to consider the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element
was published in the Argus Courier as an eighth page display ad in accordance with the requirements
of Government Code sections 65090, 65091 and 65853; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Section 65585, subdivision (b)(2) of Planning Law, the public
comments that the City has received regarding the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023
Housing Element have been collected and provided to the members of the Planning Commission; and
WHEREAS, on June 12, 2018, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing to
consider the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element and after discussion
continued the item to a date uncertain to provide time for further discussion at a joint workshop of the
City Council and Planning Commission; and
WHEREAS, on July 9, 2018, the City Council and Planning Commission held a duly noticed joint
workshop to consider amendments to the City's inclusionary housing program; and
WHEREAS, on July 12, 2018, public notice of the July 24, 2018 public hearing before the Planning
Commission to consider the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element was
published in the Argus Courier as an eighth page display ad in accordance with the requirements of
Government Code sections 65090, 65091, and 65853; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Section 65585, subdivision (b)(2) of Planning Law, the public
comments that the City has received regarding the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023
Housing Element have been collected and provided to the members of the Planning Commission, and
WHEREAS, on July 24, 2018, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing to
consider the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Planning Commission of the City of Petaluma as follows:
1. The above recitals are true and correct and are incorporated into this resolution as findings
of the Petaluma Planning Commission,
2. The Planning Commission recommends that following HCD approval of the proposed
Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element or expiration of the time for HCD
review of the proposed amendment that the City Council consider and adopt following a
public hearing a resolution adopting a Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing
Element substantially in accordance with that attached as Exhibit A to this resolution.
Planning Commission Resolution No. 2018-24 Page 3
3. The Clerk of the Commission and/or City staff are authorized and directed to submit the
attached draft resolution for HCD review and approval in accordance with Section 65585,
subdivision (b) (1) of the Planning Law.
ADOPTED this 24th day of July, 2018, by the following vote:
Commission Member
Aye
No
Absent
Abstain
Councilmember Healy
X
Chair Marzo
X
Vice Chair Alonso
X
Bauer
X
Benedetti- Petnic
X
Gomez
X
Wolpert
X
ATTEST:
'. &F-4,
H her Hines, Com sion Secretary
Scott Alonso, Vice Chair
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Lisa Tennenbaum, Ass' Cant City Attorney
Planning Commission Resolution No. 2018-24 Page 4
Exhibit A
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PETALUMA
AMENDING THE CITY'S INCLUSIONARY HOUSING PROGRAM, PROGRAM 4.3 IN THE CITY OF
PETALUMA'S GENERAL PLAN 2025, 2015-2023 HOUSING ELELMENT AS ADOPTED BY
RESOLUTION NO. 2014-190 N.C.S.
WHEREAS, the California Planning and Zoning Law, Government Code Section 65000 et seq.
("Planning Law"), in Section 65300 requires California cities to prepare and adopt general plans to
guide future development of the city, and specifies in Section 65302 the mandatory elements general
plans must contain, including housing elements; and
WHEREAS, Section 65585, subdivision (a) of the Planning Law requires consideration of guidelines
adopted by the California State Department of Housing and Community Development ("HCD") in
Health and Safety Code Section 50459 in the preparation of housing elements; and
WHEREAS, Section 65588, subdivision (e) of the Planning Law prescribes the timetable for
complying with housing element update requirements; and
WHEREAS, on May 19, 2008, the City Council approved Resolution No. 2008-085 N.C.S., adopting
the City of Petaluma General Plan 2025 ("General Plan"), which contained the City's then -existing
housing element; and
WHEREAS, on June 15, 2009, the City Council approved Resolution No. 2009-094 N.C.S., adopting
the Petaluma 2009-2014 Housing Element; and
WHEREAS, Section 65585 of the Planning Law requires that local agencies submit proposed
housing element amendments to HCD for review 60 days prior to adoption, and requires that local
legislative bodies consider HCD findings prior to adoption of housing element amendments, if such
findings are made available within the 60 day review period, and permits local legislative bodies to
adopt housing element amendments without HCD findings if they are not made available within the
review period; and
WHEREAS, HCD reviewed the Petaluma Housing Element 2015-2023 as presented to the Planning
Commission on October 28, 2014, and determined that the element meets the requirements of the
Planning Law; and
WHEREAS, on December 1, 2014, the City Council approved Resolution No. 2014-190 N.C.S.,
adopting the Petaluma 2015-2023 Housing Element; and
WHEREAS, on January 23, 2015, the HCD approved the 2015-2023 Housing Element as approved
by the City Council; and
WHEREAS, on November 2, 2015 the City Council approved Resolution No. 2015-171 N.C.S.,
adopting a First Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element Program 4.3 to ensure consistency
between the City's Housing Element and the holding in Palmer/Sixth Street Properties, L.P. v. City of Los
Angeles, (2009) 175 CA 4th 1396, which held that the Costa -Hawkins Act, Civil Code section 1954.53(a),
prohibits local agencies from requiring on-site inclusionary housing in rental housing developments; and
WHEREAS, recent amendments to the Planning Law pursuant to AB -1505, which took effect
January 1, 2018 and are codified in sections 65850 and 65850. 1, permit cities to adopt ordinances
requiring inclusion of affordable residential units for moderate, low, very low, and extremely low income
households in rental housing developments, and require that such ordinances provide alternate means
of compliance that may include, but are not limited to, in -lieu fees, land dedication, off-site
Planning Commission Resolution No. 2018-24 Page 5
construction, or acquisition and rehabilitation of existing units, and grant HCD the authority to review
certain such ordinances that require more than 15 percent of the total number of units in a residential
rental development to be affordable to households earning 80 percent or less of the area median
income; and
WHEREAS, the 2015-2023 Housing Element as amended identifies and analyzes existing and
projected housing needs and states goals and policies, and quantifies objectives and special programs
for the reservation, improvement and development of housing in the City from 2015 through 2023; and
WHEREAS, the City has 2,161 housing units in pipeline development but only 75 units are
affordable in accordance with the City's inclusionary housing requirements; and
WHEREAS, in -lieu fees collected by the City in accordance with Program 4.3 of the 2015-2023
Housing Element are insufficient to fund construction of sufficient numbers of affordable housing units to
meet the City's projected housing needs; and
WHEREAS, on February 12, 2018 the City Council held a workshop to discuss inclusionary housing
policies and directed staff to prepare amendments to the2015-2023 Housing Element and other
legislative documents as needed to utilize the authority provided in AB -1505 to require construction of
on-site inclusionary units in residential rental developments; and
WHEREAS, the City contracted with Economic and Planning Systems (EPS) to complete a nexus
study ("EPS Study") to identify funds the City could lawfully recover from inclusionary housing in lieu fees
and to provide information and analysis in support of potential updates to the City's affordable housing
in lieu fee; and,
WHEREAS, EPS issued an administrative report in August 2017 that detailed a gap between
market prices of housing in the City and prices affordable to very low, low, and moderate income
households, and included a proposed per square foot in lieu fee for rental and ownership projects
based on the affordability gap; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City Council to approve a Second Amendment to the
inclusionary housing policy contained in the 2015-2023 Housing Element in accordance with the
authority in AB -1505 to require on-site inclusionary housing units as part of residential housing
development projects, both homeownership and rental, in the City to ensure the provision of affordable
housing to help address the City's Regional Housing Need Allocation and the acute housing crisis in
Sonorna County, and to provide for alternative means of compliance as AB -1505 requires; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City Council to increase the City's Inclusionary Housing In -Lieu fee
in accordance the EPS Study to apply to developers of residential housing that the Council permits to
make a payment in -lieu of providing affordable housing on site to more closely approach developers'
fair -share responsibility toward contributing to implementing the City's 2015-2023 Housing Element
policies and programs; and
WHEREAS, the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element is substantially
consistent with the 2015-2023 Housing Element as adopted by the City Council on December 1, 2014,
because it implements the same objectives; and
WHEREAS, on December 1, 2014, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2014-189 N.C.S.
approving a negative declaration of environmental impact of the 2015-2023 Housing Element, all in
accordance with the requirements of Public Resources Code Section 21000 et. seq. ("CEQA"), the
CEQA Guidelines at 14 CFR 15000 et seq. ("CEQA Guidelines") and the City of Petaluma Environmental
Review Guidelines; and
Planning Commission Resolution No. 2018-24 Page 6
WHEREAS, the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element is categorically
exempt from environmental review under Section 15061(b) (3) of the CEQA Guidelines because CEQA
applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment, and
it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposed Second Amendment to the
2015-2023 Housing Element may have a significant effect on the environment, since the proposed
amendment does not create changes in the physical environment, does not result in any changes to
the General Plan or Implementing Zoning Ordinance land use policies, and any development that
occurs in the future subject to such standards will undergo an independent analysis pursuant to the
requirements of CEQA; and
WHEREAS, on May 31, 2018, public notice of the June 12, 2018 public hearing before the
Planning Commission to consider the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element
was published in the Argus Courier as an eighth page display ad in accordance with the requirements
of Government Code sections 65090, 65091 and 65853; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Section 65585, subdivision (b) (2) of Planning Law, the public
comments that the City received regarding the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023
Housing Element were collected and provided to the members of the Planning Commission; and
WHEREAS, on June 12, 2018, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing to
consider the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element and after discussion
continued the item to a date uncertain to provide time for further discussion at a joint workshop of the
City Council and Planning Commission; and
WHEREAS, on July 9, 2018, the City Council and Planning Commission held a duly noticed joint
workshop to consider amendments to the City's inclusionary housing program; and
WHEREAS, on July 12, 2018, public notice of the July 24, 2018 public hearing before the Planning
Commission to consider the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element was
published in the Argus Courier as an eighth page display ad in accordance with the requirements of
Government Code sections 65090, 65091, and 65853; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Section 65585, subdivision (b)(2) of Planning Law, the public
comments that the City has received regarding the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023
Housing Element have been collected and provided to the members of the Planning Commission; and
WHEREAS, on July 24, 2018, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing to
consider the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element and adopted a
resolution recommending the City Council amend, subject to HCD approval, the City's Inclusionary
Housing Program, Program 4.3 in the City of Petaluma's General Plan 2025, 2015-2023 Housing Element;
and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Resolution No. 2018-24 adopted by the Planning Commission on
July 24, 2018, and the requirements of Section 65585, subdivision (b) (1) of the Planning Law, the Clerk of
the Commission and/or City staff have submitted the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023
Housing Element to HCD for review and approval; and
WHEREAS, HCD has either responded regarding the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-
2023 Housing Element or the HCD review period has expired without the City receiving a response; and
WHEREAS, on XXXXXX, public notice of the XXXXXX, 2018 public hearing before the City Council
to consider the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element was published in the
Argus Courier as an eighth page display ad in accordance with the requirements of Government Code
sections 65090, 65091 and 65853; and
Planning Commission Resolution No. 2018-24 Page 7
WHEREAS, in accordance with Section 65585, subdivision (b)(2) of Planning Law, the public
comments that the City received regarding the proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023
Housing Element were collected and provided to the members of the City Council; and
WHEREAS, on XXXXXX, 2018, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to consider the
proposed Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element, the public comments received and
any findings provided by HCD;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Petaluma as follows:
1. The above recitals are true and correct and are incorporated into this resolution as findings of
the City Council.
2. The Second Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element is exempt from CEQA pursuant to
Section 15061(b) (3) of the CEQA Guidelines because CEQA applies only to projects that have a
potential for causing a significant effect on the environment and adoption of the Second
Amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element does not create changes to the physical
environment.
3. Based on the findings and conclusions contained in this resolution, the City Council finds it in the
public interest to amend, and hereby amends Program 4.3 of the City of Petaluma 2015-2023
Housing Element in Chapter 1 1 of the City's General Plan 2025 to read as follows:
Program 4.3:
a. By provisions incorporated into the City's Implementing Zoning Ordinance, require
residential projects, both homeownership and rental projects consisting of five or more
units to provide 15% of the number of units in the project on-site as affordable housing
with affordability restrictions of at least a 45 year duration for homeownership
developments and affordability restrictions for of at least a 55 year duration for rental
developments.
b. The City Council in its sole discretion may approve alternative compliance in one of the
following forms:
i. Donation of a portion of the project site or an off-site property to the City or a
non-profit organization deemed acceptable by the City for development of
affordable housing; or
ii. Payment of a fee in -lieu of providing affordable housing on site established by
the City's adopted fee schedule; or
iii. Use of an alternative method, such provision of a smaller percentage of on-site
units, and/or donation of a separate parcel of land for development of
affordable housing to otherwise satisfy the objectives of the City's inclusionary
policies reflected in this program.
4. Except as amended herein, the City of Petaluma 2015-2023 Housing Element continues
unchanged and in full force and effect.
5. Submission to HCD. Staff is directed to submit the Housing Element amendment pursuant to this
resolution to HCD for approval in accordance Section 65585, subdivision (g) of the Planning Law.
6. Effective Date. This amendment shall take effect thirty days from the date of its adoption
pursuant to State law, including Midway Orchards v. County of Butte (1990) 220 Cal.App.3d 765,
778 and DeVita v. County of Napa (1995) 9 Cal, 4th 763, 787, fn. 9.
Planning Commission Resolution No. 2018-24 Page 8