HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 2021-153 N.C.S. 9/13/2021 Resolution No. 2021-153 N.C.S. Page 1
Resolution No. 2021-153 N.C.S.
of the City of Petaluma, California
RESOLUTION APPROVING THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT 2020 - 2021
CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION REPORT (CAPER) AND
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT THE CAPER AS REQUIRED BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD)
WHEREAS, the City of Petaluma is an entitlement community under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG); and
WHEREAS, as a condition of funding, HUD requires recipient jurisdictions to prepare a one year
Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) to report by October 1st every year on how
well the City has met its goals for helping low- and moderate-income residents of Petaluma with the federal
funding distributed under the CDBG program; and
WHEREAS, the proposed action is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, in that approving the CAPER and authorizing the
City Manager to execute any documents related to the CAPER, does not meet CEQA's definition of a “project,”
because the action does not have the potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment or
a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and because the action constitutes
organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes
in the environment; and
WHEREAS, the programs funded pursuant to the 2020 - 2021 Annual Action Plan addressed one or more of
the national objectives of the CDBG program and the priorities of the City’s 2020 - 2024 Consolidated Plan; and
WHEREAS, staff recommends approval of the CAPER to ensure compliance with HUD and to ensure that
the City’s continued receipt and use of CDBG funding is not jeopardized; and
WHEREAS, on September 13, 2021, at its regular City Council meeting, the City Council held a public
hearing to receive comments on the CAPER.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Petaluma City Council as follows:
1. Declares the above recitals are hereby declared to be true and correct and are incorporated into this resolution
as findings of the City Council.
2. Finds the proposed action is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, in that approving the CAPER authorizing the City
Manager to submit the CAPER to HUD does not meet CEQA's definition of a “project,” because the action
does not have the potential for resulting either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably
foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and because the action constitutes organizational or
administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the
environment. Moreover, the CDBG Program 2020 - 2021 activities were already analyzed for environmental
compliance with CEQA on April 20th, 2020, when City Council approved a resolution authorizing projects and
funding of the CDBG 2020 - 2021 Annual Action Plan on April 20, 2020.
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Resolution No. 2021-153 N.C.S. Page 2
3. The Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Consolidated Annual Performance
and Evaluation Report (CAPER) is incorporated by reference and made a part of Exhibit A to this Resolution.
4. On September 13, 2021, the Council considered public comments and found the draft CAPER to be consistent
with the Consolidated Plan activities.
5. Council hereby approves the Fiscal Year 2020 - 2021 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report
(CAPER).
6. The City Manager or her designee is hereby authorized to submit the City of Petaluma 2020 - 2021 CAPER as
required to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Under the power and authority conferred upon this Council by the Charter of said City.
REFERENCE: I hereby certify the foregoing Resolution was introduced and adopted by the
Council of the City of Petaluma at a Regular meeting on the 13th day of
September 2021, by the following vote:
Approved as to
form:
__________________________
City Attorney
AYES: Mayor Barrett; Vice Mayor Barnacle, Fischer; Healy; King; McDonnell, Pocekay
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
ATTEST: ______________________________________________
City Clerk
______________________________________________
Mayor
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DRAFT
CITY OF PETALUMA
Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report
(CAPER)
Fiscal Year 2020-2021
Prepared by City of Petaluma Housing Division, 11 English Street, Petaluma CA
EXHIBIT A
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Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report
(CAPER)
Fiscal Year 2020-2021
Revised Draft as of 9/6/21
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CR-05 - Goals and Outcomes ………………………………………………………………….3
CR-10 - Racial and Ethnic composition of families assisted …………………………….8
CR-15 - Resources and Investments ………………………………………………………....9
CR-20 - Affordable Housing ……………………………………………………....................11
CR-25 - Homeless and Other Special Programs…………………………………………..13
CR-30 - Public Housing ……………………………………………………………………….14
CR-35 - Other Actions ………………………………………………………………………... 14
CR-40 - Monitoring ……………………………………………………………………………. 17
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Progress the jurisdiction has made in carrying out its strategic plan and its
action plan.
This first year (Fiscal Year 2020-2021) Consolidated Annual Performance and
Evaluation Report (CAPER) outlines how the City of Petaluma (City) met the needs
and objectives outlined in the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan (Consolidated Plan) and
the Amended 2019-2020 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and
CDBG-COVID-19 Annual Action Plan (AAP). Both reports can be found on the
City’s website: http://www.cityofpetaluma.net.
The Consolidated Plan identifies five (5) goals to address the City’s hous ing and
community development needs between Fiscal Years 2020-2024:
1. Improve housing opportunities by preserving existing affordable housing.
2. Provide housing and services to the low-income populations, including
but not limited to, children, seniors, and special needs population
(homeless, disabled, etc.)
3. Increase the supply of affordable housing.
4. Promote housing opportunities for homeownership.
5. Improve accessibility in public facilities and infrastructure.
To support achieving goals outlined in the Consolidated Plan and 2020-2021 CDBG
Action Plan (and Amended CDBG-CV AP), the City prioritized use of its CDBG funds
and other local funding sources for affordable housing and related services for low-
income Petaluma residents. City CDBG projects support the production, preservation
and protection of stable, affordable housing.
In FY 2020-2021, to achieve Consolidated Plan goals, the City administered its regular
annual CDBG grant allocation of $351,107, $587,359 of CDBG-CV funding allocated
to the City through the CARES Act to provide COVID-19 relief, nearly $2,500,000 of
other Housing Funds (e.g., Housing In Lieu funds) for low-income community
services, homeless programs, and preservation of existing affordable homeowne rship
housing, and $2,000,000 in Other Housing Funds (e.g., Housing In Lieu Funds and
Commercial Linkage Funds) for affordable rental housing development.
The following table summarizes allocation of City funds to projects which furthered
City progress toward meeting the Consolidated Plan goals.
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FY 2020-21 City Investments in Consolidated Plan Goals
Funding Project Allocation
CDBG Rebuilding Together (improve housing opportunities, preserve existing affordable
housing)
$ 228,219
CDBG Petaluma People Services Center(PPSC) (meal delivery-seniors and special needs
residents)
$
52,666
CDBG City of Petaluma (grant administration - subcontracting, reimbursements, reporting) $
73,488
SUBTOTAL CDBG ANNUAL $ 354,373
CDBG-CV
(2019-20)
PPSC (rental assistance and related support services) $ 100,000
CDBG-CV PPSC (rental assistance and related support services) $ 300,000
CDBG-CV Petaluma Ecumenical Properties (PEP) (heating units in low-income senior rentals) $
49,600
CDBG-CV Boys and Girls Club of Sonoma-Marin (BGCSM) (after school programs in affordable
housing)
$
50,000
CDBG-CV Committee on the Shelterless (COTS) (rental assistance and related support services) $ 150,000
CDBG-CV City of Petaluma (grant admin - subcontracting, reimbursement processing, reporting) $
37,759
SUBTOTAL CDBG-CV $ 687,359
HEAP COTS (public facility/shelter renovation) $ 365,000
HEAP DST, SAFE (program vehicles) $
95,000
SUBTOTAL HEAP $ 460,000
Other Housing
Funds
PPSC (rental assistance and fair housing) $
95,000
Other Housing
Funds
BGCSM (after school programs) $
25,000
Other Housing
Funds
HLT (preservation of affordable homeownership housing) $
25,000
Other Housing
Funds
COTS, DST, SAFE (homeless shelter and services) (Includes $1,100,000 SAFE funding
administered by Police Department)
$
1,570,000
SUBTOTAL OTHER HOUSING FUNDS (HOUSING IN-LIEU AND COMMERCIAL LINKAGE) -
NOT FOR AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING
$ 1,715,000
Housing In-
Lieu/ Com-
mercial
Linkage
Danco affordable housing development - Meridian at Corona Crossing (131 Units) $
2,000,000
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Housing In-
Lieu/ Com-
mercial
Linkage
MidPen affordable family housing development - for seniors and veterans (42 units) $
2,000,000
SUBTOTAL OTHER HOUSING FUNDS (HOUSING IN-LIEU AND COMMERCIAL LINKAGE) -
AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
$ 4,000,000
TOTAL CITY INVESTMENTS IN CONSOLIDATED PLAN GOALS FY2020-2021 $ 7,216,732
The City met the majority of its 2020-2021 CDBG and Amended CDBG-CV Action
Plan goals by preserving affordable housing and providing rental assistance and
services to low-income community members – including those significantly impacted
by COVID-19. Other local housing funds augmented CDBG funds supporting
Consolidated Plan goals in 2020-2021. CDBG and CDBG-CV accomplishments were
achieved by the City’s nonprofit partners in the face of significant challenges due to
COVID-19.
For example, organizations who rely on volunteers for projects such as property
repairs and the meals program were severely limited in their ability to recruit and
assign volunteers due to health and safety concerns. Supplies were difficult to obtain
due to supply chain challenges ; the program had to create special new ways to package
meals safely; and dramatic cost increases impacted some of the project budgets and
related program outcomes. Staffing challenges and continuously changing community
needs required organizations providing direct service and managing rental assistance
programs to respond rapidly with new and revised operational procedures including
evolving health and safety protocols and building online portals for client
communications. With hard work and dedication the community partners were able to
overcome these challenges and achieve the following FY 2020-2021 achievements.
Residents Protections (immediate services to protect vulnerable households and providing
housing and services to low-income populations
• Families and individuals unable to pay their rent due to impacts of COVID-19
received temporary rental assistance and related supportive services using
CDBG-CV funds. Outcome – 157 at-risk households remained stably housed.
• Low-income seniors and people with special needs received food delivery
services through a Meals program using regular CDBG funds. Outcome – 142
persons were provided access to quality public services.
• NOTE: No 2020-2021 CDBG funds were allocated for Homeless Services. The City funded
Homeless Services program with General Funds.
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Housing Preservation Activities to preserve existing affordable housing, promote home
ownership, and to provide
• Rehabilitation of single-family dwellings occupied primarily by low-income
seniors and disabled individuals using CDBG funds. Outcome – 46
homeowners preserved their affordable housing via needed repairs.
• Capital improvement project to the Mary Isaak Homeless Services shelter –
Outcome – preservation of 80-bed shelter
• Replacement of inefficient furnaces in senior affordable housing
community using CDBG funds. Outcome – 10 units affordable rental
housing preserved via needed repairs.
Housing Production (long-term impacts to increase the supply of affordable housing –
supported by non-CDBG funds:
• In FY 2020-21, the City awarded $1,100,000 to MidPen Housing
development for the proposed 44 unit very-low- income housing
development located at 414 Petaluma Boulevard North, as well as
allocating $900,000 of HCD HOME funds to be used for pre-
development expenses.
• In FY 2020-21, the City awarded $2,000,000 to Danco for development
of the proposed 131-unit affordable housing development which includes
33 permanent supportive housing units.
• In FY 2019-20, the City provided $1,500,000 of City In-Lieu funds for
development of the 54 units multi-family senior and veterans at 951 Petaluma
Boulevard. The project is currently in construction and is anticipated to rent
up in Fall of 2021 or spring of 2022
• In FY 2019-20, the City provided $1,120,000 of Commercial Linkage
funds to Burbank Housing to support the rehab and refinancing of the 89
Multi-family rental development, Old Elm Village.
Program Goals and Accomplishments
The following table summarizes planned versus actual outcomes for the regular annual CDBG
program Action Plan Year 1 (2020-2021) in addition to activities funded by CDBG-CV.
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Goal Category Source /
Amount
Indicator Unit of
Measure
Expected
5-Year
Goal
Actual
To Date
Percent
Complete
of 5 Year
Goal
Planned
for
Current
Program
Year
Actual
Result
Current
Program
Yr
Percent
Complete
PRODUCTION
Homeowner-
ship
Opportunitie
s
Affordable
Housing
City Funds
$25,000 (HLT)
Homeowner
Housing
Added
Household
Housing
Unit
40 18 45.00% 18 18 100.00%
Production
of affordable
housing
Affordable
Housing,
Homeless,
NonHomeless
Special Needs
Other
Housing
Funds
$4,000,000
Rental units
constructed
Household
Housing
Unit
275 0
0.00% 0 0 0% (pipeline
projects)
PRESERVATION
Preservatio
n of
existing
affordable
housing
Affordable
Housing,
Homeless,
NonHomeless
Special Needs
CDBG:
$228,219
Homeowner
Housing
Rehabilitated
Household
Housing
Unit
180 46 25.55% 58 46 79%
(COVID
supply and
staffing
constraints)
Preservati
on of
existing
affordable
housing
Affordable
housing
CDBG
$49,600
Multi-Family
Rental
Housing
Rehabilitated
Household
Housing Unit
20 10 50.00% 7
10 143%
PROTECTION
Provide
housing and
services to
special needs
populations
Community
Services/Meals
CDBG:
$52,666
Activities
other than
Low/
Moderate
Income
Housing
Benefit
Persons
Assisted
1,250 142 11.36% 250 142
57% (# of
people, but
98% of goal
33,000
meals)
Provide
rental
assistance +
COVID-19
Relief
CDBG-CV:
$449,600
COVD-19
community
rental
Persons
Assisted
N/A N/A N/A 310 166
54% (will
continue
into in FY
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Goal Category Source /
Amount
Indicator Unit of
Measure
Expected
5-Year
Goal
Actual
To Date
Percent
Complete
of 5 Year
Goal
Planned
for
Current
Program
Year
Actual
Result
Current
Program
Yr
Percent
Complete
housing
services
assistance 2021-22)
PROTECTION (continued)
Services for
low-income
families
Community
Services/After
School Services
CDBG-CV
$50,000; Other
Funds $25,000
Activities
other than Lo-
Mod Inc
Housing
Benefit
Persons
Assisted
0 0 0% 150 150 100%
Services for
low-income
families
Community
Services/Fair
Housing Program
Other Housing
Funds $95,000
Activities
other than Lo-
Mod Inc
Housing
Benefit
Persons
Assisted
0 0 0% New
Program
New
Program
One- time
funding as
of 6-30-21
Provide
shelter and
services
Homeless, Special
Needs
General Fund
$470,000
DST-COTS
Activities
other than Lo-
Mod Inc
Housing
Benefit
Persons
Assisted
0 265 N/A New
Program
New
Program
Program
expansion-
new goals
to be set
Services for
low-income
families,
Special
Needs
Public facility
improvements,
Community
Services
HEAP
$360,000
Activities
other than Lo-
Mod Inc
Housing
Benefit
Persons
Assisted
0 0 N/A 220 220 One-time
capital
funding
Provide
services to
special
needs
populations
Community
Services
General Fund
$1,100,000
(SAFE
Program)
Activities
other than Lo-
Mod Inc
Housing
Benefit
Persons
Assisted
0 0 0 New
Program
New
Program
New
program –
new goals
to be set
Table 1 - Accomplishments – Program Year & Strategic Plan to Date
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How did the City use CDBG funding to address plan
All funds expended from the CDBG Programs were used to address the goals and objectives
identified in the City’s 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan and the FY 2020-2021 Action Plan and
Amended CDBG-CV AAP approved in October 2020. The City has prioritized its CDBG funds
and other local funding sources for affordable housing purposes, as noted in the summary of
accomplishments provided in the introduction to this section. Due to the limited amount of
regular annual CDBG funds received, the City focused those priorities on rehabilitation of
single-family homeownership units –primarily for low-income seniors, persons with disabilities
and veterans – preserving affordable units through our Rebuilding Together Petaluma program.
Another priority is providing service to seniors. This was accomplished utilizing CDBG funds
for Petaluma People Services Center’s Meals on Wheels program.
The City’s ability to respond to increasingly difficult housing issues is constrained by reductions
to local funding sources but encouraged by the increase in State HCD funding for extremely low
and very low-income households in addition to funding for housing for the unsheltered
community. is The City does not anticipate an increase in its annual source of CDBG funds, so it
will be critical the City work with development partners in applying for and securing additional
state and federal funding to increase affordable housing development. With the addition of new,
one-time CDBG-CV funds, the city has been able to begin to address the pandemic’s impacts on
low-income families with rental assistance and related household expenses to retain housing and
avoid eviction and potential homelessness.
The City has continued to encourage and support developers of new projects to provide on-site
units, such as the Housing In-Lieu and Commercial Linkage Fund investments in the 131-unit
Meridian at Corona Crossing development by Danco, and the 42-unit MidPen affordable family
senior/veterans development.
Racial composition of household assisted
CDBG CDBG-CV TOTAL
White 150 264 414
Black or African American 5 7 12
Asian 1 5 6
American Indian or American Native 3 2 5
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 4 1 5
Declined to State 6 21 27
Total 169 300 469
Hispanic 17 139 156
Not Hispanic 152 161 313
Table 2 – Table of CDBG assistance to racial and ethnic populations by source of funds
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The CDBG program is, for the most part, serving low-income households, including minority
racial and ethnic households that is similar to the proportion of the low-income household in
these categories for the City of Petaluma. However, low-income white households are served at
a higher proportion than their percentage that is indicated in the 201 9 U.S. Census QuickFacts.
White households make up 50% of the low-income population according to the census data but
were 88% of the households served by CDBG funds. This difference can be explained by the
demographics of the senior population in Petaluma, which is mostly Caucasian. The other racial
categories were within comparable range for the Census data for their categories.
Resources and Investments
Identify the resources made available
Source of Funds Source Resources Made
Available
Amount Expended
During Program
Year
CDBG CDBG $351,107 $351,107
CDBG-CV CDBG-CV $587,359 $186,373
HOME HOME $900,000 $0.00
HEAP HEAP $460,000 $460,000
ESG ESG $0.00 $0.00
Other Program
Income
Commercial Linkage, In-
Lieu Housing
$4,470,000
$4,470,000
Table 3 - Resources Made Available
In FY 2020-2021, the City received $351,107 in CDBG funds. The amount expended during
the Program Year 2020-2021 was $351,107, including City grant administration. In FY 2020-
2021, the City had $587,359, of which it expended $186,373. Due to rental assistance contract
executions in mid and late Fiscal Year, the remaining CDBG-CV funds are anticipated to be
fully expended in FY 2021-2022. HOME
Identify the geographic distribution and location of investments
Target Area Planned Percentage
of Allocation
Actual Percentage of
Allocation
Narrative
Description
N/A N/A N/A N/A
Table 4 – Identify the geographic distribution and location of investments
The funds that are allocated to the City are available city-wide with no priority assigned to
geographic regions. Instead, funds are allocated to organizations that provide low-income
households with housing and supportive services. On an annual basis, the City prioritizes the use
of its CDBG funding for the development of affordable housing (including preservation and
conservation) that serve low-income households and to address services for the low-income
community such as The Meals Program.
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How did the City leverage the federal CDBG funds
Petaluma must use non-CDBG resources to address the City’s priorities because the City’s
CDBG entitlement is modest. It is vital that those funds are leveraged with other resources to
serve low and moderate-income residents. The City has two other Housing funds, the In-Lieu
Housing Fund and the Commercial Linkage Housing Fund, which receive income from
commercial and residential development projects. The estimated total balance in both of those
Housing Funds is $1,500,000 as of June 30, 2021. Future income with both of these Housing
funds is not guaranteed as it depends on residential and commercial development fees.
With the shortage of funds, the City which owns several properties, leases them to nonprofit
providers for a $1.00 a year to be used for housing and services for the low income and
unsheltered community members which addresses the needs identified in the Consolidated Plan
to provide housing and services to the low-income populations, including but not limited to,
children, seniors and special needs population (homeless, disabled, etc.). The City leases 4
properties to the Committee on the Shelterless for their supportive housing program and 1
property to the Veterans Resources for their supportive program for veterans. The value for use
of these properties has been estimated at a total of $300,000 per year (approximately $5,000 per
month per home.) The City also provides use of publicly owned facilities (Novack Center, 1500
Petaluma Boulevard S) for program operations for our nonprofits to serve low-income members
of our community; that value is estimated at $84,000 per year.
Regarding public services funding via subcontracts with the City’s regular annual CDBG
allocation, nonprofit agencies leverage a number of private and public funding sources in order
to deliver program services. These agencies include Petaluma Peoples’ Services Center (PPSC)
and Rebuilding Together Petaluma (RBT).
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Affordable Housing Progress
One-Year Goal Actual
Number of Homeless households to be
provided affordable housing units
2
20
Number of Non-Homeless households to
be provided affordable housing units
6
16
Number of Special-Needs households to
be provided affordable housing units
0
0
Total 7 25
Table 5 – Number of Households
One-Year Goal Actual
Number of households supported through
Rental Assistance (includes CDBG-CV)
150
169
Number of households supported through
The Production of New Units
6
16
Number of households supported through
Rehab of Existing Units
58
58
Number of households supported through
Acquisition of Existing Units
0
2
Total 208 245
Table 6 – Number of Households Supported
Difference between goals and outcomes
Based on the data, and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our community, staff
recommends revisiting and updating the 5-year Consolidated Plan goals to better reflect current
needs. A major problem in meeting affordable housing needs was the reduction of state, federal
and local resources. The City is hopeful that the additional mechanisms and resources through
State sponsored programs will allow the City to meet future affordable housing goals. The
City has prioritized its CDBG funds for the preservation of affordable housing during the
upcoming FY 2021-2022 program year. In future years the City may want to have a discussion
regarding other eligible uses and timeline to expend the funds.
Income of community members benefiting from services
Number of Households Served CDBG Actual HOME Actual
Extremely Low-income 145 0
Low-income 160 0
Moderate-income 014 0
Total 319 0
Table 7 – Number of Households Served
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A total of 58 low and extremely low-income homeowner households benefitted from the
rehabilitation program; 46 low-income homeowners benefitted from Rebuilding Together
Petaluma’s rehabilitation program.
The City is also working with non-profit developers on four affordable rental housing
developments:
• River City senior housing is currently in construction and will provide 54 units of
senior/veteran housing.
• MidPen acquired a site to develop 43 units of multi-family housing.
• Burbank Housing is working on a 50-unit development.
• Danco is working on the Meridian at Corona Crossing project that will provide 131
units.
Addressing the emergency shelter and transitional housing needs of homeless persons
The annual Sonoma County Point in Time Census provides a snapshot of how many people are
experiencing homelessness on a given night. The number of individuals identified in the Sonoma
County February 2020 annual count was 2,745. While countywide homeless census numbers
decreased slightly from 2019 to 2020 and have remained relatively constant since 2015, the 2020
number of people experiencing homelessness in Petaluma (295) reflects a 12% increase over the
2019 count (265.) The impacts of COVID on homelessness are not yet reflected in existing formal
homelessness reports, but early observations by HUD and the National Alliance on Homelessness
anticipate 2021 reports will show the pandemic increased existing inequities in health and housing
systems across the nation.
The services funded by the City are part of the county-wide system of services available to those
at risk of or experiencing homelessness. These services are primarily funded with federal and
state funds, some of which are targeted to those experiencing homelessness and some of which
target low-income populations in general for the purposes of homelessness prevention or
housing stabilization. Per federal regulation, responsibility for coordinating homeless services
across the County resides primarily with a body known as the Continuum of Care. The CoC is a
membership organization guided by a 15-member Board. City of Petaluma Council Member
Kevin McDonnell has a seat on the Board, representing Petaluma as well as other medium and
small cities in the County. This system of care and its funding sources are complex, yet crucial
to addressing the issue of homelessness. The CoC has been undergoing significant structural and
systems transition to improve collaborative planning and service delivery. While working to
improve this system requires considerable time and effort, staff believe that investment is
worthwhile given the importance of a well-functioning Continuum of Care to Petaluma’s long-
term success in addressing homelessness. Continuum of Care funds administer the Countywide
Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and the Countywide Coordinated Entry
program for numerous Continuum of Care Rental Assistance programs
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In 2020-2021 the City used a total of $470,000 of local housing funds for homeless services by
executing contracts with Committee on the Shelterless (COTS) in the amount of $120,000 and
the Downtown Streets Teams (DST) in the amount of $350,000. In addition, the $460,000 of
HEAP Program funding awarded through County Continuum of Care was allocated for two
projects – $365,000 for capital improvements to the Mary Isaak Center (a homeless shelter with
a multi-service day center offering showers, laundry, telephone, mail, information and referrals,
and a 100-bed shelter providing meals, employment services as well as case management) and
$95,000 to the City of Petaluma for the purchase of a two vehicles including a van for the City
SAFE Program and a pickup truck for the Downtown Streets Team Employment Based Training
Program. The City CDBG annual funding allocation historically has not been used for homeless
services, but in addition to the previously mentioned program funding, the City owns 4
properties that are leased to Committee on the Shelterless and used to provide housing
opportunities for previously homeless clients. At the Mary Isaak Center, Petaluma’s homeless
shelter, there are 34 beds for transitional housing needs for the homeless population. The City of
Petaluma also provided property where the Committee on the Shelterless operates its Family
Homeless Shelter which serves up to 18 homeless families a night.
Helping low-income individuals and families avoid becoming homeless
The CofC’s discharge planning efforts are outlined in greater detail in the Consolidated Plan and
include ongoing coordination with various Sonoma County departments, such as Division of
Family, Youth, and Children Services, Behavioral Health, and Sonoma County Probation, and
the grassroots Health Care for the Homeless Collaborative staffed by the Sonoma County Task
Force for the Homeless.
Activities supporting the transition to permanent housing and independent living-
One of the greatest barriers to preventing and ending homelessness in Petaluma and across
Sonoma County is the shortage of affordable housing. Petaluma, being a small jurisdiction, is
committed to preserving and rehabilitating the affordable housing we do have and working with
both non-profit and for-profit developers in the construction of affordable units when the
opportunity arises. In this context, in FY 2020-2021, the City’s response to homelessness
included short-term, interim and long-term solutions:
• Short-Term
o Downtown Streets Team (DST) – meals, outreach focused on general resource
connection, streets and encampment clean-ups.
o COTS – meals, street outreach and encampment clean-ups.
• Interim Solutions
o COTS – housing-focused shelter with individual case management support and
housing placement program.
o DST – housing-focused outreach, employment program, collaboration with court
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referral, jail re-entry, and health care partners.
o SAFE Program - CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) –
mental health first response for crises involving mental illness, homelessness, and
addiction.
• Long-term Solutions
o COTS – permanent supportive housing with services, COVID rapid rehousing.
o Petaluma People Services Center – rapid rehousing.
o Nations Finest – Veterans housing support services.
Actions taken to address the needs of public housing -
The City does not own or operate public housing units. There are approximately 400
Section 8 vouchers that have been issued through the Sonoma County Housing Authority
for persons living in Petaluma.
When there are homeownership opportunities, notification is placed in the local newspaper
reaching out to all First Time Homebuyers and distributed via email to interested
homeowners.
Public Policies
Petaluma ensures compliance with the Federal Fair Housing Act and Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for all new housing construction projects. This includes that, at a
minimum, five percent of the total dwelling units shall be made accessible for persons with
mobility impairments.
Potential constraints to housing development in Petaluma may include infrastructure, residential
development impact fees, land use, growth management, and zoning ordinance provisions. A
detailed analysis of these potential barriers is provided in the 2015-2023 Housing Element.
Some of Petaluma’s strategy for removing the barriers to affordable housing is:
• The City is committed to an efficient development application process to alleviate some
of these constraints by meeting with potential developers in a preliminary meeting at the
Development Review Committee (DRC) where staff from different departments meets to
discuss what can be done to get the proposed development through the planning process
which can expedite the process.
• The City of Petaluma reviews their development impact fees on an annual basis and
reduced or combined several fees as possible.
• In Petaluma, we have extended the service of our transit schedule to accommodate
evening ridership to improve our transit options. The Sonoma Marin Area Rapid Transit
system became operational in 2017. Over the past four years, it has been successful in
attracting the community to utilize their service.
• The City of Petaluma adopted an inclusionary housing ordinance in September of 2018 to
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require all residential developments with 5 or more units to build on-site affordable units
in the development.
One of the primary obstacles to meeting underserved needs of residents is the availability of
funding. Changes to tax credit scoring and the limited amount of state housing funds has proven
to be an obstacle in the City’s ability to implement its goals. The City team will be seeking
additional funding by preparing and presenting to Council for consideration the following
program applications that will allow the City to leverage its limited funding and providing more
housing opportunities for extremely, very low and special needs households. The following list
of programs are all State of California Housing and Community Development Programs; Local
Housing Trust Fund; Pro-Housing Designation Program; Affordable Housing and Sustainable
Communities Program and the Permanent Local Housing Allocation Formula Programs.
Actions to reduce Lead Based Paint
The County of Sonoma has implemented the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention program
(CLPP), funded through the State Department of Health Services, which employs a team of
health professionals, who provide services to parents, healthcare providers, and the general
public. The team is comprised of Registered Environmental Specialists, Public Health Nurses,
and Health Educators. The CLPP program provides services in two major ways – 1) case
management and source identification for lead poisoned children and 2) outreach and education
to the community and targeted groups.
The City works closely with our non-profit agency, Rebuilding Together Petaluma, who is
instrumental in the rehabilitation of the majority of the City’s housing units with CDBG funds.
LBP hazard notices are distributed to the owners of the rehabilitated properties warning them of
the hazards of LBP. All units rehabilitated with CDBG funds are owned by disabled and or
low- income households.
Rental Assistance
The City hopes to reduce the number of poverty-level individuals by targeting, CDBG and local
funds to projects that will provide affordable housing units and related services to foster self-
sufficiency. The city does not have the resources or the capacity to increase income of poverty
level persons, although the City does act to reduce housing costs for these individuals with other
city funds through a rental assistance program and through services that reduce household costs.
In 2020-2021 the City used $106,544 of CDBG-CV1 funds for local housing funds for rental
assistance and provided $25,00 of Housing In-Lue funding for rental assistance programs.
Program Administration -
The City of Petaluma’s Housing Division will administer all of the activities specifically
identified in the Consolidated Plan. The city works closely with other housing -related
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organizations and service providers in the City to ensure that the housing needs of City residents
are addressed to the best ability of the network of such providers given available resources.
The working relationships between the Housing Division and other City departments are strong
and facilitative. City Planning and Housing staff meet regularly to discuss improving
communications, sharing of housing development information and providing feedback for
development plans and opportunities for affordable housing development funding.
In addition to its active participation in the Sonoma County Continuum of care, the City has
invested in local and regional collaboration to coordinate service delivery, leverage limited
resources and pursue new funding. The primary mechanism for this collaboration has been the
establishment of the Homelessness Roundtable. Recognizing that homelessness is a
community-wide challenge beyond the capacity of the City alone to solve, the City convenes a
group of contracted homeless service providers to coordinate services and plannin g. The
Roundtable meets weekly and currently includes COTS, PPSC, DST, Nations Finest, the
Petaluma Police Department, City Manager’s office, and staff from City Park and Recreation and
Housing. The Roundtable brings providers together to address the indiv idual needs of those
served with a “By-Name-List” approach – i.e., looking at each individual’s experience and
working collaboratively on strategies needed to support their exit from homelessness.
Public Private Partnerships -
The City has on-going interaction with many public and private entities to further the objectives
set form in the Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plan. The City relies on private non -profit
organizations as well as for-profit developers to build and acquire, develop, and rehabilitate
affordable units. In 2021-2021, the City worked closely with for-profit and non-profit developers
and was able to acquire/convert an additional market-rate ownership unit and preserve two
ownership units by investing subsidy and converting the homes to the Housing Land Trust
Model. The City also relies on the non-profit service sector to provide emergency shelter,
transitional and special needs housing. The City will continue to support these organizations and
their activities as funding allows.
Removing barriers
In 2021, City staff is working with the staffs of the County of Sonoma and City of Santa Rosa
(the three-entitlement jurisdictions in the county) to jointly draft a new Sonoma County 2021-
2022 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) report. The County of Sonoma has
issued and RFP for the project. The City uses its local Housing In- Lieu and Commercial In
Lieu funds to support programs that improve the supply and the conditions of affordable housing
for lower income persons. In addition, the City annually allocates Housing funds toward a
county-wide Fair Housing program. Petaluma People Services Center was the Fair Housing
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service provider for Petaluma in 2020-2021. Their program is designed to counter violations
under state landlord-tenant law in addition to discriminatory practices under both state and
federal fair housing statutes. PPSC provides housing counseling and landlord-tenant mediation
and provided least 12 landlord trainings to the housing industry.
PPSC reported contact with nearly 500 people during the FY 2020-2021. The majority of
complaints were landlord-tenant issues. The agency opened 289 cases in FY 20-21 where there
were signs of fair housing discrimination, additional help with accommodations were needed
and/or evictions. Of the open cases, 86 were from te nants; 45 seniors, 9 veterans, 28 Female
Head of Household, 40 have physical disabilities and 28 reported that they were living with
mental disabilities. PPSC is actively working with HUD on one Fair Housing case in Petaluma.
Program monitoring and admini stration -
The Housing and Block Grant Division regularly monitors CDBG funded activities to ensure that
all projects and programs are administered in compliance with applicable regulations and to
ensure that those accomplishments are addressing the priorities established in the Consolidated
Plan. Staff will be starting the program monitoring in fall of 2021.
Subrecipients: The majority of funding will be allocated to nonprofit subrecipients. The
subrecipient will enter into an agreement with the City detailing program requirements,
applicable statutes and regulations, and references to the provision of OMB circulars containing
federal cost principles, audit and uniform administrative requirements.
Technical Assistance: The City conducts a mandatory orientation session in which all
subrecipients receive updated information pertaining to their funded activities and throughout
the year, city staff provides additional technical assistance through one-on-one contacts with
the subrecipient agencies throughout the program year. Staff conducts a desktop review of the
financials and program records of each subrecipient annually. Housing staff communicates on
a regular basis with the nonprofits utilizing CDBG funds. On-site monitoring visits are done
as needed.
Reporting: Subrecipients of CDBG funds are required to submit quarterly reports via the City
Data Services web portal to the City. Each of the quarterly reports must provide information
regarding the subrecipient’s activities, beneficiaries, and accomplishments. This information is
entered into HUD’s Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS). The staff will then
review and monitor the reports for compliance with all applicable federal and local regulations,
goals and objectives.
Performance Measurement System: Utilizing HUD’s system of measuring goals and objectives,
the staff is measuring milestones of success for meeting the needs of the community’s low and
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moderate income and minority residents.
To ensure that all citizens, public agencies, and other interested parties have the opportunity to
review and comment on performance reports on housing and community development activities
and the use of CDBG funds public notices are placed in the local newspaper, notices are posted
in the City e-newsletter, published on the City Housing Program webpage, and are available via
request to the City Housing Program Manager, Karen Shimizu @cityofpetaluma.org and
A draft of the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) was made
available for public review for 30 days prior to the City Council meeting scheduled for
September 20, 2021. At the public hearing the CAPER will be presented and public comments
will be incorporated as part of the public record. Due to the pandemic the meeting will be held
virtually via zoom. Meeting details are posted on the City website. All public and interested
parties are provided access to the Council meetings during the coronavirus pandemic and ae
provided opportunities to speak via the internet virtual meetings.
The City has made provisions to provide bilingual translators and signing or captioning services
for the hearing impaired upon request. Normally the sites utilized for all public
meetings/hearings are ADA compliant and within proximity to public transportation. The City’s
website is also available in Spanish.
The City’s public comment period for the draft 2020-2021 CAPER ran from August 20, 2021
through September 20, 2021. The Public Hearing Notices were printed in English and Spanish
in the local newspaper serving the City of Petaluma.
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