CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
City of Campbell, 70 N. First St., Campbell, California
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CAMPBELL CITY COUNCIL
Monday, May 9, 2022 – 6:00 p.m.
City Hall Council Chamber – 70 N. First Street
This City C ouncil Special meeting wa s duly no ticed pursuant to open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act (G.C. Section 54956).
CALL TO ORDER
The City Council of the City of Campbell convened this day in the regular meeting place, the City Hall Council Chamber, 70 N. First St., Campbell, California.
ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Title Status
Paul Resnikoff Mayor Present
Anne Bybee Vice Mayor Present
Elizabeth 'Liz' Gibbons Councilmember Present
Susan M. Landry Councilmember Present
Sergio Lopez Councilmember Present
PUBLIC COMMENT
There were no public comments.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Review Campbell's Plan for Housing – Objectives, Policies and Programs (PLN-2021-12)
Recommended Action: Review and provide feedback on the modified and refined Objectives, Policies, and Programs, to be include d in the Draft “Campbell’s Plan for Housing” to be published late May 2022.
Community Development Director Rob Eastwood introduced Staff Report dated May 9 , 2022 and reviewed the presenta tion outline, noting this is C ouncil’s second review of the proposed objectives, policies, and programs for Campbell’s Plan for Housing which will be available for public review beginning later in May 2022, at which time the draft Housing Element will be sen t to the Department of Housing and Commu nity Development (HCD), for their comments . A final draf t will be available for Council review and approval a t the end of 2022 . The final Housing Element must be certified by HCD in January 2023.
Director Eastwood reviewed the Community outreach effort s on this process including several community meetings, meetings with affordable hou sing developers, market -rate develo pers, faith-based organizations, opportunity site
Minutes of May 9, 2022 City Council Meeting Page 2
property owners, and service providers, as well as the Campbell Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, and Veteran’s groups.
Brittany Bendix, M-Group Representative, reviewed Council’s feedback from the April 20, 2022 Council meeting on this top ic, noting that Obje ctive #’s 1 F (accessory dwelling unit [ADU] ordinance updates), 2A (rent control ordinance), and 5C (ADU incentives for special need s populations), were removed from the list of policies and programs . Objective # 1K ( strategically interfacing with the legislature) was added. Objective #’s 1G (pre-approved ADU plans), 1J (missing middle ordinance), 2B (preserv ation of mobile home parks), 3B (permit streamlining), 3C (impact fee adjustments), 4A (siting development), 4B (resilient design), and 5F (multilingual information) were all elevated in their priority listing.
Ms. Bendix reviewed a chart listing the housi ng programs discussed by Council and the associated estimate of below market rate unit production numbers.
Ms. Bendix stat ed that Program H -1c relating to the Affordable Housing Overlay Zone (AHOZ) is being recommended as a tool to incentivize affordable housing developers to stay under the Cit y’s 75-foot building height limit , which could include mechanisms like fee waivers, c ity-funded frontage improvements, and a ministerial review among othe r things. The Planning Commission has supported the AHOZ and recommended the HOME Church site to be included in the AHOZ.
Asher Kohn, M -Group Representative, reviewed program H -1d noting this program establish es a maximum average unit size of 1,250 squ are feet for projects with a density over 45 dwelling units per ac re, with an intent to promote the production of smaller more affordable units.
Senior Planner , S tephen Rose noted that nei ther the City Council nor the Planning Commission have supported a citywide rent control ordinance, however Staff is recommending program H-2a relating to below market rate housing rent control. Staff is recommending to cap yearly increases for units in the City ’s below market rate program to no more than 5% plus the percent change in the Consumer Price Index or 10%, whichever is lower.
Mr. Kohn stated that P rogram H -3a relating to parking sta ndards recommends updating the Municipal Code to reduce parking requirements near transit, provide incentives for reduced parking, reduce parking requirements citywide to no more than two parking spaces per unit, removing guest parking requirements, and to allow parking to be unbund led from residential units. Unbundling parking would allow parking stalls to be rented separate ly from the units. Staff is recommending a hybrid approach to parking, al lowing a portion of parking stalls to be incl uded with rent and the option for a renter to ren t additional parking spaces on an as needed basis.
Mr. Kohn reviewed the programs associated with Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) and those that support spe cial needs populations (seniors, people with disabilities, the unhoused, large households, and fema le-headed households). Including senior home rehabilit ation pro grams, ph ysically accessible housing, ren ter support programs, extremely low-income units, and coordination with support providers.
Minutes of May 9, 2022 City Council Meeting Page 3
In r esponse to an inquiry, Community Development Director Eastwood s tated that Staff is seeking Council direction on which of these progr ams should be studied further and considered in the draft Housing Eleme nt document, following this decision point, a Nexis study would need to be completed to p inpoint exactly which fees are most viable to target for w aivers and what the most appropriate balance to the fiscal impa ct would be to increa se affordable housing wi thin the City.
Mayor Resnikoff opened the public hearing.
Sean Mendelson, Ca mpbell resident spoke of his sup port for ado ption of a Climate Action Plan and requested it be made a higher priority.
Sarah Chaffin, Campbell re sident spoke in support of the AHOZ and requested the properties on South Bascom Avenue and Winchester Avenue be included in this zone.
Dennis Randall, spoke in support of flexibility for housing programs in the C ity and for making economic density a priority on busy streets and arou nd transit to overcome the 75-foot height limitation.
Rosemary Early, Campbell resident spoke of her concerns relating to the income limits for below market rate ho using, noting t hat the low -low income level is still not low enough for many special needs individuals.
Enrique Navarro, Santa Clara County Association of Realtors represen tative, spoke of his concerns that inclusionary ordinances , resilient design constraints, and renter protection laws can increase housing prices.
Mayor Resnikoff closed the public hearing.
Councilmember Lopez spoke in support of limited below market rate housing rent control measures, the AHOZ, and the AFFH programs. Coun cilmember Lopez noted his concerns that the programs project ed affordable hou sing unit creation targets are too lo w, and that Staff should build additional buffers into these programs. Councilmember Lopez expressed c oncerns relating to not expl oring opportunities like the Joint Power s Authority with other cit ies in the Coun ty quickly enough, the need for additional flexibi lity for parking requirements, and that the special needs group should include Veterans as well. Councilmember Lopez is not supportive of a maximum average unit size o r an inclusionary ordinance.
Councilwoman Lan dry sp oke in support of a m aximum average unit size, the below market rate housing rent control measures, the AHOZ, and the unbundled approach to parking restrictions. Councilwoman Landry noted her concerns that including the City properties in the projected housing unit creation targets could pose challenging to meet if these p roperties are removed from the site lists due to costs associated with moving the existing uses.
Minutes of May 9, 2022 City Council Meeting Page 4
Councilmember Gibbons noted that subject to the Nexis study on these housing programs she is supportive of impact fee development for commercial properties, and below market rate program re nt control . Councilmember Gibbons is not supportive of the AHOZ and expressed concerns relating to cost recovery on affordable hou sing units , as there is no p roperty tax inc ome and no mo netary offset to help support the increases to our below market rate program resources.
Vice Mayor Bybee noted her support for the AHOZ, making the missing middle programs a higher priority, the maximum unit size as recommended by Staff, th e below market rate uni t rent co ntrol, unbundled parking approach where most appropriate to do so, and the AFFH programs including increased outreach in multiple languages.
Mayor R esnikoff e xpressed suppor t for the AHOZ and for AFFH programs including th e outreach in multiple languages. Mayor Resnikoff exp ressed concerns relating to the unintended consequen ces of programs like restricting the m aximum average unit size, below market rate program rent control, and unbundled parking.
Councilmembers confirm ed consensus for the AHOZ and for adding the South Bascom Avenue and Winchester Avenue prope rties to the zone, increasing the priority of the Cl imate Action Plan , the below market rate unit rent control program, and AFFH programs including outreach in multiple languages.
ADJOURN
Mayor Resnikoff adjourned the meeting at 8:33 p.m.
APPROVED:
ATTEST:
Paul Resnikoff, Mayor
Dusty Christopherson, City Clerk