Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: PUBLIC HEARINGS (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: 2023 Housing Element Update and the associated General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Addendum
Date: March 28, 2023
Written by: Noah Housh, Director of Community Development Recommendation
Based on the analysis and findings in the staff report and the attached resolutions, the Community Development Department and the Planning Commission recommend that the City Council adopt the Resolution approving an Addendum to the City of Cotati General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in connection with the 2023-2031 Housing Element Update, and the Resolution approving the 2023-2031 Housing Element Update.
Background
The Housing Element is one of the seven mandated elements of the General Plan, and the only element that must be updated on a set schedule, consistent with the establishment of Regional Housing Needs Allocations (RHNA), which are published at eight- year intervals. The City last updated its Housing Element in 2014 and this current update will cover the planning period from 2023 to 2031.
In the last few years, the Legislature has passed multiple housing bills that prescribe new requirements for Housing Elements and new “by-right” requirements for housing projects. Byright requirements primarily require cities to approve certain housing development projects compatible with local zoning rules. Some provisions of these laws reduce land use control for cities without a certified Housing Element. Staff’s goal for this Housing Element update is to meet the requirements established by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), preserve the City’s discretionary land use control to the maximum extent possible and bring forward meaningful local goals, policies and programs that support housing at all levels in Cotati.
At two meetings held on June 16, 2022, the City Council and Planning Commission reviewed background data for the Housing Element update including the City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), the inventory of potential housing sites and the results of community outreach to date. Highlights of these presentations include:
• Cotati’s RHNA for the 2023-2031 Housing Element is 234 units, which is an increase of 70% over the 5th Cycle RHNA; and
• The City has sufficient land zoned under existing conditions to accommodate the 6th Cycle RHNA with a substantial buffer, primarily with planned and approved projects. • Most goals, policies, and programs are continued from the 5th Cycle Housing Element, with revisions primarily reflecting changes in State law.
At this joint meeting, the City Council and Planning Commission also reviewed and provided direction on the proposed goals and programs included in the draft Housing Element.
Incorporating this direction, staff and the consultant team prepared the HCD Draft Housing Element, for a 30-day public review and then for a 90-day HCD review. The 30-day public review period started September 27, 2022 and extended to allow further public comment.
Comments received during the public review period were incorporated and a revised Draft Housing Element was submitted to HCD on November 18, 2022 for its 90-day review period.
During its 90-day review period, HCD provided some initial comments and gave the City the opportunity to incorporate those edits and re-submit within the review period. The City incorporated these edits and put the revised document out for an additional 7-day public review period in early February. On February 16, 2023, HCD provided a letter of its findings to the City, which included a list of changes that needed to be incorporated; the HCD letter is included as Attachment 2. Subsequently, City staff and consultant incorporated these edits. The attached Draft Housing Element reflected the changes outlined by HCD in its letter. In addition, Exhibit A to the proposed Resolution approving the Housing Element Update (Attachment 1), outlines the City’s response to each finding in detail.
Project environmental review included an addendum to the City’s General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which was certified in 2015 when the General Plan was adopted. In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Section 15164(a), an Addendum to a previously certified EIR can be prepared when there are no changes to the conditions or new significant environmental effects, where the changes undertaken are not substantial, and where no new mitigation measures are needed. As there is no requirement to rezone parcels, and no other significantly new programs or impacts, the Addendum may be certified.
Public input was accepted and incorporated at each of the review points described above. In order to remain compliant with State Housing Element law, Cotati’s HCD-reviewed and revised Housing Element must have been adopted by the City Council no later than January 31, 2023; thus, the City is out of compliance along with most jurisdictions in the Bay Area; as of February 23, 2023, 94% of Bay Area jurisdictions were out of compliance.
Analysis/Discussion
The revised Draft Housing Element (included as Exhibit B of Attachment 1) contains the following sections, as required by state law:
1. Introduction and Summary: Includes summaries of community involvement, population characteristics and trends, constraints to housing development, fair housing assessment and progress on programs in current Housing Element;
2. Housing Strategy: Goals, policies and programs demonstrating ability to meet housing needs;
3. Housing Sites: Identified sufficient sites zoned for housing to meet Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA);
4. Technical Background Report & Appendices: Included in a separate document, this report provides in-depth data and analysis required to support the Housing Element policy document.
In the sections below, staff will provide a high-level overview of the public outreach conducted to date, as well as the Housing Strategy and Housing Sites sections included in the Housing Element.
Public Outreach: One of the many requirements for the Housing Element is the collection of data to help determine housing needs. This includes data about how many residents are overpaying for their housing, how many units are overcrowded, the costs of developing housing, and demographic information and trends. The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) have provided the bulk of the required housing and demographic data. In addition to this data, staff and consultants have collected local data in real time order to ensure that Cotati’s Housing Element truly addresses Cotati’s needs. Public outreach efforts are described and summarized below. • Housing Element Update Website (https://www.cotaticity.org/215/Cotati-2023-HousingElement-Update): The website provides introductory information to the Housing Element update process, a dedicated email address, links to information on past and upcoming community meetings, a project timeline, and community opinion surveys in Spanish and English.
• Community Opinion Surveys: Surveys were made available in English and Spanish and could be completed on cell phones, computers, or other internet-accessing devices.
Surveys were promoted through the City’s social media channels, utility newsletter, email distribution lists, and door hangers that were placed in targeted locations where a higher proportion of underrepresented individuals reside (e.g., low-income households, people of color, seniors).
• Kick-off presentation was held at the October 12, 2021, joint City Council & Planning Commission meeting, covering the Housing Element update process, new laws, opportunities for engagement, and local housing demographics. This meeting also included an opportunity for members of the public to speak. • A virtual targeted stakeholder workshop was held on February 2, 2022, with communitybased organizations, affordable housing property managers and housing developers. • Presentations at the June 16, 2022, joint City Council & Planning Commission meeting and June 16, 2022, City Council meeting were held, covering the City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), the inventory of potential housing sites, results of community outreach to date, and both bodies provided direction for proposed goals, policies and programs for the Housing Element. These meetings also included an opportunity for members of the public to speak.
• The Draft Housing Element was posted on the City’s Housing Element webpage for the 30-day public review period from September 27, 2022. The webpage included information about how to provide comments by email.
• On November 18, 2022, the Draft Housing Element was submitted to HCD for its 90-day review period. The City’s webpage was updated to include the Draft Housing Element submitted to HCD and information about how to provide comments by email to the City and to HCD.
• On February 8, 2023, City staff and the consultant team revised to incorporate comments from HCD and released the revised draft for a 7-day public comment period. The City’s webpage was updated to include the revised Draft Housing Element and information about how to provide comments by email to the City and to HCD.
A detailed discussion of the community engagement and outreach is included as “Appendix B – Community Engagement and Outreach” of the Housing Element’s Technical Background Report.
Housing Strategy: An in-depth discussion of the Housing Strategy, including goals, policies and program, can be found starting on page 27 of the Draft Housing Element (Exhibit B of Attachment
1.) Below is a summary of the Housing Strategy. The Housing Element includes five goals and several policies and implementation programs, which will guide City actions over the 2023-2031 Housing Element cycle. The goals, policies, and programs are designed to address the existing and projected housing needs of the City of Cotati. The proposed Housing Element Goals are listed below and continue the direction set by the current Housing Element, with modifications made to address new State law:
• Goal H-1: Resilient & Safe Housing (Continuing, renamed) • Goal H-2: Housing Production (Continuing, renamed)
• Goal H-3: Affordable, Attainable, & Accessible Housing (Continuing, renamed) • Goal H-4: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (Continuing, renamed) • Goal H-5: Community Engagement (Continuing, renamed)
New programs are proposed in this Housing Element Update, which are designed to assist the City in complying with the full range of requirements for housing elements. Most of these new programs were reviewed by the Planning Commission and City Council in June 2022, who indicated support for included programs. One was added in response to findings in HCD’s letter.
Included as Attachment 1 is a summary table of all Housing Element programs (new, revised, and continuing), and the reason each program is being included. When a new program is required to comply with State law, that is noted. New programs added as a result of HCD’s findings are also noted.
Housing Sites: An in-depth discussion of Housing Sites can be found starting in Section 3 of the Draft Housing Element (Attachment 1, Exhibit B.) Below is a summary of this information. The proposed sites included in the Housing Element demonstrate that the City has sufficient land available to meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), which is a requirement of State law. The RHNA is the numerical foundation of all housing elements. Each agency’s RHNA is set through a process that is meant to identify and address housing needs for the state’s projected population, to improve the jobs - housing balance in communities, and to ensure the availability of housing affordable to all income groups. The City’s RHNA is set by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and for 2023-2031.
Cotati’s RHNA is 234 units, which is an increase of 70% over the 2015-2023 RHNA. Table 1 provides a breakdown of the City’s current RHNA by income category.
Table 1: Cotati Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), 2023-2031 Jurisdiction Very Low
Income (<50%
AMI)
Low Income
(50-80% AMI) Moderate Income
(80-120% AMI)
Above Moderate
Income (>120%
AMI)
Total
Cotati 60 34 39 101 234
Source: ABAG Draft Regional Housing Needs Allocation Plan: San Francisco Bay Area, 2023- 2031
The City is not required to construct the housing units included in its RHNA. It is instead required to demonstrate that it has adequate sites zoned at appropriate densities to accommodate the number of RHNA units in each income category. When a city lacks adequate available, vacant land for the development of its RHNA, it must either rezone adequate land at high enough densities to support affordable housing development or use other methods to identify where the units can go. These methods may include increasing allowable densities in certain land use categories; providing zoning overlays to allow housing on certain commercial parcels; allowing additional units within single-family neighborhoods; providing programs to encourage more, smaller units that are typically more affordable than larger units; or other creative solutions that address the City’s identified housing needs.
As part of preparing the Housing Element, staff and the consulting team identified housing sites in conjunction with preparation of the General Plan, developed a “pipeline” of housing projects that are planned to be developed in the next eight years, documented the affordability profile of planned projects, including those required by various Development Agreements, and conducted site specific outreach with owners whose property is included in the inventory. This work confirms that the City has sufficient land zoned for housing within the proposed General Plan 2040 to accommodate its RHNA and will not be proposing any zoning changes in its Housing Element. While the City also has some strong, documented plans for affordable housing construction, particularly in Development Agreements, additional policies and programs are necessary to ensure that the City could meet the required affordability at all levels. These new policies and programs are discussed above.
CONFORMANCE WITH CITY’S GENERAL PLAN: The current Housing Element adopted in 2014 will be rescinded and replaced with the draft Housing Element if approved by the City Council. The element is internally consistent with the remainder of the General Plan, assuming planned minor amendments are completed to the land use diagram. The Housing Element will not require additional changes to the General Plan, beyond minor text and formatting amendments.
Once the Housing Element is adopted, the above zoning ordinance updates will have the necessary policy support within the General Plan and no additional updates will be required.
STATE LAW - CA GOVERNMENT CODE TITLE 7, DIVISION 1, CHAPTER 3, ARTICLE 10.6 [65580 – 65589.11]: To be in substantial compliance with State law, a Housing Element must contain all of the elements mandated by State Housing Element law. The City’s Housing Element contains each of the elements mandated by State law.
PLANNING COMMISSION REVIEW: On March 20, 2023, the Planning Commission reviewed the draft 6th Cycle Housing Element, associated supporting documentation, draft General Plan EIR Addendum and all comments received. After considering the staff presentation, holding the public hearing and discussing the proposed revisions, the Commission voted 3 yeahs-0 nays-1 absent to recommend City Council approval of the documents as proposed.
Financial Considerations
The City of Cotati 6th Cycle Housing Element contains numerous programs and policies which will require future funding commitments anticipated to be funded through the Affordable Housing fund (Fund 216). The current balance of this fund is (approximately) $2,172,124 and there is an additional outstanding loan balance of (approximately) $772,481 due by 2038.
However, no additional funds beyond those previously budgeted for the Housing Element Update are being requested in fiscal year 2022/23.
Environmental Issues
Project environmental review included an addendum to the City’s General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which was certified in 2015 when the General Plan was adopted. In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Section 15164(a), an Addendum to a previously certified EIR can be prepared when there are no changes to the conditions or new significant environmental effects, where the changes undertaken are not substantial, and where no new mitigation measures are needed. As there is no requirement to rezone parcels, and no other significantly new programs or impacts, the Addendum may be certified.
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) an Addendum was completed.
On the basis of the Addendum, City staff for the City of Cotati, acting as Lead Agency, determined that there was no substantial evidence that the project could have a significant effect on the environment; as result, City staff prepared a Negative Declaration for the project pursuant to CEQA.
Attachments:
Exhibit A - Housing Element Review Letter (2023-02-16) (PDF) Exhibit A1 - Response to HCD Findings (PDF)
Exhibit B1-TC - Cotati Adoption Draft Housing Element - Tracked Changes (2023-03-20) (PDF)
Attachment 1, Exhibit B2-TC - Cotati Adoption Draft Technical Background Report - Tracked Changes (PDF)
Cotati HE_Final Addendum_March 2023-Signed (PDF)
Public Comment-March 13, 2023 (PDF)
PC Reso 23-03 (PDF)