Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: STUDY SESSION
To: City Council & Planning Commission
Subject: HOUSING STRATEGIES
Date: May 28, 2024
Written by: Autumn Buss, Associate Planner
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Planning Commission and City Council discuss short- to mid-term strategies to meet Cotati’s housing needs, and provide direction to staff.
Background
California is facing a critical need for more housing, particularly housing that is affordable to lower- and middle-income households. Local jurisdictions are tasked with addressing this need and are expected to meet housing production targets identified in the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and incorporate those targets into their programs and policies being pursued in response to the 2023 General Plan Housing Element Update. Jurisdictions are also charged with implementing the housing-focused laws passed by the State legislature, which have increased in number over the past several years, with the primary goal of increasing housing production.
Cotati has been implementing new State housing laws on an ongoing basis. The City also adopted its 2023-2031 Housing Element Update last year, which includes a wealth of policies, programs, and action items to address the community’s housing needs.
Analysis/Discussion
A number of the identified strategies below are responsive to State legislation and/or reflect adopted Housing Element policies and programs. The goal of this workshop is to give the Council, Commission, and community the opportunity to review and discuss these efforts, provide direction to staff regarding areas to be further developed, identify additional needs to be addressed, and in some instances provide input regarding priority of staffing efforts.
1. Streamline Housing Development
a. Objective Design Standards for Plex and Single Family Housing: See separate staff report for this workshop.
b. ADU Plans Pre-Approval Program: The City has a collection of pre-approved accessory dwelling unit (ADU) plans available to the public through its collaboration with the Napa Sonoma ADU Center. However, the CA Building Code is being updated in 2024 and new State legislation (AB 434) taking effect January 1, 2025, mandates a preapproval program requiring that local jurisdictions accept ADU plans submissions from architects for pre-approval. Use of pre-approved ADU plans can provide an applicant with reduced review time and expense when applying for an ADU building permit.
Strategy: To meet this requirement, the Community Development Department will continue to make its existing set of pre-approved ADU plans available to the public via its website, will dedicate currently-budgeted hours for contract Building Division staff to review 3 to 5 new sets of ADU plans per year, and is in the process of creating a submittal and review procedure for new designs to be submitted for pre-approval and included in the City’s inventory of pre-approved designs.
2. Increase Feasibility of Housing Development
a. Zoning Code Updates: A number of potential amendments to the zoning code, including residential parking requirements, setbacks, lot coverage, and minimum lot sizes are included in the options for creation of plex and single family ODS, implementing the direction of Housing Element Programs 2-4 and 3-1. Some additional changes that the City might consider to further facilitate housing production and spur compact, infill development include the following:
i. Adjust the allowable number of units per acre in residential zoning districts to allow more units per property.
ii. Examine building setbacks for more flexibility.
iii. Consider decreased minimum lot size and dimensions.
Strategy: Consider zoning code updates to facilitate housing development. The Community Development Department will review the zoning districts for opportunities to make adjustments to these standards, while also preserving the character of existing residential neighborhoods. Any opportunities found will be presented along with other existing commitments for Planning Commission and City Council consideration at a future public hearing.
b. Develop Cotati’s Housing Programs
i. Cottage Housing Ordinance (CH)—The CH ordinance is a voluntary path that allows a developer up to a 100% density bonus and various reduced standards (setbacks, parking) in exchange for following a specific development pattern as determined by the City Council. One project has been permitted since the CH ordinance passed in 2021. In contrast, the State Density Bonus law offers substantial benefits to developers—including up to a 50% increase in base density, significant parking reduction, waivers of City standards, and certainty in terms of process outcomes and timing due to required use of objective standards and a quasi-ministerial process. When compared to State Density Bonus law, it is possible that the CH ordinance is not competitive due to its lack (relative) of certainty and increased parking requirements. In keeping with Housing Element Program 2-4, staff will undertake a review of the CH Ordinance to explore options to improve benefits to developers, particularly in light of the alternative path of the State Density Bonus.
Strategy: Consider options to make the CH ordinance more attractive to developers and competitive with State Density Bonus law, including reducing parking requirements, certainty in approval, and actively promoting the CH program.
ii. Cotati Density Bonus—As mentioned above, the State Density Bonus is very attractive to developers, as it provides significant benefits for a relatively small amount of affordable housing provision (typically 15% of units, targeted to very low income households). This strategy involves developing Cotati’s own version of a density bonus program offering some similar benefits to developers as the State program, but with more advantages to Cotati. This would be different from the CH program in that it would apply to any type of multifamily project, while CH is a specific housing type and is limited to 4 units per individual building. Aspects of the Cotati Density Bonus program might include up to a 100% increase over base density, with project review based on objective standards to provide a level of certainty to developers, and the ability to provide affordable units at multiple levels of affordability.
Advantages to Cotati could include flexibility in the affordability levels of the proposed affordable units (in compliance with our inclusionary housing requirements), additional parking spaces where needed, compliance with all development criteria, and the inclusion of commercial square footage to support a mix of uses.
Strategy: Develop Cotati-specific density bonus program c. SB 10 Ordinance—SB 10 is a voluntary pathway for jurisdictions to allow projects of up to 10 units, plus 4 ADUs, on a single parcel, regardless of the underlying zoning and maximum density. Essentially a parcel- or area-level rezoning, adoption of an SB 10 ordinance does not require CEQA review, and the City can decide whether the approval process for SB 10 projects will be discretionary or ministerial. This would be a way to achieve more units on certain smaller properties without the use of area-wide rezoning or adoption of a specific plan. Further review of SB 10, in accordance with Housing Element Program 2-4, would be required in order to determine whether it provides an advantage over other strategies.
Strategy: Further consider and review of value of an SB 10 ordinance. d. Small-Lot Subdivision Standards—CMC Section 17.42. 120 references multifamily and small-lot single family project standards. However, it is proposed by staff to update this area of the zoning code to relocate the portions relevant to multifamily into the City’s updated Objective Design Standards (see workshop staff report on plex and single-family objective design standards) and explore the opportunity to create separate small lot residential development standards. Unfortunately, this code section does not truly provide standards for small lot subdivision projects. In response City staff proposes to explore opportunities to develop true small-lot subdivision standards to more effectively review these types of projects, and also as an alternative to a new state mandate, SB 684, which goes into effect July 1 of this year.
Per SB 684, jurisdictions must provide ministerial review of subdivisions up to 10 lots, with development of up to 10 total for-sale units, proposed for multifamily zones. The lots are exempt from a local jurisdiction’s minimum size, width, and depth standards.
The only requirement is a minimum 600-sqft parcel size. Ministerial review of the resulting housing development project is also required. Maximum parking requirements are limited to 1 space per unit, or zero spaces required for projects within ½ mile of the SMART station. Setbacks are reduced, and the unit size is capped at 1,750 square feet.
SB 684 is not applicable in areas designated at California Tiger Salamander (CTS) habitat, which includes about half of Cotati’s land area.
Strategy: Develop Cotati-specific small lot subdivision standards as an alternative path to SB 684.
e. E. Cotati Avenue Corridor-level Planning
The Association of Bay Area Governments/Metropolitan Transportation Commission (ABAG/MTC) have drafted specific Transit Oriented Community (TOC) development criteria and are pushing all jurisdictions to adopt these TOC standards for properties within ½ mile of a train station (such as the Cotati SMART station). For Cotati, this area primarily covers properties along E. Cotati Avenue. These criteria essentially serve to increase densities (residential and commercial), support alternative transportation, and reduce the perceived impediments to development. Currently, this includes requirements such as a minimum residential density range of 25-35 units per acre and a zero-space minimum parking requirement for residential units.
The strategy for motivating jurisdictions to adopt these polices is tying One Bay Area Grant funds to adoption of the TOC criteria for the 2026 funding cycle. Cotati historically used OBAG grant funds for road paving, and the amount expected to be available for Cotati in 2026 totals about $1 million.
Although the ABAG/MTC TOC policies are still draft, more information can be found at:
https://mtc.ca.gov/planning/land-use/transit-oriented-communities-toc-policy Strategy: City staff is exploring including the TOC zoning changes within the CEQA analysis of the Santero Way Specific Plan. While this will add additional cost and scope to the contract, it will allow the City to implement the TOC policies through a future zoning effort while also allowing flexibility in the timing of such an effort.
3. Housing Stability
a. Lower Income Home Rehabilitation Program—This program would create a revolving loan program to provide funding for lower income homeowners to fix life safety and livability issues and code violations in their homes, including mobilehomes. A portion of the City’s Housing fund could be used for the program, in exchange for a reduction in funding available for construction of new units, at least in the short term. If the City were to loan a portion of the funds from the Housing Fund, it would be structured to provide low-interest, silent second loans that are due upon property transfer.
This type of support can help lower income households, including seniors, retain their housing.
Strategy: Develop program and promote to community.
b. Unpermitted ADU Amnesty—AB 670, passed in 2019, requires that local jurisdictions give owners 5 years to bring existing, unpermitted ADUs into compliance with building code requirements. Development of this program would allow existing ADUs to remain a part of the City’s housing stock, while inspecting and updating them to ensure they meet minimum life safety criteria.
Strategy: Develop program and promote to community.
c. Housing Fair--Community Development staff has scheduled the second annual Housing Fair for Sept 14, 2024, in partnership with the City of Rohnert Park and the Sonoma County Library. The goal of the fair is to build relationships with housing providers/services and community members; provide opportunities to access resources on tenants’ rights and affordable housing; answer questions about ADU development; and generally share information about efforts to support housing development and opportunities with the communities. The Housing Fair is an annual commitment in Housing Element Program 1-3.
Strategy: Share resources with various housing service providers to ensure community knowledge and utilization of available housing resources is available and broad-reaching.