Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION APPROVING
AFFORDABILITY AGREEMENTS FOR THE COTATI
VILLAGE 1 AND COTATI VILLAGE 2 DEVELOPMENT
PROJECTS
Date: September 9, 2025
Written by: Autumn Buss, Associate Planner
Recommendation
The Community Development Department recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution approving affordability agreements for the Cotati Village 1 and Cotati Village 2 development projects.
Background
In February 2024, the City Council approved Preliminary Design Review and a Tree Removal Permit for the Cotati Village 1 project, a 177-unit housing development with 4,752 square feet of commercial space proposed for the property located at the northeast corner of Gravenstein Highway and Alder Avenue.
In August 2024, the City Council approved Preliminary Design Review and a Tree Removal Permit for the Cotati Village 2 project, a 126-unit housing development with 2,200 square feet of commercial space proposed for the property located at the northwest corner of Gravenstein Highway and Alder Avenue.
The Cotati Village 1 and 2 projects both utilize the State Density Bonus law, which requires local jurisdictions to grant an increase in density to qualifying residential projects in exchange for provision of a certain number of affordable, income-restricted units within the project that are maintained as such for a minimum term of 55 years. Chapter 17.31 (Affordable Housing Requirements) of the Cotati Municipal Code sets forth the requirements for provision of affordable units in Cotati. The affordability agreement is the mechanism used to ensure that the affordable units in a development project are provided as required by State and local law.
Although the two projects have the same ownership entity, separate affordability agreements are required because the two projects are located on different properties and may be developed and/or sold separately in the future.
Analysis/Discussion
The Cotati Village 1 project, in accordance with the State Density Bonus program, has been granted a 50% increase in density in exchange for the provision of 15% of the base density units (18) as affordable. These 18 units will be restricted to very low income households, with rents set accordingly, for a minimum term of 55 years.
The Cotati Village 2 project, in accordance with the State Density Bonus program, has been granted a 50% increase in density in exchange for the provision of 15% of the base density units (13) as affordable. These 13 units will be restricted to very low income households, with rents set accordingly, for a minimum term of 55 years.
The affordable units in each project, in compliance with the City’s Land Use Code, will be provided in proportion to the overall unit mix for each project, and will be dispersed throughout the projects’ buildings and floors.
The Affordability Agreements will be recorded on the respective properties, and addresses the following key provisions:
• Number of and unit mix of restricted units
• Method of calculating rent level
• 55 year minimum term of affordability
• Use of Local Preference Policy for tenant selection of restricted units, as follows: 1. Live or work in the City of Cotati; 2. Have children who attend a school within the CotatiRohnert Park Unified School District; 3. Are members of a local Native American Tribe, including the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR); or 4. Are an employee of Sonoma State University, in this order.
• Contract compliance and reporting
• Property maintenance
• Restrictions on and City approval of property transfer Financial Considerations
With the exception of the staff time needed to prepare the agreements and resolution, there are no direct financial impacts to the general fund associated with the adoption of the resolution.
Environmental Issues
The proposed resolution approving affordability agreements for the Cotati Village 1 and 2 projects is not a project within the meaning of Section 15378 of the State of California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") Guidelines, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the environment, directly or indirectly. The City Council further finds that CEQA analysis for the Cotati Village 1 and 2 projects has been previously conducted and conformed to CEQA Guidelines Section 15183, which provides a streamlined review of the environmental impacts of the projects by tiering from the program level analysis prepared for the Cotati General Plan and its certified EIR. Section 15183 of the CEQA Guidelines mandates that projects which are determined to be consistent with the development density established by existing zoning, community plan, or general plan policies for which an EIR was certified shall not require additional environmental review, except as might be necessary to examine whether there are project-specific significant effects which are peculiar to the project or its site. All adopted mitigating General Plan policies and mitigation measures identified in the 2013 General Plan EIR that apply to the Project are identified in the analysis and imposed as environmental conditions of approval.