Community Outreach Summary
RHNA 6 Housing Element Update
Overview
The Housing Element is an important document that will shape the future of our community. Therefore, it is important that it reflects the vision of the people who make the City of East Palo Alto special. To accomplish this, the City of East Palo Alto developed a broad and diverse outreach plan designed to reach as many community members who live and work here as possible. A summary of public participation and community outreach activities and key takeaways are included here.
The City’s goals outreach goals were as follows:
• Reduce barriers to access to ensure a robust community participation process that is representative of the full range of demographics, perspectives, and experiences in East Palo Alto • Build a level of transparency in the update process to ensure successful support and implementation after adoption
• Raise awareness among residents of the importance of the Housing Element update on shaping the future of our community
Given the inability to hold in-person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City developed different community outreach and engagement strategies, including virtual meetings, digital tools, and safe inperson interactions to ensure that community members who do not have access to technology were still able to participate and provide their input. The City also proactively engaged residents for whom English is not spoken at home, families that would need childcare in order to participate and engage in conversations, and renters living in multi-family and in single-family housing with little access to public transportation.
For many years, the community has participated and engaged in conversations about affordable housing, tenant rights, displacement and fair housing. In addition to conversations focused on the Housing Element, the City’s efforts to establish sustainable funding sources for affordable housing production and homelessness prevention, to discuss the Ravenswood Business District/Four Corners Specific Area Plan, develop an affordable housing workplan, among many other initiatives, have provided opportunities for many additional collaborative outreach activities.
For other outreach work, we partnered with other San Mateo County jurisdictions for a first-of-its-kind countywide outreach effort, through an award-winning collaboration called 21 Elements. Specific activities included:
Website, Social Media and Printed Mailing: The City of East Palo Alto launched a Housing Element Update webpage, and conducted extensive social media outreach beginning March 2021. Physical mailers were sent city-wide in April 2022.
We also participated in and helped shape a the Let’s Talk Housing initiative. City staff and consultants developed a countywide website available in five languages, a city webpage detailing our timeline, engagement activities, and resources that also linked to our city website, videos about the process in several languages, and a social media presence. As of February 2022, the website has been visited more than 17,000 times, with more than 20% from mobile devices.
Community Outreach Summary
Email Alerts: We sent alerts and updates via the City’s city-wide weekly newsletter, and created a Housing Element Update mailing list where residents interested in the Housing Element process received updates on upcoming community meetings or ways to participate in the Housing Element Update.
Community Meetings: The city organized three public Housing Element community meetings and presented at 6 public commission/council meetings. These include:
o Planning Commission Informational Update 05/10/21
o Community Meeting about Outreach Strategies 06/02/21
o Community Meeting #1 07/19/21
o Community Meeting #2 02/24/22
o Planning Commission Meeting 03/14/22
o City Council Meeting 03/15/22
o Planning Commission and City Council Joint Study Session 04/26/22 o Community Meeting #3 05/05/22
o Planning Commission Meeting 07/11/22
o City Council Meeting 07/19/22
The City also conducted a focus group presentation with the San Mateo County Equity Advisory Group on 05/02/22.
The City also participated in several meetings and webinars in partnership with 21 Elements, including:
Let’s Talk Housing - Introduction to the Housing Element – A housing element overview with breakout discussion rooms that was part of a series of introductory meetings attended by one community member and two East Palo Alto stakeholders and over 1,000 community members countywide.
o 03/25/21 (Joint with Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough and San Mateo); continued on 05/06/21 due to technological issues
o 07/26/21 (Virtual countywide meeting about the Housing Element update in Spanish) All About RHNA webinar – An in-depth dive into sites methodology. (4/23/21 - countywide) Stakeholder Listening Sessions – Four meetings where jurisdictions could listen to and interact with stakeholder groups arranged by topic. More than 30 groups participated. o Fair Housing 09/27/21
o Housing Advocates 10/18/21
o Builders 10/01/21
o Service Providers 11/15/21
Creating an Affordable Future webinars – A four-part series to help educate community members about local housing issues.
Outreach Activities: City staff conducted three online surveys, an in-person intercept survey at pop-up Farmer’s Markets, and a Balancing Act survey with sites inventory-specific questions. These efforts included:
Online Surveys 02/24/22 to 07/15/22
Balancing Act Survey 05/25/22 to 07/15/22
Intercept Survey at East Palo Alto Farmer’s Market 06/08/22 Intercept Survey at East Palo Alto Farmer’s Market 06/15/22 Community Outreach Summary
The City also supported an Equity Advisory Group with 21 Elements to ensure outreach was set up to meet people where they were at as much as possible.
It is more important than ever to include as many voices as possible in the Housing Element. Housing Elements at their best can provide an opportunity for everyone to add their voice to the conversation.
However, many people are too often left out of the process. Renters, workers, young families, youth, people of color, immigrants, refugees, non-English speakers, and people with disabilities are often unable to participate in outreach activities when scheduled, don’t know how to get involved, or don’t trust the process. Our goal was to change that. Specifically, we:
• Ensured foreign language translation and interpretation was included in our meetings and materials
• Designed a website that was mobile friendly, with accessibility features and available in multiple languages. (Lower income residents, young adults and people of color are more likely to use their phones)
• Formed an Equity Advisory Group consisting of 18 organizations across San Mateo County that provided feedback on outreach and materials, and shared information about the Housing Element Update and how to participate in the process with the communities they serve • Held meetings in partnership with community organizations (including an Introductory meeting in Spanish with English interpretation focusing on community outreach strategies) • Developed an Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing survey Key Takeaways
Below is a summary of key takeaways that emerged throughout the outreach process. Housing is personal: People often have differing views on housing because it is a very personal issue tied to feelings of safety, belonging and identify. Often the comments reflected people’s current housing situation. Those with safe, stable housing that they can afford were more concerned with change. Those without were more interested in bolder policies and more housing generally. Many people shared meaningful stories of being priced out of their communities or of their children not being able to live in the community where they grew up. Click here for a sample story.
The price of housing is a major concern: Many voiced concerns about the high cost to rent or buy a home today, either for themselves, friends, or family. It is an issue that touches a lot of lives. More housing is needed: Generally, people believe we need more housing, particularly affordable housing. However, there are diverging views on how to accomplish this, where housing should go, and what it should look like.
Single-family neighborhoods are polarizing: While some people voiced their interest in upzoning single-family neighborhoods or eliminating them altogether, other homeowners want to protect them and in turn, the investment they have made.
Community Outreach Summary
Affordable housing is a top concern: Many felt that more needed to be done to promote affordable housing. They also felt that developers should be eligible for incentives and opportunities that make them more competitive.
The process is too complicated: There was significant concern that the development process was too slow and there was too much uncertainty.
Better information resources: People wanted to know how to find affordable housing in their communities and navigate the process of applying for it. Issues are connected: Transportation, climate change, access to living wage jobs and education opportunities are all tied to housing and quality of life. These issues are not siloed in people’s lives and there is a desire to address them in interconnected ways. Equity is on people’s minds: People want to talk about housing inequities and, even more so, discuss how to solve them. There was interest in ways to create new opportunities for housing and asset building for all that also address past exclusions. Regional input matters but there’s more to figure out: It was valuable to build a broader sense of community and share resources at the countywide level. However, it was challenging to engage non-resident community members on jurisdiction-specific input. Diversity in participation was a challenge: Despite partnering with organizations to engage with the hardest to reach communities and providing multilingual outreach, achieving diversity in participation was challenging. In the wake of Covid-19, organizations already operating on limited resources were focused on supporting immediate needs, while the added stresses of life coupled with the digital divide added additional barriers for many.
What We Accomplished
The City of East Palo Alto developed a diverse outreach plan to hear from as many community members as possible. Below is a summary of engagement efforts.
1. Website, Social Media
As a starting point for accomplishing extensive outreach, the City of East Palo Alto developed a clear online presence with all the information needed to understand the update process and know how to participate.
City of East Palo Alto Website and Social Media
The City launched a Housing Element Update webpage on its City website in March 2021, where community members can find the latest updates on the Housing Element Update and a list of upcoming community meetings. The City webpage also provides links to previous commission/council reports and recordings to community meetings and public meetings. The City also provided updates and invitations to community meetings on social media. All outreach communications were conducted in English and Spanish. Appendix A provides an overview of the webpage and social media outreach performance.
Let’s Talk Housing Website and East Palo Alto Webpage To reach a broader audience and supplement the city webpage, we launched the Let’s Talk Housing website with 21 Elements in March 2021. Our goal was to clearly explain what a housing Community Outreach Summary
element is, why it matters, and how to get involved. It was made available in Arabic, Chinese, English, Spanish and Tagalog, designed to be responsive on all types of devices and included accessibility features. As part of this effort, we also developed an East Palo Alto webpage with our timeline, engagement activities like surveys and housing balancing exercises, and resources that also linked to our city website. As of January 2022, the Let’s Talk Housing website has been viewed more than 17,000 times, with more than 20 percent occurring from mobile devices. Let’s Talk Housing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube accounts were also created and maintained to keep people informed about upcoming or past event. Informational Videos on the Housing Element Update
After completing a series of introductory Meetings to the Housing Element Update (see below), we supported 21 Elements in developing shorter 4-minute snippets to ensure information was more accessible and less onerous than watching an hour-long meeting. Two videos were produced–What is a Housing Element and How it Works and Countywide Trends and Why Housing Elements Matter–in Arabic, Chinese, English, Spanish, and Tagalog. They were made available on the Let’s Talk Housing YouTube channel and website and shared on social media.
2. Email Alerts
The City sent updates about the Housing Element process via the City’s city-wide weekly newsletter, which updates residents on any upcoming City meetings and programs. The City also created a Housing Element Update mailing list to provide updates. Appendix B provides an overview of these email alerts.
3. Public Meetings and Hearings
The City of East Palo Alto held and participated in a variety of virtual and in-person meetings to inform the public about the Housing Element and hear what matters to the community. [Placeholder for pending Demographic Tracking Tool Data].
Countywide Introductory Meeting to the Housing Element Update The City of East Palo Alto helped develop and facilitate a 90-minute virtual countywide meeting about the Housing Element update. Held on March 30, 2021 and continued May 6, 2021 due to technological issues, the meeting provided community members with an introduction to the Housing Element update, why it matters, information on the Let’s Talk Housing outreach effort, and countywide trends. The City of East Palo Alto staff then facilitated a breakout room discussion with community members on housing needs, concerns, and opportunities, and answered any questions. A poll was given during the meeting, to identify who was joining us and more importantly who was missing from the conversation, including if they rent or own, who they live with, their age, and ethnicity. Time for questions was allotted throughout, and meeting surveys were provided to all participants after the meeting along with all discussed resources and links.
In total six introductory meetings were held across the county between March and May 2021, and 1,024 registered for the series. Of those who registered, the majority identified as White (66%) or Asian (15%) and were 50 years or older; nearly half were 50 to 69 years old and almost a fifth were over 70. Almost half had lived over 21 years in their homes and three-fourths owned their homes. One East Palo Alto resident and fourteen other stakeholders participated in the East Palo Alto breakout group. A meeting summary can be found in Appendix D.
On July 26th, the City of East Palo Alto joined a virtual countywide meeting about the Housing Element update in Spanish, hosted by El Comité, a trusted community organization. English interpretation was provided so non-Spanish speaking staff to participate in the conversation. In Community Outreach Summary
total, 57 people participated. A recording of this meeting was made available after and can be viewed here.
All About RHNA Webinar
The City of East Palo Alto joined a webinar with 21 Elements in April 2021 to provide information and answer community questions about the RHNA process. 264 people registered and 80 questions were answered over three hours. The recording of this meeting and the FAQ can be found here.
City Meetings
o Community Meetings
Outreach Strategies Community Meeting: The City conducted a community meeting virtually on June 2, 2021 that focused on outreach strategies. Housing Element Update Community Meeting #1: The City conducted its first city-specific community meeting virtually on July 19, 2021, which provided introductory information on the Housing Element Update and sought community input. Spanish interpretation was available. A recording of this meeting was made available after and can be viewed here.
Housing Element Update Community Meeting #2: The City conducted a second community meeting virtually on February 24, 2022, which provided introductory information and sought input on RHNA, policies and programs, and environmental constraints. Spanish interpretation was available. A recording of this meeting was made available after and can be viewed here in English and here in Spanish.
Housing Element Update Community Meeting #3: The City conducted a third community meeting and first hybrid meeting (held both in-person and virtually) on May 5, 2022. Spanish and Tongan interpretation was interpretation available both in-person and on Zoom. The meeting also had childcare, free food, and a free shuttle bus. The meeting provided introductory information and sought input on policies and programs and sites inventory. A recording of this meeting was made available after and can be viewed in both English and Spanish here. Due to technological issues, we were unable to record the Tongan interpretation. o Public Meetings
May 10, 2021 Brief Informational Update on Housing Element to Planning Commission.
March 14, 2022 Update on 2021 Housing Element and General Plan Annual Progress Report
March 15, 2022 City Council Authorization to Submit 2021 Housing Element Annual Progress Report, 2021 General Plan Annual Progress Report, and Housing Successor Agency Report to State Agencies
April 26, 2022 Joint study session with Planning Commission and City Council July 11, 2022 Planning Commission update
July 19, 2022 City Council update
Stakeholder Listening Session Series
The City of East Palo Alto joined 21 Elements for a facilitated series of listening sessions held between September and November 2021 to hear from various stakeholders who operate countywide or across multiple jurisdictions. The four sessions convened more than 30 groups including fair housing organizations, housing advocates, builders/developers (affordable and Community Outreach Summary
market-rate), and service providers, to provide observations on housing needs and input for policy consideration.
Summaries for each session can be found here. Key themes and stakeholder groups included:
Fair Housing: Concern for the end of the eviction moratorium, the importance of transitoriented affordable housing and anti-displacement policies, and the need for education around accessibility regulations and tenant protections. 8 stakeholder groups provided this feedback, including the following:
Center for Independence www.cidsanmateo.org
Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto (CLSEPA) www.clsepa.org Housing Equality Law Project www.housingequality.org
Legal Aid for San Mateo County www.legalaidsmc.org
Project Sentinel www.housing.org
Housing Choices www.housingchoices.org
Public Interest Law Project www.pilpca.org
Root Policy Research www.rootpolicy.com
Housing Advocates: Concern for rent increases and the need for ongoing outreach to underserved and diverse communities, workforce housing, deeply affordable and dense infill, and tenant protections for the most vulnerable. 6 stakeholder groups provided this feedback, including the following:
Housing Leadership Council www.hlcsmc.org
Faith in Action www.faithinactionba.org
Greenbelt Alliance www.greenbelt.org
San Mateo County Central Labor Council www.sanmateolaborcouncil.org Peninsula for Everyone www.peninsulaforeveryone.org
San Mateo County Association of Realtors www.samcar.org Builders and Developers: Local funding, tax credit availability, and concern that appropriate sites limit affordable housing while sites, construction costs, and city processes limit market-rate housing. 12 stakeholder groups provided this feedback, including the following:
Affirmed Housing (Affordable) www.affirmedhousing.com BRIDGE Housing (Affordable) www.bridgehousing.com
The Core Companies (Affordable, Market Rate) www.thecorecompanies.com Eden Housing (Affordable) www.edenhousing.org
Greystar (Market Rate) www.greystar.com
Habitat for Humanity (Affordable) www.habitatsf.org
HIP Housing (Affordable) www.hiphousing.org
Mercy Housing (Affordable) www.mercyhousing.org
MidPen Housing (Affordable) www.midpen-housing.org
Sand Hill Property Company (Affordable, Market Rate) www.shpco.com Sares | Regis (Market Rate) www.srgnc.com
Summerhill Apartment Communities (Market Rate) www.shapartments.com Service Providers: More affordable housing and vouchers or subsidies for market-rate housing are needed, along with on-site services and housing near transit, and jurisdictions Community Outreach Summary
should work with providers and people experiencing issues before creating programs. 10 stakeholder groups provided this feedback, including the following:
Abode Services www.adobeservices.org
Daly City Partnership www.dcpartnership.org
El Concilio www.elconcilio.org
HIP Housing www.hiphousing.org
LifeMoves www.lifemoves.org
Mental Health Association of San Mateo County www.mhasmc.org National Alliance on Mental Illness www.namisanmateo.org Ombudsman of San Mateo County www.ossmc.org
Samaritan House San Mateo www.samaritanhousesanmateo.org Youth Leadership Institute www.yil.org
Creating an Affordable Future Webinar Series
The City of East Palo Alto and 21 Elements offered a 4-part countywide webinar series in the fall of 2021 to help educate community members about local housing issues. The sessions were advertised and offered in Cantonese, Mandarin and Spanish, though participation in non-English channels was limited. All meetings and materials can be found here. The following topics, and how each intersects with regional housing challenges and opportunities, were explored:
Why Affordability Matters: Why housing affordability matters to public health, community fabric and to county residents, families, workers and employers. Housing and Racial Equity: Why and how our communities have become segregated by race, why it is a problem and how it has become embedded in our policies and systems. Housing in a Climate of Change: What is the connection between housing policy and climate change and a walk through the Housing & Climate Readiness Toolkit. Putting it All Together for a Better Future: How design and planning for much-needed new infill housing can be an opportunity to address existing challenges in our communities.
The series included speaker presentations, audience Q&A, breakout sessions for connection, and debrief discussions. Participants were eager to discuss and learn more about housing challenges in their community. They asked questions and commented in the chat and shared their thoughts in a post-event survey. Overall, comments were mostly positive and in favor of more housing, though some were focused on the need for new affordable housing. There was a lot of interest in seeing more housing built (especially housing that is affordable), concern about change or impact to schools, parking, and quality of life, and personal struggles with finding housing that is affordable and accessible shared. Some participants wanted more in-depth education and discussion of next steps, while others had more basic questions they wanted answered.
In total, 754 registered for the series. Of those who shared, the majority identified as White (55%) or Asian (24%) and ranged between 30 and 70 years old. Over half have lived in the county for over 21 years and nearly two-thirds owned their homes. For more information, see the Summary here.
4. Other Outreach Activities
The City of East Palo Alto set out to collect as much feedback as possible from the community, from their general concerns and ideas to where new housing could go. It was also important to us to consider community outreach best practices and consult and partner with organizations working in Community Outreach Summary
the community, to ensure we were reaching as many people as possible and doing so thoughtfully.
Appendix E provides an overview of the survey results.
Jamboard Survey
An online whiteboard where community members can provide their input on what types of housing they want to see, what locations/sites they want to see explored, what environmental issues bring them the most concern, and what environmental considerations should we have when zoning for new housing. See the survey here. Policies and Programs Survey
A survey to hear residents’ thoughts on how we are doing with our housing policies and programs, which policies we should keep, and which new policies we should consider to prioritize for the next 8 years. See the survey in English here and in Spanish here. East Palo Alto Balancing Act Survey
The Balancing Act is a housing simulation tool where residents may provide their input on the location of potential housing sites to be included in the 2023-2031 Housing Element.
This simulation tool is a great way for residents to explore the location of housing sites and the number of potential housing units on those identified sites. See the Balancing Act page here.
Intercept Survey
Intercept surveys on housing inventory and density were also conducted at two of the East Palo Alto Farmer’s Markets. This in-person survey helped reach Spanish-speaking residents and lower-income residents who may not necessarily be active in public meetings.
Equity Advisory Group
In alignment with community outreach best practices, it was important to include the guidance of and foster partnerships with community organizations to help ensure everyone’s voices were heard during the Housing Element update. In response, an Equity Advisory Group (EAG) was formed consisting of 15 organizations or leaders across the county that are advancing equity and affordable housing. A stipend of $1,500 was originally provided for meeting four to five times over 12 months to advise on Housing Element outreach and helping get the word out to the communities they work with.
After meeting twice in 2021, it was decided the best use of the EAG moving forward would be to provide more focused support in 2022 based on jurisdiction need and organization expertise. To date, EAG members have facilitated and hosted community meetings in partnership with 21 Elements, collected community housing stories to put a face to housing needs, advised on messaging, and amplified events and activities to their communities. The EAG continue to work collaboratively with jurisdictions and deepen partnerships, as well as connect community members to the Housing Element Update process. All participating organizations are featured on the Let’s Talk Housing website and include the following:
Ayudando Lations A Soñar (ALAS) www.alasdreams.com
Community Legal Services www.clsepa.org
Community Outreach Summary El Comité de Vecinos del Lado Oeste (El Comité) www.tenantstogether.org/resources/elcomité-de-vecinos-del-lado-oeste-east-palo-alto EPACANDO www.epacando.org
Faith in Action www.faithinaction.org/federation/faith-in-action-bay-area/ Housing Choices www.housingchoices.org
Housing Leadership Council www.hlcsmc.org
Menlo Together www.menlotogether.org
Nuestra Casa www.nuestracasa.org
One San Mateo www.onesanmateo.org
Peninsula for Everyone www.peninsulaforeveryone.org
Puente de la Costa Sur www.mypuente.org
San Mateo County Health www.gethealthysmc.org
Youth Leadership Institute www.yli.org/region/san-mateo Youth United for Community Action www.youthunited.net Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Survey
A Fair Housing Assessment was conducted for all San Mateo County jurisdictions and had a statistically significant number of East Palo Alto residents participate (53 East Palo Alto residents total). Some primary findings in the Fair Housing Assessment include:
• Hispanic/Latinx & Black/African American households have a high cost burden • The entire City is considered vulnerable to displacement. • There is a lack of sidewalks, good street lighting and walkability in some neighborhoods • East Palo Alto has high rates of fair housing discrimination • Applicants for mortgage face high rates of denial, highest for Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx applicants
• East Palo Alto has a higher portion of children than county, going to lower-performing schools
The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Chapter provides an overview of the survey results. In addition, Appendix F shows the Equity Advisory Group’s recommendations as a minimum to Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.
How We Incorporated What We Heard into the Plan
The extensive outreach and community engagement conducted over the past year played a significant role in the development of the goals, policies, and programs within the 2023-2031 Housing Element.
Feedback and insights from people who face the greatest barriers to participation, including tenants, nonEnglish speakers, and lower-income residents helped to highlight new policy opportunities and ways to strengthen and improve existing policies. There was an overarching need and appetite for more housing affordability and availability. In addition, themes such as investing in infrastructure and anti-displacement measures and addressing climate change helped inform policies in the Housing Element Update. The following is a summary list of topics that were added or improved as a result of that community and stakeholder feedback.
Theme: Environmental Constraints
• Use environmental “overlay” to avoid housing in at-risk areas • Resolve issues with EPASD to improve sanitary sewer infrastructure Community Outreach Summary
Theme: Incentives for affordable housing development
• Affordable housing overlay zone
Theme: Encouraging smaller-scale, “missing middle” housing like duplexes/triplexes and (market-rate) ADUs
• Streamlining
• Fee reductions
• Outreach targeting smaller developers
Theme: ADUs as lower-income affordable housing
• Amnesty and legalization of unpermitted second units
• Public/private partnerships to fund rehab/repairs
• Additional loan programs to build deed-restricted affordable ADUs Theme: Promote homeownership opportunities
• Leverage all available federal funding support for down payment and first-time homebuyer assistance
• Advocate for these programs at regional level
Theme: Need for anti-displacement
• Jobs-housing linkage that links production of commercial office space to affordable housing production
• Strengthen housing replacement requirements
• Preservation/rehabilitation
• Exploring establishment of cooperatives/community ownership of housing Theme: Need for infrastructure improvements
• Seeking funding from the private sector to add neighborhood improvements communities that have the greatest needs and establishing a land banking program with that funding The following is an overview of the rationale behind some of the policies and programs recommended.
Policy or Program Rationale
Overlay for nonprofit-owned properties of
a certain size that commit to building
100% affordable housing
Some nonprofit property owners, such as faith communities, own sufficiently large (and “underutilized”) parcels to build affordable housing and have interest in serving community need. With an overlay, the City may reduce costs by allowing projects of a certain scale.
City-level streamlining for SB 9 projects
SB 9 facilitates multiple units on parcels zoned single family.
Duplexes, triplexes, and ADUs can help to add “missing
middle” units to the housing stock.
Community Outreach Summary
Encouraging ADU production
ADUs address the “missing middle” problem and allow for additional units on a variety of parcels. The City has made ADUs a priority since 2018 and may wish to update
this strategy as a Housing Element “program” to support the City’s projections of ADU production over the next 8 years.
Temporary Use Permit for temporary
housing for unhoused individuals
City Council directed staff to develop a “Master TUP” process as described in the April 5, 2022 staff report. Facilitating temporary housing for unhoused individuals helps to address the needs of special populations, as required in the Housing Element.
Requiring minimum residential density on
Sites Inventory/Housing Opportunity sites
in the Ravenswood Business District
Different uses are allowed in the RBD. Allowing residential as one of multiple uses, e.g., office or R&D, does not guarantee that housing units will be built on a parcel.
Waiving fees for affordable projects
Analysis by 21 Elements partner firm EcoNorthwest found that waiving some fees for affordable projects would increase market feasibility for affordable units citywide, in many cases more than upzoning certain parcels.
Reduced parking for affordable projects
Analysis by 21 Elements partner firm EcoNorthwest found that reducing parking requirements for affordable projects would increase market feasibility for affordable units citywide, in many cases more than upzoning certain parcels.
Community Outreach Summary
Appendix A. Website and Social Media Performance
Webpage Performance
The following is a report of the City’s Housing Element Webpage analytics from its launch date of March 22, 2021 to July 7, 2022. As shown, the webpage had 640 desktop views, 79 mobile views, and 1 tablet view. The average time a resident spent on the page was 3 minutes. This is 0.15% of the total views the City of East Palo Alto website received in the same timeframe.
Social Media Performance
The City promoted events and surveys on the City’s Facebook page, which has a total of 3.1K followers, in both English and Spanish (with an option to translate into other languages available to users).
Data analytics on Facebook post performance is only available for 90 days, between the dates of April 8, 2022 to July 7, 2022. Post reach provides the number of people who saw any of the posts at least once (and does not include multiple views by the same people), while post engagement provides the number of times people engaged with the posts through reactions, comments shares, views and clicks.
Community Outreach Summary
In summary:
Our “Help us balance East Palo Alto’s potential future housing development” post on June 3, 2022 reached 494 people, and engaged 33 people.
Our “We’re updating East Palo Alto’s housing plan, and we want you to be part of the conversation” post on May 4, 2022 promoting the May 5, 2022 Community Meeting reached 3386 people and engaged 149 people.
Our “Join us on May 5th at 6pm!” post on May 3, 2022 promoting the May 5, 2022 Community Meeting reached 1284 people and engaged 79 people.
Our “Join us in-person on Thursday, May 5th at 6pm for a community meeting” post on April 28, 2022 promoting the May 5, 2022 Community Meeting reached 662 people and engaged 39. Our “Join the joint City Council and Planning Commission Study Session on the Housing Element Update tonight at 6pm!” post promoting a public meeting held on April 26, 2022 reached 354 and engaged 5 people.
Community Outreach Summary
The following is an example of our highest-performing social media post, demonstrating that short text, strong visuals, and direct links perform better in reaching people:
Data analytics on Event Page performance show a lower success rate in reaching people via event pages compared to posts.
Our May 5, 2022 Community Meeting event page reached 87 people and received 10 responses. Our February 24, 2022 Community Meeting event page reached 205 people and received 5 responses.
Community Outreach Summary
Appendix B. Email Alerts Performance
The City of East Palo Alto sent email alerts to 15 community members subscribed to the Housing Element Update email alerts, and to 486 community members subscribed to the Ravenwood Business District/Four Corners Specific Plan email list interested in the Housing Element Update process. The email alerts averaged a 54% open rate and a 10% click rate.
July 19, 2021 Community Meeting Alert:
February 24, 2022 Community Meeting Alert:
April 28, 2022 Joint Planning Commission and
City Council Study Session Alert:
May 5, 2022 Community Meeting Alert
Balancing Act Survey Alert:
Community Outreach Summary
Sample Email Alert – Campaign Preview
1 2 3
Sample Email Alert – Plain Text Preview
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*
Community meeting on Thursday, May 5 at 6pm.
Reunión comunitaria el jueves, 5 de mayo a las 6pm.
Register | Regístrese | Lesisita (https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a9WceWfNQYeAoS9VbiaZg) ** Community Meeting
------------------------------------------------------------ ** Housing Element Update
------------------------------------------------------------ We're holding an in-person community meeting to gather your input on the City of East Palo Alto's housing plan.
WHEN: Thursday, May 5, 2022 from 6:00-8:00 PM
WHERE: Cooley Landing (at the end of Bay Road) or Zoom
REGISTER: www.tinyurl.com/EPAHousingElement3
Community Outreach Summary
If you can't join us in-person you can watch the meeting as a webinar online. Spanish, Tongan, and Samoan interpretation will be available. We will also have free food and childcare. Note that COVID-19 safety precautions will be taken. Please register for the meeting details.
There are other ways to also engage:
* Fill out (https://tinyurl.com/HousingElementSurvey) this survey (https://tinyurl.com/HousingElementSurvey) on Housing Element policies and programs. We want to hear your thoughts on how we are doing with our housing policies and programs, which policies we should keep, and which new policies we should consider to prioritize for the next 8 years! * Visit (https://tinyurl.com/HousingElementJamboard) Jamboard (https://tinyurl.com/HousingElementJamboard) to share your ideas about the following: what types of housing do you want to see, what locations/sites do you want to see explored, what environmental issues bring you the most concern, and what environmental considerations should we have when zoning for new housing.
* Watch the recent joint City Council and Planning Commission Study Session on the Housing Element Update here
(http://eastpaloalto.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=1808&MinutesID=1529&Fo rmat=Minutes&MediaFileFormat=mpeg4) .
* Visit the Housing Element Update (https://www.ci.east-palo-alto.ca.us/housing/page/housingelement-update-community-meeting-0) webpage.
What is the Housing Element?
The Housing Element is a chapter in the City’s General Plan that is updated every 8 years to plan for new housing and lays out the goals, policies and programs to meet the community’s housing needs. Every California city and county adopts a Housing Element! Why is my participation in the Housing Element Update important? Your participation in the Housing Element, Safety Element, and Environmental Justice Element updates will help shape our City’s planning documents and determine the goals, policies and programs that will shape our community's future. Your participation helps us ensure our process is as inclusive and community driven as possible.
What if I can’t make it?
Stay up-to-date and explore our Housing Element page at www.cityofepa.org/housing. You can also submit your comments to [email protected], using “Housing Element Update” in the subject line.
Find Out More (https://www.cityofepa.org/housing/page/housing-element-update-1) *|FORWARD|* Forward this Email (*|FORWARD|*)
** Reunión Comunitaria
------------------------------------------------------------ ** Actualización del Elemento de Vivienda
------------------------------------------------------------ La Ciudad tendrá una reunión comunitaria en persona para obtener su opinión sobre el plan de vivienda de la Ciudad de East Palo Alto.
CUÁNDO: Jueves, 5 de mayo del 2022 de las 6:00-8:00 PM
DÓNDE: Cooley Landing (al final de Bay Road) o Zoom
REGÍSTRESE: www.tinyurl.com/EPAHousingElement3
Si no puede asistir en persona puede mirar la reunión como un seminario en línea. Habrá interpretación al español, tongano y samoano. También habrá comida gratis y cuidado de niños.
Tenga en cuenta que tomaremos precauciones de salud para evitar el contagio de COVID-19. Por favor regístrese para los detalles de la junta.
Hay otras maneras de también involucrarse:
* Complete esta encuesta (https://tinyurl.com/HousingElementEncuesta) sobre las políticas y los programas del Elemento de Vivienda. ¡Queremos escuchar sus opiniones de cómo nos va con nuestras Community Outreach Summary
políticas y programas de vivienda, qué políticas debemos mantener y qué nuevas políticas debemos considerar para priorizar durante los próximos 8 años!
* Visite Jamboard (https://tinyurl.com/HousingElementJamboard) para compartir sus ideas sobre lo siguiente: qué tipos de viviendas le gustaría ver, qué ubicaciones/sitios le gustaría ver explorados, qué problemas medioambientales le preocupan más y qué consideraciones medioambientales deberíamos tener al zonificar para nuevas viviendas. * Mire la Sesión Especial reciente con el Concejo Municipal y la Comisión de Planificación sobre el Elemento de Vivienda aquí
(http://eastpaloalto.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=1808&MinutesID=1529&Fo rmat=Minutes&MediaFileFormat=mpeg4) .
* Visite la página sobre la Actualización del Elemento de Vivienda (https://www.ci.east-paloalto.ca.us/housing/page/housing-element-update-community-meeting-0) . ¿Qué es el Elemento Vivienda?
El Elemento de Vivienda es un capítulo del Plan General de la Ciudad que se actualiza cada 8 años para planificar el desarrollo de nuevas viviendas y establece las metas, pólizas y programas para satisfacer las necesidades de vivienda de la comunidad. ¡Todas las ciudades y condados de California adoptan un Elemento de Vivienda!
¿Por qué es importante mi participación en la Actualización del Elemento de Vivienda? Su participación en las actualizaciones del Elemento de Vivienda, Elemento de Seguridad y Elemento de Justicia Ambiental ayudará a dar forma a los documentos de planificación de nuestra Ciudad y a determinar las metas, políticas y programas que darán forma al futuro de nuestra comunidad. Su participación nos ayuda a garantizar que nuestro proceso sea lo más inclusivo y comunitario posible.
¿Qué pasa si no puedo participar?
Manténgase actualizado/a visitando nuestra página de Elemento de Vivienda en www.cityofepa.org/housing. También puede enviar sus comentarios a [email protected], utilizando "Elemento de Vivienda" en la línea de asunto.
Más información (https://www.cityofepa.org/housing/page/housing-element-update-1) *|FORWARD|* Compartir este correo electrónico (*|FORWARD|*) ============================================================ ** Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CityOfEastPaloAlto) ** Website (https://www.cityofepa.org/housing)
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Community Outreach Summary
Appendix C. Community Meetings Report
The following is a summary of community meeting participation in the East Palo Alto community meetings and surveys, and how that compares to 2020 census demographics data.
Demographics Summary
Owner vs Renter Occupancy: Approximately 48% of community members that engaged in the Housing Element Update process were homeowners, and 52% were renters. This compares to a 40:60 ratio of owners vs. renters in the city.
Age: A majority of community members that engaged in the Housing Element Update process were between 30-49 years old; the second-largest engaged group were 50-69 year-olds. The City has a large young population of 18 years or under, and a small older population of 70+ years. 40%
60%
48%
52%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Owner Occupied Renter Occupied
Ownver vs Renter Occupancy
% of East Palo Alto Benchmark % of Total Outreach
28%
21%
30%
16%
4%
9% 9%
47%
27%
9%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Under 18 18-29 30-49 50-69 70+
Age
% of East Palo Alto Benchmark % of Total Outreach
Community Outreach Summary
Race & Ethnicity: Approximately 46% of community members that engaged in the Housing Element Update process were Hispanic/Latinx, 19% were non-Hispanic White, 16% were Black/African American, and 16% were Asian/Pacific Islander. The largest East Palo Alto population is Hispanic/Latinx of 66%. 0%
10% 11%
66%
3%
10%
0%
16% 16%
46%
3%
19%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
American Indian
or Alaska Native,
Non-Hispanic
Asian / API,
Non-Hispanic
Black or African
American, NonHispanic
Hispanic or
Latinx
Other Race or
Multiple Races,
Non-Hispanic
White, NonHispanic
Race & Ethnicity
% of East Palo Alto Benchmark % of Total Outreach
Community Outreach Summary
Demographic Breakdown by Community Meeting
Community Meeting #1 – July 19, 2021
No registrant or participant data is available.
Community Meeting #2 - Feburary 24, 2022
Registration & Participation Report
Registration
Time Participated Race/Ethnicity Housing Situation Neighborhood Primary
Language Age
1/28/2022 19:41 No Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 1/28/2022 21:53 Yes Black/African American Tenant (single-family/duplex) The Gardens English 40 – 59 1/28/2022 23:30 No Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 1/29/2022 8:49 Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 1/29/2022 10:16 No Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 1/31/2022 17:20 Yes Other Live but not work in EPA Not applicable English 25 – 29 2/3/2022 12:36 Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/3/2022 14:01 Yes White/European Landlord Weeks Area English 60+ 2/5/2022 6:48 No Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/5/2022 13:07 No Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/5/2022 15:59 Yes Asian Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/8/2022 11:29 No White/European Tenant (multi-family) Midtown English 30 – 39 2/9/2022 17:27 Yes Asian Work but not live in EPA Not applicable English 30 – 39 2/16/2022 8:51 Yes Black/African American Homeowner The Westside English 60+ 2/16/2022 14:51 No Hispanic/Latinx Other Not applicable English 40 – 59 2/17/2022 15:08 No Black/African American Landlord The Village English 60+ 2/18/2022 16:03 No Asian Homeowner The Gardens Other 40 – 59 2/18/2022 16:28 No Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/18/2022 16:48 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (single-family/duplex) The Westside English 40 – 59 2/18/2022 17:15 Yes Black/African American Homeowner The Gardens English Unknown 2/18/2022 18:26 Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/18/2022 19:59 Yes White/European Homeowner with tenants Midtown English 60+ 2/18/2022 22:33 No Black/African American Live but not work in EPA The Westside English 60+ 2/18/2022 23:23 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (single-family/duplex) Unknown Español 30 – 39 2/19/2022 6:33 No White/European Unknown Unknown English Unknown 2/19/2022 6:59 No Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/20/2022 7:41 No White/European Homeowner The Westside English 60+ 2/20/2022 20:23 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) The Westside Español 40 – 59 2/21/2022 9:09 No Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/21/2022 9:27 Yes White/European Live but not work in EPA Not applicable English 60+ 2/21/2022 11:18 No Other Tenant (multi-family) The Westside English 60+ 2/21/2022 14:07 Yes White/European Other Not applicable English 60+ 2/24/2022 8:35 Yes White/European Other Not applicable English Unknown 2/24/2022 9:57 Yes Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) The Westside English 25 – 29 2/24/2022 11:00 Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/24/2022 17:09 Yes Hispanic/Latinx Homeowner The Gardens English 40 – 59 2/24/2022 17:56 Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/24/2022 17:59 Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 2/24/2022 18:01 Yes Asian Tenant (multi-family) Not applicable English 18 – 24 Community Outreach Summary
Registrant & Participant Demographics
Participation Rate:
Race/Ethnicity:
Housing Situation:
Neighborhood:
Language:
Age:
Community Outreach Summary
Community Meeting #3 – May 5, 2022
Registration & Participation Report
Registration
Time Participated Race/Ethnicity Housing Situation Neighborhood Age Language
Interpretation
Used
Shuttle
4/28/2022 9:25 Yes, virtually American Indian/Alaska Native Unknown Unknown English 4/28/2022 9:30 Yes, virtually Black/African American Work but not live in EPA The Village 30 – 39 English 5/3/2022 13:20
Yes virtually &
in-person Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) Unknown 40 – 59 Español Yes 5/3/2022 14:47 Yes, virtually Black/African American Homeowner The Gardens 60+ English 5/3/2022 15:07 Yes, virtually Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) Unknown 30 – 39 English 5/3/2022 15:56 Yes, virtually Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (single-family/duplex) Unknown 40 – 59 Español 5/3/2022 19:13 Yes, virtually Black/African American Homeowner Not applicable 60+ English 5/4/2022 1:40 Yes, virtually Hispanic/Latinx Other Unknown 30 – 39 Español 5/4/2022 12:20 Yes, virtually Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) The Westside 40 – 59 Español 5/4/2022 15:00 Yes, virtually Hispanic/Latinx Work but not live in EPA Not applicable 30 – 39 English 5/4/2022 15:57 Yes, virtually Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Single family home landlord Midtown 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 7:19 Yes, virtually Unknown Unknown Unknown English 5/5/2022 9:07
Yes virtually &
in-person Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Homeowner Not applicable 40 – 59 Tongan 5/5/2022 10:29 Yes, virtually Asian Work but not live in EPA Not applicable 30 – 39 English 5/5/2022 16:42 Yes, virtually Black/African American Homeowner The Gardens 60+ English 5/5/2022 17:36 Yes, virtually Asian Landlord Not applicable 60+ English 5/5/2022 17:41 Yes, virtually Asian Single family home landlord Not applicable 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 17:42 Yes, virtually Unknown Unknown Unknown English 5/5/2022 17:49 Yes, virtually Unknown Unknown Unknown English 5/5/2022 17:49 Yes, virtually Hispanic/Latinx Homeowner Unknown 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 17:57 Yes, virtually Black/African American Work but not live in EPA Unknown 30 – 39 English 5/5/2022 17:59 Yes, virtually White/European Homeowner Unknown 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 17:59 Yes, virtually Asian Homeowner Unknown 30 – 39 English 5/5/2022 17:59 Yes, virtually Asian Work but not live in EPA Not applicable 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 18:05 Yes, virtually White/European Work but not live in EPA Not applicable 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 18:05 Yes, virtually Asian Homeowner The Gardens 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 18:05 Yes, virtually Asian Homeowner Unknown 30 – 39 English 5/5/2022 18:21 Yes, virtually Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) The Westside 30 – 39 English 5/5/2022 18:31 Yes, virtually Hispanic/Latinx Other The Gardens 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 18:32 Yes, virtually Unknown Unknown English
5/5/2022 18:52 Yes, virtually Hispanic/Latinx Landlord Unknown 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 19:12 Yes, virtually Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Tenant (multi-family) The Westside 30 – 39 English 5/5/2022 19:40 Yes, virtually White/European Homeowner Midtown 40 – 59 English 4/28/2022 9:34 Yes, in-person Asian Homeowner Not applicable 25 – 29 English 5/2/2022 17:12 Yes, in-person Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) The Westside 40 – 59 English Yes 5/3/2022 21:00 Yes, in-person Black/African American Unknown Unknown 60+ English 5/4/2022 19:48 Yes, in-person Black/African American Tenant (multi-family) The Westside 40 – 59 English 5/5/2022 8:51 Yes, in-person White/European Homeowner Not applicable 60+ English 5/5/2022 16:46 Yes, in-person Asian, Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) The Westside 25 – 29 English 5/5/2022 16:49 Yes, in-person
Hispanic/Latinx, Native
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Other Midtown 18 – 24 English 5/5/2022 16:54 Yes, in-person Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Work but not live in EPA The Westside 18 – 24 English 4/28/2022 9:29 No Black/African American Tenant (single-family/duplex) The Village 30 – 39 English 4/28/2022 10:48 No Black/African American Tenant (multi-family) The Westside 40 – 59 English 4/28/2022 15:07 No Other Other Not applicable 60+ English Community Outreach Summary
4/29/2022 19:10 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) Unknown 40 – 59 Español 4/30/2022 11:10 No Unknown Unknown Unknown 40 – 59 English 4/30/2022 11:48 No Hispanic/Latinx Landlord Not applicable 40 – 59 English 5/1/2022 19:02 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (single-family/duplex) Unknown 40 – 59 English Yes 5/3/2022 8:28 No Unknown Work but not live in EPA Unknown English 5/3/2022 14:22 No Black/African American Homeowner Midtown 60+ English 5/3/2022 14:52 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (single-family/duplex) Unknown 25 – 29 English 5/3/2022 14:57 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (single-family/duplex) The Gardens 30 – 39 English 5/3/2022 20:24 No Black/African American Homeowner The Gardens 60+ English 5/3/2022 21:02 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) The Village 40 – 59 English 5/3/2022 22:55 No Black/African American Tenant (single-family/duplex) The Gardens 40 – 59 English Yes 5/4/2022 7:31 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (ADU) The Westside 30 – 39 Español Yes 5/4/2022 9:52 No Black/African American Homeowner The Gardens 40 – 59 English 5/4/2022 11:07 No Black/African American Other Unknown 40 – 59 English 5/4/2022 11:29 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) The Westside 25 – 29 English Yes 5/4/2022 14:47 No Hispanic/Latinx Other Midtown 30 – 39 English 5/4/2022 19:00 No Hispanic/Latinx Single family home landlord The Gardens 40 – 59 Español 5/4/2022 22:52 No Hispanic/Latinx Unknown Unknown 30 – 39 Español 5/5/2022 10:39 No Hispanic/Latinx Other Midtown 40 – 59 Español 5/5/2022 12:54 No White/European Homeowner Unknown 30 – 39 English 5/5/2022 16:40 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (multi-family) The Westside 18 – 24 English 5/5/2022 16:53 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (single-family/duplex) Midtown 18 – 24 English 5/5/2022 18:36 No White/European Homeowner The Gardens 30 – 39 English 5/5/2022 18:42 No Unknown Unknown Unknown 40 – 59 Español 5/5/2022 19:04 No Hispanic/Latinx Tenant (single-family/duplex) Unknown 60+ English Yes 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Hispanic/Latinx Tenant Unknown 18-29 English Yes 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person White/European Homeowner Unknown 50-69 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person White/European Homeowner Unknown 30-49 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Unknown Unknown 30-49 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Asian, Hispanic/Latinx Unknown Unknown 50-69 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Asian, Hispanic/Latinx Unknown Unknown 50-69 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Hispanic/Latinx Tenant The Westside 30-49 Español 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Hispanic/Latinx Tenant The Westside 30-49 Español 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Hispanic/Latinx Tenant The Westside 30-49 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Black/African American Tenant Unknown 70+ English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Black/African American Unknown Unknown 50-69 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person White/European Unknown Unknown 30-49 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Black/African American Unknown The Westside 50-69 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Hispanic/Latinx Unknown Unknown 30-49 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Hispanic/Latinx Unknown Unknown 30-49 English 5/5/2022 18:00 Yes, in-person Black/African American Unknown Unknown 50-69 English Community Outreach Summary
Photos from May 5, 2022 Hybrid (In-Person and Virtual) Community Meeting Community Outreach Summary
Appendix D. Countywide Meeting Summary
A series of countywide meetings about the Housing Element update were held from March to May 2021. Each meeting provided community members with an introduction the Housing Element update, why it matters, information on the Let’s Talk Housing outreach effort and countywide trends. Breakout room discussions with individual cities and towns followed.
Who We Heard From
In total 1,024 registered for the series and 264 registered for the All About RHNA meeting. Of those who registered for the series, the majority identified as White (66%) or Asian (15%), and were 50 years or older; nearly half were 50 to 69 years old and almost a fifth were over 70. Almost half had lived over 21 years in their homes, and three-fourths owned their own homes.
East Palo Alto was part of the March 30th introductory meeting, along with Burlingame, Hillsborough, Millbrae and San Mateo City. Due to technical difficulties, a second meeting was held on May 6th. One person who lives in East Palo Alto registered as a participant. She was a renter who had lived in the city between 0 and 5 years. Demographically, she was a White woman between the ages of 50 and 69. This is not an appropriate sample of the participants, however, because between 10 and 15 people participated in the breakout room. 9%
12%
6%
14%
15%
44%
How long lived in City?
Composition of total LTH meetings
Don't live here
0-5 years
6-10 years
11-20 years
21+ years
21+
66%
15%
4%
4%
3%
8%
Race & Ethnicity
Composition of total LTH meetings
White
Asian
Middle Eastern
Black
American Indian /
Alaskan Native
Hispanic/Latino
Native Hawaiian /
Pacific Islander
Community Outreach Summary
What We Heard
Main Meeting
People were asked to share a word in the chat describing housing now at the beginning of the meeting, and the housing they envisioned in their communities ten years from now.
Now In 2030
Breakout Session
There was a lively discussion with approximately 10-15 people in attendance. There was a feeling that East Palo Alto was doing a lot, with one participant saying “It seems like EPA is the most ambitious city on the peninsula,” but that a lot is not enough. The primary concern heard from the group was the lack of affordable housing. This applied to both housing for extremely low-income households as well as moderate income/ownership opportunities. There was support for tiny homes and looking at employers to do more.
Post Event Survey
The post-event survey reflected the variety of opinions present on issues ranging from a desire to preserve communities as they are, to an appeal for more and diverse housing everywhere in the county. Despite the technical difficulties, community members responded that they valued the space and the information provided within it and looked forward to spaces where more meaningful and engaged discussion could take place.
Community Outreach Summary
Appendix E. Surveys Report
Whiteboard Survey
Results
Input at July 19, 2021 Community Meeting
Jamboard Survey
Results
Slide 1 – Input from May 5, 2022 – July 7, 2022
Community Outreach Summary
Slide 2 - Input from February 24, 2022 – July 7, 2022
Survey Themes
• Improved housing & neighborhood conditions
• Deeper housing affordability
• More homeownership opportunities
• Reduced constraints to affordable housing
• Environmentally sustainable development
• Anti-displacement
Slide 3 - Input from February 24, 2022 – July 7, 2022
Community Outreach Summary
Slide 4 - Input from February 24, 2022 – July 7, 2022
May 5, 2022 Community Meeting In-Person Survey Results
Community Outreach Summary
[Placeholder for other in-person survey results]
Community Outreach Summary
Community Outreach Summary
Policies and Programs Survey
Survey Results
1. Which of the following goals is most important to you? Options:
1. GOAL 1: Meet the RHNA & produce all housing types
2. GOAL 2: Link jobs + housing
3. GOAL 3: Available sites for the development of housing
4. GOAL 4: Reduced constraints & enhanced incentives for housing development
5. GOAL 5: Special needs housing
6. GOAL 6: Financial or policy assistance to low-income households
7. GOAL 7: Increased homeownership opportunities
8. GOAL 8: Minimized tenant displacement
9. GOAL 9: Improved housing & neighborhood conditions
10. GOAL 10: Fair Housing & decent, safe living environments for all
11. GOAL 11: Implementation & use of housing policies
12. GOAL 12: Energy efficiency
Community Outreach Summary
Goal 1: Sufficient numbers and varieties of housing units (houses, townhomes, condominiums, and apartments) needed to: meet the State’s mandate to replace affordable units/bedrooms demolished due to Redevelopment Agency action; address the City’s Regional Housing Needs Determination; and facilitate housing development for all incomes segments within East Palo Alto, including extremely low-, very low-, low-, moderate-, and above-moderate income housing.
GOAL 2: Balanced development that links housing to jobs.
GOAL 3: Available residential sites for the development of a range of housing types.
GOAL 4: Reduced constraints and enhanced incentives for housing development within the city, particularly in regards to affordable housing.
Community Outreach Summary
GOAL 5: Adequate housing for special needs groups in the city, including seniors, physically challenged, HIV positive or living with AIDS, homeless, at-risk youth (leaving the foster care system), small and large families, veterans, farm workers, people with developmental disabilities, and female headed households.
GOAL 6: Financial and policy assistance for low- and moderate-income households to ease housing cost burden and overcrowding.
GOAL 7: Increased homeownership opportunities for income-qualified households (focused on existing residents and workers in East Palo Alto).
Community Outreach Summary
GOAL 8: Minimized Displacement of Renter.
GOAL 9: Improved Housing and Neighborhood Conditions in East Palo Alto.
GOAL 10: Decent, safe living environments for City residents regardless of age, gender, race, color, ancestry, national origin, familial status, marital status, sexual preference, religion, disability, language, or any other arbitrary factor.
Community Outreach Summary
GOAL 11: Implemented housing policies and broad participation in associated programs.
GOAL 12: Increased energy efficiency in existing and new housing development, in part as a means of reducing housing cost.
Balancing Act Survey
Balancing Act Page Preview
Community Outreach Summary
Community Outreach Summary
Sample Survey Questions
Performance Analytics
Community Outreach Summary
The City of East Palo Alto received the second-highest engagement compared to other California cities participating in this simulation tool, with 12 unique respondents total.
Extensive outreach via the City’s website, City newsletters, direct email communications, social media, and in-person flyer distribution helped us receive 196 page views for a total of 20 hours of site use; despite these efforts, the response rate was only 6%. This outcome illustrates the challenges of engaging residents through tools that require technological knowledge.
Community Outreach Summary
Balancing Act Survey Respondent Demographics
Resident Age Race/ Ethnicity Neighborhood Housing Situation 1 Yes 40 - 59 Other Westside Tenant (single-family/duplex) 2 Yes 30 - 39 Asian Westside Homeowner
3 Yes 40 - 59 White/European Gardens Homeowner
4 Yes 40 - 59 White/European Gardens Homeowner
5 No 60+ White/European Not applicable Work in EPA but live elsewhere 6 Yes 60+ White/European Unknown Single family home landlord 7 Yes 60+ White/European Unknown Homeowner
8 No 40 - 59 White/European Not applicable Work in EPA but live elsewhere 9 Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown Homeowner
10 Yes 40 - 59 Other Village Tenant (single-family/duplex) 11 Yes 30 - 39 Hispanic/Latinx Unknown Tenant (single-family/duplex) 12 Yes 40 - 59 Hispanic/Latinx Unknown Other
Balancing Act Survey Results
The following table summarizes the Balancing Act survey results:
East Palo Alto Balancing Act Sites Inventory Survey Results
Respondents
Choosing
“Higher Density”
Respondents
Choosing
“Lower
Density”
Respondents
Choosing “No
housing”
Average Unit
Count Selected
1a - RBD Zoned for Housing 75% 25% 0% 592
1b - RBD Zoned for Housing 50% 50% 0% 127
2 - Four Corners 67% 25% 8% 397
3 - South of Weeks 42% 25% 25% 80
4 - EPA Waterfront 25% 33% 42% 152
5 - Harvest Affordable Housing Proposal 42% 0% 17% 73
6A - Pulgas East Site 1 42% 17% 42% 57
6B - Pulgas East Site 2 42% 17% 42% 53
6C - Pulgas East Site 3 58% 25% 17% 123
7 - City of East Palo Alto 50% 8% 42% 13
8 - San Mateo County Government Center 17% 17% 67% 39
9 - Ravenswood School District 42% 25% 33% 104
A - Weeks Street 50% 33% 17% 37
B - University Avenue 83% 0% 17% 11
C - Schembri Lane 33% 42% 25% 7
D - Runnymede Street 33% 33% 33% 6
E - Green Street 1 33% 42% 25% 6
F - Green Street 2 33% 42% 25% 4
G - Donohoe Street 50% 25% 25% 7
H - East Bayshore 58% 17% 25% 8
Community Outreach Summary
The Balancing Act survey results demonstrate there is more appetite for housing. Most residents supported higher density housing on the Ravenswood/Four Corners Specific Area Plan sites. A majority (50% or more) also supported higher density on the following sites:
a. Pulgas Street East Site 3 (APN 63240310)
b. East Bayshore site (807 East Bayshore)
c. Weeks Street site (851 Weeks Street)
d. Donohoe Street site (801 Donohoe Street)
e. City of East Palo Alto site (2277 University Avenue) An overwhelming majority supported higher density along University Avenue, and a large majority (67%) did not support housing on the San Mateo County Government Center site at 2415 University Ave., where the East Palo Alto City Hall is currently located.
Intercept Survey
Survey Results
On June 18, 2022 and June 15, 2022, we spoke with 30 East Palo Alto residents in-person at East Palo Alto Community Farmer’s Markets and received further input on housing density and future housing development. Of the 30 residents we engaged, 53% indicated they wanted to see higher-density housing, 20% indicated they wanted to see lower-density housing, and 24% indicated they would visit the City website to learn more. Residents also expressed their thoughts and opinions on the proposed sites inventory, and common input included the need for more affordable housing, ensuring there is a jobshousing balance, ensuring new jobs do not create displacement pressures on current residents, creating new units that have better habitability, and ensuring there is enough parking.
Respondent Demographics
Of the 30 respondents, approximately 13 were homeowners, 15 were tenants, and 2 were young people under the age of 18 and living with their parents.
The majority of respondents (80%) were monolingual Spanish-speakers. 40%
60%
46%
54%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Owner Occupied Renter Occupied
Ownver vs Renter Occupancy
% of East Palo Alto Benchmark % of Total Outreach
Community Outreach Summary
The majority of respondents were women between the ages of 30-49. 0%
10% 11%
66%
3%
10%
0%
7% 3%
80%
3% 7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
American
Indian or
Alaska
Native, NonHispanic
Asian / API,
Non-Hispanic
Black or
African
American,
Non-Hispanic
Hispanic or
Latinx
Other Race
or Multiple
Races, NonHispanic
White, NonHispanic
Race & Ethnicity
% of East Palo Alto Benchmark % of Total Outreach
28%
21%
30%
16%
4%
7% 7%
61%
18%
7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Under 18 18-29 30-49 50-69 70+
Age
% of East Palo Alto Benchmark % of Total Outreach
Community Outreach Summary
Appendix F. Equity Advisory Group Input
To the 21 Elements team and all San Mateo County jurisdictions, The Equity Advisory Group exists to help San Mateo County jurisdictions implement policies that promote fair housing choice and access to opportunity for members of historically marginalized groups. We are a group of service providers and housing activists, convened to inform equitable policy making in housing elements. Thank you to the 21 Elements team for promoting the EAG, and thank you to the city staff that are giving us this opportunity to share our perspectives.
With this letter, the EAG proposes specific policies San Mateo County jurisdictions can implement to promote equity through their housing elements. These policies were selected by EAG members because of their proven track record for promoting equity goals, primarily the production of affordable homes and protection of renters. As service providers and advocates, we take a broad approach to housing equity. To us, equity means that everyone in a community, regardless of background, has access to safe, stable, affordable housing.
However, housing equity does not stop at a jurisdiction’s borders. True equity means that no one is excluded from a community because of lack of access to housing. “Lack of access” can come in many forms, whether that be physical inaccessibility, language barriers, distance from community resources, or prohibitive cost. In order to ensure that no one is excluded from a community, jurisdictions must affirmatively promote fair housing for all by regularly changing regulations to facilitate a wider range of housing types.
In practice, equity can be controversial, because increasing equity sometimes requires changes to status quo policies. We see this process as an opportunity for jurisdictions to commit to implementing new policies with the support of the state of California behind you.
Policy Recommendations
Guidance from HCD on how to affirmatively further fair housing states that jurisdictions must promote fair housing choice and access to opportunity in their goals, policies, and programs.
HCD defines fair housing choice as encompassing:
● Actual choice, meaning the existence of realistic housing options ● Protected choice, meaning housing that can be accessed without discrimination; and ● Enabled choice, meaning realistic access to sufficient information regarding options so that any choice is informed.
Jurisdictions cannot meet the requirement to promote fair housing choice and access to opportunity without first completing a thorough and meaningful assessment of the housing needs of residents, including factors which may limit fair housing choice as well as both governmental and non-governmental constraints to housing production. Jurisdictions should complete all relevant analyses before formulating their policies and programs. As such, appropriate policies and programs for each jurisdiction will vary based on the needs of your specific community.
Community Outreach Summary
Below are a list of general policies which the EAG would recommend as a minimum to Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing in your jurisdiction. Programs to implement these policies, as defined by HCD, must include concrete steps, timelines, and measurable outcomes.
Policy Description How does it AFFH?
Just cause eviction,
relocation benefits, and
first right of return
Tenant protections beyond
state law. (Ex: Oakland
Just Cause for Eviction
Ordinance; Redwood City
Relocation Assistance
Program, LAHD Rent
Stabilization Ordinance)
Implemented in tandem, this set of
policies can protect lower-income
tenants living in NOAH who are
evicted through no fault of their own,
providing them the resources to
relocate or the option to first right of
return.
Prioritize city affordable
housing funds,
city-owned land, and
land dedicated to
affordable housing for
projects which include
more units at deeper
levels of affordability or
for special needs
populations at greatest
risk of homelessness or
displacement.
Scoring guidelines for
RFPs for these city
resources should give
greater preference for
projects which include
more units at deeper levels
of affordability or target
special needs populations.
In 2021, the SMC HSA Center on
Homelessness reported that 96% of
Homeless Outreach and Shelter
Clients were extremely low income.
Jurisdictions cannot begin to address
the needs of the unhoused and other
at-risk populations without
addressing the lack of deeply
affordable housing.
Expand local funding
sources for
development of
affordable housing
Can include policies such
as commercial linkage
fees, vacancy taxes,
transfer tax, etc. (Ex: San
Jose Measure E)
Most affordable housing projects
require a source of gap funding in
order to be financially feasible,
especially if they are targeting
deeper levels of affordability. Local
investment in these projects can also
make them more competitive for
state and federal funding.
Rent stabilization Tenant protections beyond
state law. (Ex: Oakland
Rent Adjustment Program,
LAHD Rent Stabilization
Ordinance)
Stagnant wages for the lowest
income residents have not kept pace
with rising housing costs, becoming
one of the largest contributors to our
current housing crisis. Local rent
control with greater protections
beyond state law will help to keep
more lower income renters stably
housed.
Fee exemptions for
100% affordable
housing projects
According to the 21 Elements Fee
Survey, jurisdictions charge fees
ranging from $6,824-$167,210 per
Community Outreach Summary
unit in multifamily housing. These
additional fees can make many
affordable housing projects, which
rely on public subsidy, infeasible.
Waiving or lowering fees for 100%
affordable housing projects can
promote the production of more
affordable housing across a
spectrum of income levels.
Allow exceptions to
development standards
for 100% affordable
housing projects
Can include but is not
limited to reduced/waived
parking requirements,
Minimum lot sizes, widths,
setbacks, etc (Ex: Half
Moon Bay)
Many projects utilize State Density
Bonus Law (SDBL) to increase
financial feasibility of projects
through incentives and concessions.
Local exceptions to development
standards for 100% affordable
housing projects increases feasibility
above and beyond what would be
enabled through SDBL.
Implement inclusive
design standards
Implement design
standards beyond state
and federal law to increase
cross-disability access to
housing (Refer to The
Kelsey’s Housing Design
Standards for Inclusion and
Accessibility)
While landlords are required to
approve reasonable
accommodations requested by
persons with disabilities, often the
burden of financing physical
modifications of a unit falls upon the
tenant, many of whom cannot afford
these expensive renovations.
Inclusive design can significantly
reduce requests for reasonable
accommodations and lower overall
costs of modifying units. Inclusive
design also supports cross-disability
access.
Increase language
accessibility
Require affirmative
marketing of units to
non-English speakers,
make multilingual
applications available, and
perform active outreach to
newly arrived immigrants
and refugees.
Language can create one of the
highest barriers to access for
affordable housing. Affirmative
marketing to non-English speakers
will ensure all members of our
communities can access the
resources available to them,
regardless of country of origin.
Promote fair housing
information to residents
Provide residents with
information about renter
protections and monetary
relief available to victims of
unlawful housing practices.
Post information in easily
Renters are often unaware of the
protection and resources afforded
them under California state law.
Jurisdictions can help promote fair
housing by proactively ensuring that
renters are aware of their rights.
Community Outreach Summary
available locations on
jurisdiction websites and
send regular mailers to
renters within the
community.
Analyze past racially
discriminatory policies
and report data
regarding ongoing
impacts
1) Conduct a systematic
review of the preliminary
title report and eradicate
any language of racially
restrictive covenants.
2) Provide information re:
location and ratio of renters
and owners and their
correlation with the
patterns of racial and
ethnic segregation in San
Mateo County.
3) Provide information re:
demographics and
environmental health –
identify disparities in
access to environmentally
healthy neighborhoods.
Jurisdictions are most likely to
reduce the racial homeownership
gap if they actively identify the ways
in which past racially restrictive
regulations and current barriers to
affordable housing create our
socioeconomic disparity in home
ownership. Home ownership is one
of the most powerful vehicles for
multigenerational economic security.
Employing a health-equity lens
throughout planning and re-zoning
efforts will further fair housing policy
goals.
Affordable housing
overlay for nonprofits
and religious institutions
Create a housing overlay
allowing at least the local
mullin density (20 or 30
du/ac) on all nonprofit- or
religious institution-owned
land throughout the entirety
of jurisdiction. Relax design
standards and zoning
regulations for projects with
20% extremely low income,
30% very low income, or
50% low income units.
Jurisdictions promote equity when
they allow affordable, multi-family
housing in new areas. Nonprofits and
religious institutions have strong
incentives to promote affordable
housing development. By facilitating
affordable housing on land owned by
religious institutions, regardless of
local zoning, jurisdictions can help
those institutions accomplish their
missions of providing for the needy
while also affirmatively furthering fair
housing in new areas.
Accessible housing near
transit
Reduce parking minimums
for developments within 0.5
miles of transit. Eliminate
parking minimums entirely
for developments within 0.5
miles of transit that serve
residents with disabilities
Parking minimums raise the price of
housing and de facto subsidize car
ownership. Especially when located
near transit, these policies impose a
significant burden on housing. In the
cases of low-income households,
which can typically afford no or
Community Outreach Summary
and low-, very low-, or
extremely low-income
households.
limited car ownership, and the
disabled, these policies become
entirely superfluous.
The Equity Advisory Group recommends that every jurisdiction in San Mateo County implement these proposals to the best of their abilities. Implementing these policies will demonstrate your community’s commitment to affirmatively furthering fair housing for all.
Thank you for your consideration,
Kalisha Webster
Senior Housing Advocate, Housing Choices
Hyun-mi Kim
Housing Advocacy Director, Puente de la Costa Sur
Jeremy Levine
Policy Manager, Housing Leadership Council
Signed on behalf of the 21 Elements Equity Advisory Group