RESOLUTION NO. ____ – 2023
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF EAST PALO ALTO
FINDING THE CITY-OWNED PROPERTY AT 965 WEEKS TO BE EXEMPT SURPLUS LAND TO
BE DISPOSED OF, AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO TRANSMIT THIS
RESOLUTION TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SEEKING CONFIRMATION OF THE PROPERTY’S ELIGIBILITY AS EXEMPT SURPLUS LAND WHEREAS, in 2009, the City of East Palo Alto Redevelopment Agency having purchased the real property located at 965 Weeks Street in the City of East Palo Alto (City), identified as Assessor's Parcel Numbers 063-232-210, 063-232-220, and 063-232-230 (Property) using Low- and ModerateIncome Housing Funds for the purpose of developing affordable housing on the Property, owned it in fee simple; and
WHEREAS, the Property has a General Plan land use designation of High Density Residential and a Zoning designation of Urban Residential; and
WHEREAS, the General Plan and Zoning designations of the Property allow a range of multifamily housing types ranging from townhomes to multi-family apartments at moderate to high-densities from 22 - 43 dwelling units per acre; and
WHEREAS, on July 19, 2018, the City released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to select a developer for the Property as an affordable housing development consistent with the general goals and requirements contained in the RFP; and
WHEREAS, on November 8, 2018, the City Council selected the proposal submitted by MidPen Housing Corporation and EPACANDO (jointly, Developer); and WHEREAS, MP 965 Weeks Street Associates, L.P., a California limited partnership (“Owner") intends to construct one hundred and thirty-six (136) unit multi-family rental housing development on the Property for rental to extremely low, very low and low income households including one (1) manager's unit that is not subject to affordability restrictions; and WHEREAS, on December 16, 2019, via Resolution No. PC 2019-14, the Planning Commission approved the application for Design Review, Lot Merger, and Density Bonus submitted by the Developer, and found the Proposed Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS-MND) for the Project in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and WHEREAS, since the Council’s approval on December 16, 2019 of the IS-MND, there have been no changes to the project that would warrant conducting additional environmental review pursuant CEQA guidelines 15162. Accordingly, there were no significant CEQA issues that could not be mitigated to a less than significant level; and
WHEREAS, the City has entered into a Disposition, Development and Loan Agreement with Owner dated December 15, 2020 as amended by the First Amendment to the Disposition, Development and Loan Agreement ("DDLA") pursuant to which the City agreed to ground lease the Property to the Owner; and
WHEREAS, the City intends to convey a leasehold interest in the Property to Owner in its capacity as the housing successor to the former East Palo Alto Redevelopment Agency and as permitted under California Health and Safety Code Section 33433; and WHEREAS, the City has agreed to ground lease the Property to the Owner and to make the City Loan on the condition that the Owner construct, maintain and operate the Development in accordance with restrictions set forth in this Regulatory Agreement and in related documents including the DDLA; and
WHEREAS, prior to approving the DDLA the City Council approved the IS-MND for the Project; and
WHEREAS, the Owner applied for and received a density bonus pursuant to the State Density Bonus Law (Government Code Sections 65915-65918) ("Density Bonus Law"). The Density Bonus Law requires the City to ensure and the Owner to agree to continued affordability of the Units subject to the density bonus; and
WHEREAS, the Surplus Land Act requires that prior to disposition of property the City either declare the property to be “surplus land” or “exempt surplus land”; and WHEREAS, the Property can be found to be exempt from the Surplus Land Act pursuant to Government Code section 54221(f)(1)(A) in that the Property is being conveyed to the Owner pursuant to Government Code Section 37364 and will be subject to recorded restrictions that require that at least 80% of the Property be used for housing and that at least 40% of the units developed on the Property be affordable to households with incomes at or below 60% of Area Median Income and one half of those units will be affordable to very low income households; and WHEREAS, based on the foregoing, the City Manager recommends that the City Council find the Property exempt from the Surplus Land Act pursuant to Government Code section 54221(f)(1), and permit the City Manager to transmit this resolution to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to seek concurrence of the Property’s qualification as exempt surplus land and pursue due diligence measures in preparation for the disposal of the Property.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EAST PALO ALTO HEREBY:
1. Accepts the foregoing recitals as true and correct;
2. Finds the City-owned property at 965 Weeks in East Palo Alto, to be “exempt surplus” land to be disposed of pursuant to Government Code section 54221(f)(1); and
3. Finds and determines that the IS-MND addresses the environmental issues pertaining to the City Council’s actions and that no additional environmental analysis or review is required pursuant to CEQA guidelines 15162; and
4. Authorizes the City Manager to transmit the adopted resolution to the State Department of Housing and Community Development to seek concurrence of the subject property’s qualification as “exempt surplus” land pursuant to Government Code section 54230.5 (b)(1).
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 18th day of July 2023, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
SIGNED:
Lisa Gauthier, Mayor
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
James Colin, City Clerk John D. Lê, City Attorney