DATE: June 7, 2022
TO: Christine Daniel, City Manager
FROM: Charles S. Bryant, Community Development Director SUBJECT: A Study Session To Review The Draft 2023-2031 Housing Element Of The General Plan
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council review the City of Emeryville’s Draft 6th Cycle Housing Element and provide feedback to be incorporated prior to submittal to the California Housing and Community Development Department for review and certification.
BACKGROUND
Since 1969, California has required that all cities and counties adequately plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community. This is accomplished through the adoption of a Housing Element, which is a required component of a local government’s General Plan. The General Plan is a long-term planning document that helps craft the vision of the City. The purpose of a Housing Element is to identify current and projected housing needs, and to set goals, policies, and programs to address those needs.
Unlike other Elements of the General Plan, which may be updated at the discretion of each jurisdiction, California Government Code Sections 65580-65589.8 requires local jurisdictions to update the Housing Element of their General Plans every eight years, subject to the review and approval of the California Housing and Community Development Department (HCD). The City's current Housing Element (“5th Cycle”) was adopted by the City Council in 2014 and covers the period from 2015 to 2023.
For this next cycle (“6th Cycle”), an updated Housing Element covering the period from 2023 to 2031 must be adopted by January 31, 2023 (there is a 120-day grace-period, until May 31, 2023, to accommodate for delays). The City hired the firm PlaceWorks to prepare the updated Housing Element. They have been working with staff to conduct public outreach and draft the Housing Element.
The Planning Commission first discussed the 6th Cycle Housing Element at their October 28, 2021 meeting, at which staff and the consultants provided an overview of the process required to develop the plan, including the City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), the required components of the Housing Element, the schedule of public meetings, and a summary of recent state legislation that impacts Housing Elements. At that meeting, the Commission asked for clarity on how the document is to be used and asked if programs incentivizing construction of low-income units could be included in the Housing Element. Specific suggestions included providing financing for people to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs) if they are low-income, and permitting residential units to go over base zoning without Planning Commission approval if the units are made subject to an affordability agreement. There were no public comments. These suggestions are addressed in:
- Program A (Housing Development Regulatory Programs)
- Program B (Streamlining Planning Processes)
- Program D (ADUs)
- Program LL (Planning Regulation Amendments)
At their November 16, 2021 meeting, the City Council reviewed the same documents that the Planning Commission had reviewed at their October 28, 2021 meeting. Councilmembers expressed support for increasing residential density if necessary to meet the City’s RHNA. Programs addressing residential density can be found under Program LL (Planning Regulation Amendments).
In addition to the Planning Commission and City Council meetings, the Housing Committee has reviewed and discussed items related to the Housing Element at five of their meetings between April 7, 2021, and February 2, 2022. There have also been two Community Workshops held. On June 29, 2021, about 20 community members attended an online meeting and discussed housing needs and objectives in Emeryville; on February 23, 2022, another Community Workshop was held that about 10 community members attended.
DISCUSSION
The Public Review Draft of the Housing Element was published on May 19, 2022, on the City’s Housing Element website. There is a 30-day public review period for comments to be submitted, which concludes on June 18, 2022. In addition to the Planning Commission, Housing Committee, and City Council meetings being held in May and June 2022, during this 30-day public review period, the public is encouraged to review the Housing Element and provide comments at https://www.ci.emeryville.ca.us/1403/2023-2031-Housing-Element. Comments may also be submitted by emailing [email protected], or by calling Associate Planner, Navarre Oaks, at 510-596-4335. A hard copy of the draft Housing Element is available for review on-site at City Hall.
During the 30-day public review period, in addition to taking public comment, staff will also continue to review and fine-tune the first draft of the Housing Element. After the 30-day public review, the City will have 10 days to make revisions before submitting the revised first draft to HCD and posting it for the public to see. Between now and adoption, changes will also be made to the Housing Element to include and reflect any reports or additional data that may be updated.
The following discussion summarizes the contents of the Public Review Draft of the 2023-2031 Housing Element.
Required Components of a Housing Element
Pursuant to Government Code Section 65583, local governments are required to include the following seven items as components within their Housing Elements. The third item (Chapter 5 of the attached Draft Housing Element), Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), is a new required component introduced as part of the 6th Cycle.
Housing Needs Assessment (Chapter 3 of the attached Draft Housing Element): Examine demographic, employment and housing trends and conditions and identify existing and projected housing needs of the community, with attention paid to special housing needs (e.g., large families, persons with disabilities). This Section includes a community’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) as determined by a community’s regional planning body in partnership with HCD.
Constraints Analysis (Chapter 4 of the attached Draft Housing Element): Analyze and recommend remedies for existing and potential governmental and nongovernmental barriers to housing development.
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (Chapter 5 of the attached Draft Housing Element): Analyze and address significant disparities in housing needs and access to opportunity by proposing housing goals, objectives, and policies that aid in replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns, transforming racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity. This Chapter includes maps and charts with extensive data required for the Housing Element.
Housing Sites Inventory (Chapter 6 of the attached Draft Housing Element): Identify locations of available sites for housing development or redevelopment to demonstrate there is enough land zoned for housing to meet future need at all income levels.
Evaluation of Past Performance (Chapter 7 of the attached Draft Housing Element): Review the prior Housing Element to measure progress in implementing policies and programs.
Policies and Programs (Chapter 8 of the attached Draft Housing Element): Establish policies and programs to be carried out during the 2023-2031 planning period to fulfill the identified housing needs.
Community Engagement (Appendix B of the attached Draft Housing Element): Implement a robust community engagement program that includes reaching out to individuals and families at all economic levels of the community plus historically underrepresented groups.
Highlights of the 2023 - 2031 (6th Cycle) Draft Housing Element Regional Housing Needs Allocation
The foundation of the Housing Element is the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). The City’s RHNA is based in part on a determination of the region’s housing need issued by HCD (Regional Housing Needs Determination, or RHND). HCD released the RHND for the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) planning area (the nine Bay Area counties) in June 2020; it determined that the ABAG region needs to provide capacity for 441,176 total new housing units. ABAG prepared and adopted a methodology, which, in turn, allocated those units to each member jurisdiction for the next planning cycle.
Under the ABAG RHNA methodology, the City of Emeryville must accommodate 1,815 housing units to meet its “fair share” of the State’s housing need, which includes 710 lower income units. State housing law does not require the City to construct the allocated units within the planning period but does require the Housing Element to demonstrate site development capacity to facilitate the construction of a variety of housing for all income levels consistent with the City’s RHNA.
State law (Government Code Sections 65583 and 65583.2) requires a parcel-specific inventory of suitable and appropriately zoned sites for the provision of housing for all income categories. Program JJ commits the City to maintaining and updating this inventory throughout the planning period to ensure that adequate sites to meet the RHNA remain available.
Figure 6-1 in the Draft Housing Element, shown below as Figure 1, demonstrates that Emeryville has adequate sites to accommodate housing development. The Site Inventory Map includes 21 sites that provide a total capacity for 4,289 units and opportunities for the development of a variety of housing suitable for a range of household types and income levels. The inventory includes six approved projects (sites 1-6) in various stages of planning and construction, 2 vacant, and 13 nonvacant sites (sites 7-21) that are appropriate for housing development. This map does not include the 30 Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) that are included in Table 1, as they are considered non-site-specific development opportunities.
Table 1 below demonstrates the unit breakdown for the 21 identified sites, showing that the City has the capacity to develop units at all income units required to meet the RHNA, for a total of 4,319 units. Table 1 includes 30 anticipated ADUs to be developed during the 6th Cycle, which accounts for the discrepancy in units between the site inventory map and this table.
Chapter 6 of the Draft Housing Element provides site-specific details and tables that include information on each site, as well as more information on non-site-specific development opportunities.
Figure 1: Site Inventory Map
Table 1: Emeryville’s 2023 – 2031 Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Income category
Maximum Income, Two Person Household
Units needed
% of total
Units Provided in Draft Housing Element
Extremely Low and Very Low Income
< 50% AMI*
< $54,800
451
25%
858
Low Income
51 – 80% AMI
$54,801 - $87,700
259
14%
456
Moderate Income
81 – 120% AMI
$87,701 - $120,550
308
17%
772
Above Moderate Income
121% + AMI
> $120,551
797
44%
2,233
TOTAL
1,815
100%
4,319
*AMI = Area Median Income, Two-Person Household: $100,500; Four-Person Household: $125,600 Source: California Department of Housing and Community Development, State Income Limits for Alameda County, 2021; ABAG Final Regional Housing Needs Allocation 2023-2031 Goals, Policies, and Programs
Chapter 8 of the Draft Housing Element includes:
- 5 Goals: to establishing the purpose of the Housing Element, - 19 Policies: statements to guide decision making that relate to each goal, and - 46 Programs: actions that the City will take to implement the policies to achieve the goals.
The five goals of the Draft Housing Element are:
Goal H-1. New Housing Development: Facilitate the construction of a wide variety of housing types, for various income levels, in a manner that promotes environmental responsibility and long-term sustainability.
Goal H-2. Preservation: Conserve and improve the condition of the existing housing stock to enhance the livability of neighborhood(s) for all residents.
Goal H-3. Housing Needs: Ensure housing is accessible and affordable to very-low-, low-, and moderate-income residents, with a priority for those with special needs.
Goal H-4. Fair Housing: Ensure community members have equitable access to safe, sanitary and affordable housing as protected under State and Federal Fair Housing Laws.
Goal H-5. Address Constraints: Reduce or remove governmental and nongovernmental constraints to the development, improvement, and maintenance of housing, where feasible.
Each program is designed to address and implement one or more goals and policies, and identifies who is responsible for implementation, the timeframe for implementation, and the funding source. For example, Program SS is as follows:
SS. Pro-Housing Designation. The City will seek a Pro-Housing Designation from the California Housing and Community Development Department for enacting favorable zoning and land use policies, policies to accelerate the production of housing, reduction of construction and development policies, and providing financial subsidies. The Pro-housing designation will provide incentives, in the form of additional points or preferences in the scoring of competitive applications for housing and infrastructure.
Implements Policies: H-1-1; H-1-2; H-3-1
Responsible department/review authority: Economic Development and Housing Division, Planning Division, Planning Commission, City Council Timeframe: Implement required policies (Short Term)
Funding source: General Fund
Policies H-1-1 and H-1-2 are tied to Goal H-1 (new housing development), and Policy H-3-1 is tied to Goal H-3 (housing needs):
Policy H-1-1. Provide monetary and regulatory incentives for residential projects constructed specifically for lower- and moderate-income households.
Policy H-1-2. Explore innovative and creative housing options that provide greater flexibility in development and/or use, facilitate affordability, and meet the housing needs of all residents in the City.
Policy H-3-1. Utilize available federal, state, and local financing sources and subsidies to assist in making housing more affordable to very low-, low-, and moderate-income households.
Each program may include multiple items. For example, Program B lists three separate items to implement Policies H-1-2 and H-5-1, which work towards Goals 1 and 5:
B. Streamlining Planning Processes. The City will enact the following streamlined processes to accelerate the production of housing:
Streamlined and Ministerial Review for Eligible Affordable Housing Projects: The City will establish a written policy or procedure and other guidance, as appropriate, to ensure that eligible multifamily projects with an affordable component are provided streamlined review as outlined in Government Code, Section 65913.4.
Streamlined Process to Convert Single-Unit Homes to Two-Unit Homes: The City will consider opportunities to streamline the permitting process of converting single unit homes to two-unit homes, including the possibility of waiving the requirement for Planning Commission approval for projects that will exceed base FAR. Once adopted, the City will implement the new streamlined process. (See also Program LL.) Appeal Hearing Modification: The City will investigate the ability to eliminate the need for a Public Meeting to determine if a case warrants an Appeal Hearing. The elimination of this Public Meeting will accelerate the time for a project to be approved.
The City is required to report annually to the State on progress on housing development and all goals, policies, and programs to insure implementation. The Housing Committee, Planning Commission and City Council review these annual reports prior to submittal.
Planning Commission Comments
At their May 26, 2022, meeting the Planning Commission reviewed the draft Housing Element. One public speaker asked how to apply for affordable housing in new residential developments. The Commission asked for clarification on how the City informs property owners of the development potential of their property, and how the City promotes services to renters. Staff addressed the comments and questions about rental housing by providing information on current resources for accessing affordable housing information, and also identified the programs in the draft Housing Element that will improve access to affordable housing information, including coordinated online portals in Alameda County and the Bay Area.. Staff also noted that owners of properties included in the Housing Element’s site inventory are contacted to make them aware of their properties’ zoning and housing development potential. The Commission expressed appreciation that multiple programs in the draft Housing Element address the need for affordable ownership units, as well as for improved access to affordable housing information. The Commission was supportive of the draft Housing Element as presented, and had no recommendations for modifications.
Next Steps
Below is a chart outlining the remaining schedule between now and the adoption of the Housing Element. Of note, depending on HCD’s review, there may be multiple rounds of comments. The dates for Planning Commission to recommend adoption, and for City Council to adopt the Housing Element, are based on the maximum review times by HCD. If the maximum amount of review time is needed, the Housing Element will not be adopted prior to the January 31, 2023 adoption due date set by HCD, but will be adopted before the May 31, 2023 grace period that HCD has set for all jurisdictions, should a January 31, 2023 adoption not be feasible. If the maximum amount of review time is not needed, Planning Commission and City Council meetings dates may be rescheduled to earlier dates.
Date
Housing Element
May 19 - June 18, 2022
30 Day Public Review Period Prior to Submission to HCD
May 26, 2022
Planning Commission: Draft Review
June 1, 2022
Housing Committee: Draft Review
June 7, 2022
City Council: Draft Review
June 18, 2022
End of 30 Day Public Review Period Prior to Submission to HCD June 20 - July 1, 2022
10 Days for the City to Make Revisions
July 5, 2022
Post Revised Draft Publicly and Submit to HCD
July 5 - October 3, 2022
90 Days: HCD Initial Review
October 5 -
October 18, 2022
Time for any Additional Revisions by the City
October 19 -
December 17, 2022
60 Days: HCD Subsequent Initial Review of Draft Element (if needed) December 19 -
December 27, 2022
Time for any Additional Revisions by the City (if needed) January 26, 2023
Planning Commission: Recommended Adoption
January 31, 2023
Adoption Due Date
February 7, 2023
City Council: Adoption
February 8 - May 30, 2023
HCD Review of the Adopted Element for Certification
May 31, 2023
Due date with 120-day grace period
Staff will continue to keep the Commission, Council and public informed as the process moves forward. The public is encouraged to join the mailing list on the City’s Housing Element update webpage at https://www.ci.emeryville.ca.us/1403/2023-2031-Housing-Element.
FISCAL IMPACT
This report is for informational purposes. There is no fiscal impact.
STAFF COMMUNICATION WITH THE PUBLIC
As noted above, the Housing Committee discussed the Housing Element at five of their meetings between April 7, 2021 and February 2, 2022, two community workshops were held on June 29, 2021 and February 23, 2022, the Planning Commission held study sessions on October 28, 2021 on May 26, 2022, and the City Council held a study session on November 16, 2022. Stakeholder interviews and surveys have also been conducted, and there is a website for additional information.
PREPARED BY: Navarre Oaks, Associate Planner
APPROVED AND FORWARDED TO THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EMERYVILLE:
_________________________
Christine Daniel, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
2023 -2031 Draft Housing Element
2023-2031 Draft Housing Element
City Council Meeting | June 7, 2022
City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
MEMORANDUM