Minutes
Lakewood City Council
Adjourned Regular Meeting held
May 26, 2026
MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER at 6:08 p.m. by Mayor Chase in the Executive Board Room, 5000 Clark Avenue, Lakewood, California.
ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Mayor Cassandra Chase
Vice Mayor Jeff Wood
Council Member David Arellano
Council Member Steve Croft
Council Member Todd Rogers
. . .
DISCUSSION REGARDING THE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING STUDY AND
DIRECTION TO MOVE TOWARDS DRAFTING AN ORDINANCE
Mayor Chase introduced the item.
Director of Community Development Cervantes 1) introduced Chinmay Damle, Urban Planner, Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. (EPS), who provided a PowerPoint presentation of the Agenda report; and 2) along with City Manager McCormack, City Attorney Skolnik and Urban Planner Damle, responded to Council Members’ questions and comments.
At the request of Council Member Rogers, 1) Director Cervantes a) confirmed that the adoption of an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance (IHO) is not required by the State of California, further explaining that the City is required to only conduct an inclusionary zoning feasibility study per Housing Element Goal A-6; b) clarified that the City cannot require a developer to provide affordable housing units to Lakewood residents only; however, the City can utilize program planning and public outreach to better inform Lakewood residents of their ability to apply for affordable housing; and c) highlighted residential development projects that are currently being constructed in the City; and 2) City Manager McCormack expressed that affordable housing programs are challenging because it is difficult to receive qualified applicants, reiterating that public outreach and education is needed to better assist residents.
In response to questions and comments provided by Vice Mayor Wood relative to public outreach, 1) Director Cervantes stated that a) the General Plan demonstrates the number of units permitted in the City; and b) the City’s website includes a map that shows new development within the City; and 2) City Manager McCormack confirmed that additional public outreach will be conducted to clarify and explain the State of California’s housing mandates.
For the record, Vice Mayor Wood expressed the opinion that additional public outreach is needed as residents do not understand that the State of California has strict housing mandates the City must follow.
City Council Minutes
May 26, 2026
DISCUSSION REGARDING THE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING STUDY AND DIRECTION TO MOVE TOWARDS DRAFTING AN ORDINANCE - Continued Following brief discussion, at the request of Council Member Croft, Director Cervantes 1) explained a) IHOs require new market-rate residential development projects to include a certain percentage of housing units at rents or sale prices that are affordable to lower-income households, which includes rental housing, for-sale housing, or both; b) the feasibility analysis tests whether new market-rate residential developments in the City can absorb the additional financial costs associated with the IHO requirements and still be financially feasible; c) the City has elected to study the financial impacts of an inclusionary housing requirement to better inform its inclusionary housing policy, align with the City’s overall housing goals, and meet the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), further explaining that some projects are not required to provide affordable units, such as Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs); and 2) affordable housing agreements are utilized by cities to lock in the affordability component of residential projects for typically forty-five years, further noting that residential development projects with affordable units are required to provide annual progress reports to document how many units are affordable.
In response to questions and comments provided by Council Member Arellano, 1) Director Cervantes stated that the conduction of the feasibility study by EPS was approximately $26,000; and 2) Deputy City Attorney Skolnik clarified that RHNA requires cities to plan for housing across four specific income categories, further explaining that the feasibility study shows that some projects are not feasible.
For the record, 1) Vice Mayor Wood expressed that he does not want the City to become a “rental city”, further expressing the opinion that he supports accepting the feasibility study as presented but does not support adopting an IHO; and 2) Mayor Chase expressed that an IHO can better assist residents as new market-rate residential development projects would be required to provide affordable units.
At the request of Vice Mayor Wood and Council Member Rogers, Director Cervantes clarified that in-lieu fees can be used to assist developers with financing affordable housing projects; however, developers often pay an in-lieu fee as an alternative to constructing physical affordable units on site, further noting that in exchange for providing affordable housing or paying the fees, developers can access waivers, concessions, and density bonuses through the State of California to help offset project costs.
For the record, it was moved by Vice Mayor Wood to 1) receive and file the Inclusionary Housing study; and 2) not move forward with drafting an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance.
The motion died due to the lack of a second.
Following brief discussion, Council Member Rogers expressed the opinion that the City should explore the possibility of drafting an IHO, further suggesting an ad hoc committee be created to review the draft IHO before it is presented to the Planning and Environment Commission and City Council.
City Council Minutes
May 26, 2026
DISCUSSION REGARDING THE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING STUDY AND DIRECTION TO MOVE TOWARDS DRAFTING AN ORDINANCE - Continued For the record, it was moved by Council Member Arellano, seconded by Council Member Rogers, and carried by the following roll call vote, to 1) receive and file the Inclusionary Housing study; 2) direct staff to proceed with drafting an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance; and 3) create an Ad Hoc Committee comprised of two City Council Members to review the draft Inclusionary Housing Ordinance:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS – Croft, Arellano, Rogers, and Mayor Chase NAYS: COUNCIL MEMBER – Wood
. . .
RECEIVE AND FILE REPORT REGARDING THE DRAFT OBJECTIVE DESIGN
STANDARDS
Mayor Chase introduced the item.
Director of Community Development Cervantes 1) provided a verbal report of the Agenda report; and 2) along with City Manager McCormack, responded to Council Members’ questions and comments.
At the request of Vice Mayor Wood and Council Member Rogers, City Manger McCormack 1) confirmed that updates regarding residential housing projects within the City will be included in the City Manager’s report provided to the City Council weekly; and 2) stated that he would provide information relative to charter cities at a later date.
For the record, and without objection, the report was received and filed. . . .
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to be brought before the City Council, Mayor Chase adjourned the meeting at 7:24 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dakota Wallace, CMC
City Clerk