AFFORDABLE HOUSING PLAN
Project Overview: The Arbor Square project is comprised of 38 Rowhouse-style condominiums. The project shall provide 3 on site homes for-sale at 80% AMI, 5 on site homes for-sale at 120% AMI levels and 2 onsite homes for-sale at 150% AMI.
Construction and Completion Schedule: City Ventures intends to construct the BMR units in tandem with the market-rate units. City Ventures plans to pull building permits for an entire building all at once so that all units in a particular building would start construction at the same time. All 4 proposed buildings in the Arbor Square project include at least one Below Market Rate (BMR) unit as well as a market rate unit in an attached Rowhouse style building. There will be no phasing of the construction of the BMR units since City Ventures intends to build the BMR units and the Market Rate units at the same time.
Comparison of BMR and market rate homes: The units designated as Below-Market-Rate (BMR) meet the requirements of Section D-6 (General Requirements – Location and Design of BMR Units) of the City of Mountain View’s Below-Market-Rate Housing Program Administrative Guidelines. As shown on the attached architectural site plan (Sheet SP2) and corresponding BMR Unit Matrix (Sheet GI1), the BMR units are evenly distributed across all four proposed residential buildings, ensuring geographic integration within the development. The project also complies with the California State Density Bonus Law’s definition of “equivalent units” , as all homes within the development—both BMR and market-rate—are three-bedroom units. However, while bedroom count is consistent, the BMR units are modestly smaller in square footage than their market-rate counterparts. As such, the project respectfully requests a concession under Government Code §ௗ65915(d) to waive strict adherence to the City’s BMR square footage comparability requirement. All BMR units will feature exterior designs consistent with the market-rate homes and will be comparable in interior layout, materials, finish quality, and overall appearance. Each BMR unit will also include a private, enclosed two-car garage—matching the parking accommodations provided for market-rate units.
HOA reserve: This project is subject to code requirements for an HOA Reserve Fund supporting each low- income unit in the project. The City's estimated amounts are listed below, however City Ventures will work with the City's Housing Department to finalize the HOA reserve amounts while working on the BMR agreement during the Permitting stage of Arbor Square project.
a. Approximate HOA reserve fund for each low-income unit: $17,184 b. Approximate total amount needed for HOA reserve fund: $51,552 Dated: 2/3/2026
Attachment 8
STATE DENSITY BONUS LAW NARRATIVE
Pursuant to State Government Code §65915 and Mountain View Municipal Code SEC.
36.48.80, the 922 & 944 San Leandro “Arbor Square” project is eligible for a state density bonus because of the 25 percent of units that are deed restricted, 13 percent of the total dwelling units are reserved for persons and families of moderate-income levels. This provision of onsite deed-restricted units makes the project eligible for bonus density of 16% above the base zoning, 2 concessions, unlimited waivers, and a reduction in parking requirements per Subdivision (p). Of these items, the project is not currently requesting any bonus density or reduction in parking requirements.
City Ventures is seeking 1 concession to the City’s BMR Ordinance and 4 waivers to certain standards in the City’s zoning code that would have the eƯect of physically precluding the construction of the project. The requested waivers and the rationale for each are documented in the table below. The project is reserving its right to request an additional concession, waivers and parking reductions.
Policy Requirement Proposed Rationale for Concession
BELOW-MARKET-RATE
HOUSING PROGRAM
ADMINISTRATIVE
GUIDELINES Section D(6)
All BMR units shall be of
comparable size based on
net habitable square
footage of the units
The project complies with the
California State Density Bonus
Law’s definition of “equivalent
units”, as all homes within the
development—both BMR and
market-rate—are three-bedroom
units.
While all units in the project maintain consistent bedroom counts, the designated BMR units are modestly smaller in square footage than the market-rate units. To address this, City Ventures is requesting a concession from the City’s BMR ordinance requirement for square footage comparability.
This concession would result in a reduction in the cost of providing affordable units as a result of lower construction costs for smaller units. Strict compliance with the city's inclusionary requirements would require constructing larger units as BMRs, which would increase project costs. With the requested concession, the project remains compliant with the City’s BMR Ordinance as applied through the State Density Bonus Law. Per HCD's Technical Assistance Letter to Sonoma County, HCD has provided guidance that a SDBL concession can be used to modify a local inclusionary requirment if doing so would result in a construction or operational cost reduction in providing affordable housing (i.e., improve the economic feasibility of the project).
Standards Regulation Proposed Rationale for Waiver
R3-1.5 Zoning, General Plan
Designation, and Rowhouse
Development Standards
15 ft. or the height of the
adjacent
building wall of the
subject parcel as
measured to the top of
the wall
plate, whichever is
greater.
The project is proposing a 5' side
setback to the North Property
Line. The project proposes
additional trees and planting
along the North Property Line to
help screen the massing of the
buildings along the North
Property Line.
Complying with this standard would require reducing the residential areas in all of the project's 4 buildings. Thus, compliance with this standard would physically preclude the development of the project at the density provided. The project requests a waiver for this standard to maintain the adequate unit size for each floor of the units.
Standards Regulation Proposed Rationale for Waiver
R3-1.5 Zoning, General Plan
Designation, and Rowhouse
Development Standards
No more than 4’ Driveway
Approns
All units have 3' driveway aprons
except for the southern two
units on each of the 4 buildings(8
units total out of the 38 units)
that have an 11'6" driveway
apron.
Complying with this standard would require reducing the residential areas in all four of the project's buildings in order to comply with turning radius requirements into each private alley within the project.
Therefore, compliance with this standard would physically preclude the development of the project at the proposed density. The project requests a waiver for this standard to maintain adequate unit sizes on each floor.
Standards Regulation Proposed Rationale for Waiver
R3-1.5 Zoning, General Plan
Designation, and Rowhouse
Development Standards
SITE COVERAGE: 35%
MAX. (25,798.5 SQ. FT.
MAX)
SITE COVERAGE: 37.14% (27,377
SQ. FT.)
The project's fourth submittal includes patio areas for all homes, as requested by the planning staff, to give each home a more individualized feel. By incorpoating this design feature the project has become out of compliance with the maximum Site Coverage Percentage. Complying with this standard would require reducing the residential areas in all of the project's 4 buildings. Thus, compliance with this standard would physically preclude the development of the project at the density provided. Theproject requests a waiver for this standard to maintain theadequate unit size and patio area for each floor of the units.
Standards Regulation Proposed Rationale for Waiver
R3-1.5 Zoning, General Plan
Designation, and Rowhouse
Development Standards
FLOOR AREA RATIO: 1.05
@ DUA > 20 Units
FLOOR AREA RATIO: 1.06 The project's fourth submittal includes patio areas for all homes, as requested by the planning staff, to give each home a more individualized feel. By incorpoating this design feature the project has become out of compliance with the site's maximum required Floor Area Ratio. Complying with this standard would require reducing the residential areas in all of the project's 4 buildings. Thus,compliance with this standard would physically preclude the development of the project at the density provided. Theproject requests a waiver for this standard to maintain theadequate unit size and patio area for each floor of the units.
Waiver #4
Waiver #1
Waiver #2
Waiver #3
Concession #1