CITY
OF
OAKLAND
CITY HALL
•
1 FRANK H. OGAWA PLAZA •
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
94612
#LoveLife
REBECCA KAPLAN
(510) 238-7008
Vice Mayor
FAX: (510) 238-6910
District At Large
TDD: (510) 839-6451
Date: July 7, 2022To: Members of City Council and Members of the PublicFrom: Vice Mayor KaplanRe: ResolutionDirectingTheCityAdministratorOrTheirDesigneeTo ProcessAndReturnTo CouncilWith A PlanningCodeAmendmentTo EliminateParkingRequirementsForAffordableHousingProjectsOfTen(10)UnitsOrLess;AndMakingAppropriate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings Dear Colleagues on the City Council and Members of the Public:
Whilehousingaffordabilityisbotharegionalandstatewideissue,itimpactsOaklandinparticularbecauseoftherelativelyhighproportionsofpeopleneedingbelow-markethousingandthehighcostofhousingintheBayArea.AccordingtoourRegionalHousingNeedAllocation(RHNA)-whichcalculatestheCity’s housingneedovereightyears- Oaklandhasmetonly52%ofitsRHNAgoalsfor verylow-incomehousing,32%for low-incomehousing,and 3% formoderate-incomehousing.Toreducecostbarriersforaffordablehousingprojects,particularlyforsmallerprojectswithlesstechnicalexpertiseandcapital,thisresolutionwouldeliminatecityparking requirements for all affordable housing projects with ten units or less.
AccordingtoAmericanCommunitySurveyestimates,astaggering51percentofOaklandrentersarehousingburdened,and27percentareseverelyhousingburdened 1 . Inaddition,theOaklandHousingandCommunityDevelopmentDepartment’s 2021-2023StrategicActionPlanfoundover80percentofextremelylow-incomehouseholdspaymorethan30percentoftheirincometowardsrent,with46percentpayingover50percentoftheirincometowardsrent.Together, thesenumberstell the concerning tale that Oakland severely lacks deeply affordable housing 2 .
Citypolicymust,therefore,ferventlypromotethedevelopmentofaffordablehousing,andreducecostbarrierswhendevelopingaffordablehousingprojects,particularlyforsmallerprojectswithlesstechnicalexpertiseandcapital.OnestrategytheCitycanpursue,whichhasproventosignificantlyreducethecostperunitofhousingis eliminatingparkingrequirementsforthesesmaller projects.
TheTernerCenterforHousingInnovationat Berkeleyconcludedin a recentanalysisthatthepresenceof structuredparkingaddednearly$36,000perunitafteran examinationof 678 2 “City of Oakland Housing & Community DevelopmentDepartment 2021-2023 Strategic Action Plan.” 1 “Oakland 2045: Environmental Justice and Racial EquityBaseline.”City of Oakland Planning and BuildingDepartment.
City CouncilJuly 7, 2022File # 22-06061
new-construction9%Low-IncomeHousingTaxCredit-fundeddevelopmentsbuiltinCaliforniabetween2008and2019 3 . AnotherstudyconductedbytheVictoriaTransportPolicyInstituteshowedthateachparkingspaceaddedper unitof housingin urbanareasincreasedthedevelopmentcostperunitby12.5percent 4 . Affordablehousingprojects,withtheirlowerrentrevenuestreams,arealreadychallengingtofinance;therefore,parkingrequirementscanmakeorbreak the financial viability of these projects.
Giventhatparkingrequirementsbothsignificantlyincreasethecostofbuildingaffordablehousinganddo notnecessarilymeettheneedsof individualswholivethere,thisresolutionwouldeliminate parking requirements for affordable housing projects with 10 units or less.
Respectfully submitted,
Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan
4 Litman, Todd.“Parking Requirement Impacts on HousingAffordability.”Victoria Transport Policy Institute.9 May 2022. 3 “The Costs of Affordable Housing Production: Insights from California’s 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program.”Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley. March 2020.
City CouncilJuly 7, 2022File # 22-06062