APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
DRAFT
___________________________
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
ORDINANCE NO. ________________C.M.S.
INTRODUCED BY COUNCILMEMBER JENKINS
AN ORDINANCE ADDING CHAP TER 15.80 TO THE OAKLAND
MUNICIPAL CODE TO ESTABLIS H CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCE-
RELATED REPORTING REQUIREM ENTS FOR DEVELOPMENTS
WITH AT LEAST 100 RESIDENTIAL UNITS OR 100,000 SQUARE FEET OF NEW FLOOR AREA; AND MAKI NG APPROPRIATE CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT FINDINGS
WHEREAS, the City of Oakland recognizes th at housing in the City has become increasingly scarce and expensive, such that it is out of reach for low and middle income residents and vulnerable populations, and the City has determined there is a need for affordable housing for low and middle income residents, vulnerable populations, and others throughout the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 89565 C.M.S., adopting the 2023- 2031 Housing Element as a General Plan Amendment to the Oakland General Plan; and
WHEREAS, the adopted 2023-2031 Housing Elem ent anticipates approximately 41,458 new housing units will be developed requiring several thousand additional construction jobs; and
WHEREAS, the Oakland General Plan update process will result in the zoning of opportunity sites for commercial and industrial development whose build out will require several thousand additional construction jobs; and
WHEREAS, low wage employment is endemic to the construction market with Alameda County construction workers falling into Extr emely Low Income, Very Low Income or Low Income categories, as defined in Table 1-1 of the 2023-2031 Housing Element; and
WHEREAS, income disparity in the constructi on trades dispropor tionately impacts workers of color, African-American workers being paid 38% less than white workers with Latino workers being paid 38% less than white worker s and Asian workers being paid 52% less than white workers; and
2 WHEREAS, apprenticeship opportunities in construction will increase the opportunity for communities of color to pursue and obtain middle class jobs; and
WHEREAS, construction workers who live in Alam eda County are medically uninsured at rates three to four times higher than the ra tes of non-construction wo rkers living in Alameda County; and
WHEREAS, on September 12, 2023, the Commun ity and Economic Development (“CED”) Committee of the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to consider and recommend certain amendments to the Housing Element, including an Environmental Justice Element and a directive that for developments of at least 100 residential units or 100,000 square feet of industrial/commercial space, the developer must repor t workforce-related community benefits as enumerated by the CED Committee; and
WHEREAS, on September 26, 2023, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to consider the foregoing recommendations of the CED Committee, all of which were passed on the first reading; and
WHEREAS, on October 3, 2023, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to again consider the foregoing recommendations of the CED Committee, all of which were passed on the second reading and became final; and
WHEREAS, the Environmental Justice Element’s Goal EJ-9 calls upon the City to expand economic development, address income equality, and create opportunity for all Oaklanders, and Policy EJ-9.7 calls for the elimination of barriers to workforce participation and access to training; and
WHEREAS, these new City policies will create thousands of new construction jobs, and the City wishes to incentivize high construction workforce standards, including but not limited to utilizing a skilled construction workforce, providing high-quality health care benefits, investing in apprenticeship training, r ecruiting from the local workforce, and paying an area standard wage; and
WHEREAS, the City also wishes to incentivize th e use of construction contractors that are based locally and/or have historically faced barriers or disadvantages in contracting for projects in the local area, to avoid perpetuating economic inequality; and
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OAKLAND DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Recitals. The City Council finds and determines the foregoing recitals to be true and correct and an integral part of the City Council’s decision, and hereby adopts such recitals as findings.
3 SECTION 2. Adoption of Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 15.80. Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 15.80 is hereby added to read as follows:
Chapter 15.80
CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
15.80.010 Applicability.
The requirements of this Chapter shall apply at the time of building permit application to all Newly Constructed Buildings having at least one hundred (100) residential dwelling units or one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet of new non-residential floor area.
15.80.020 Definitions.
A. “Applicant” shall means any individual, pe rson, firm, partnership, association, joint venture, corporation, limited liability co mpany, entity, combination of entities or authorized representative thereof, who undertakes, proposes or applies to the City for any development project with at least one hundred (100) residential dw elling units or one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet of new non-residential floor area.
B. “Apprentice” shall mean a person enrolled in an apprenticeship program approved by the Chief of the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards.
C. “Area Standard Wages” shall mean the general prevailing wage determinations for Alameda County as made by the State of Ca lifornia Director of the Department of Industrial Relations.
D. “Craftspersons” shall mean a person employed in a construction craft position working on the construction site for the Newly Constructed Building.
E. “Development-Related Permit” shall mean a building permit, grading permit, or demolition permit that is part of a development projec t with at least one hundred (100) residential dwelling units or at least one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet of new non- residential floor area.
F. “Newly Constructed Buildings” shall mean any building that is part of at least a one hundred (100) residential dwelli ng unit project or non-residentia l project of at least one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet and that: (1) has obtained a valid land use entitlement from the City on or after the effective date of this Chapter and has never before been used or occupied for any purpose, or (2) has obtained a valid land use entitlement from the City before the effective date of this Chapter but has failed to file for a Development-Related Permit within one (1) year from the effective date of this Chapter and has never been used or occupied for any purpose.
G. “Trade” shall mean the area of specialization that categoriz es a group of Craftspersons, including but not limited to carpenter, elec trician, pipefitter, sheet metal worker, and similar trades.
4 15.80.030 Construction Workforce Reporting Requirements
A. The Applicant for any Newly Constructed Building shall certify at the time of Development-Related Permit application for th eir project that at the conclusion of the project, they will provide the following information to the City, with adequate supporting documentation such as payroll records and benefit reports, as determined by the City:
(1) The percentage of the workforce who ar e City of Oakland residents, with allocations by zip code.
(2) The number of Apprentices that were em ployed as Craftspersons for the Newly Constructed Building, with allocations by Trade.
(3) The percentage of the workforce that consisted of Apprentices.
(4) Those Trades whose Craftspersons were paid area standard wages.
(5) Those Trades whose Craftspersons received health care benefits.
(6) The percentage of the workforce that receiv ed health care benefits fully paid by their employer.
(7) The number of Craftspersons who were requ ired to provide their own tools, with allocations by Trade.
(8) The demographics of the workforce, w ithout personal identifying information, including ethnicity and gender/gender identity, if disclosed.
(9) The percentage of contractors that were certified by the City as a “Local Business”, “Small Local Business”, of “Very Small Local Business Enterprise” under the City of Oakland Local and Small Local Business Enterprise Program.
B. During construction of the Newly Constructe d Building, the Applicant shall submit quarterly reports to the Pla nning and Building Department containing the information described in paragraph A above for the dura tion of construction of the project, on a cumulative basis.
C. Upon completion of the Newly Constructed Bu ilding, the Applicant shall submit a final report to the Planning and Build ing Department containing th e information described in paragraph A above as it pertai ns to the entire project. No temporary certificate of occupancy or certificate of occupancy, whichever occurs first, may be issued for any Newly Constructed Building subject to this Chapte r unless the final report is submitted to the Planning and Building Department.
SECTION 3. California Environmental Quality Act. The City Council finds and determines that the adoption of this Ordina nce is (1) not a Project under the California
5 Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”); (2) exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) (general rule, no significant effect on the environment); and (3) exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15306 (information collectio n). Each of these provides a separate and indepe ndent basis for CEQA clearance and when viewed collectively provide an overall basis for CEQA clearance.
SECTION 4. Severability. If any section, s ubsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the Chapter. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each section, subsection, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that one or more other sections, subsections, clauses or phrases may be declared invalid or unconstitutional
Section 5. Effective Date. The Ordinance shall become ef fective immediately on final adoption if it receives six or more affirmative vo tes; otherwise it shall become effective upon the seventh day after final adoption.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES – FIFE, GALLO, JENKINS, KALB, KAPLAN, RAMACHANDRAN, REID, AND
PRESIDENT FORTUNATO BAS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
ATTEST:
ASHA REED
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California
Date of Attestation:
3355379v1/MCB
6 NOTICE AND DIGEST
AN ORDINANCE ADDING CHAP TER 15.80 TO THE OAKLAND
MUNICIPAL CODE TO ESTABLIS H CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCE-
RELATED REPORTING REQUIREM ENTS FOR DEVELOPMENTS
WITH AT LEAST 100 RESIDENTIAL UNITS OR 100,000 SQUARE FEET OF NEW FLOOR AREA; AND MAKI NG APPROPRIATE CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT FINDINGS
This Ordinance amends the Oakland Municipa l Code to establish requirements that the developer of development projects with at least 100 residential units or 100,000 square feet of new floor area report to the City inform ation regarding the c onstruction workforce employed or contracted for the project. The reporting information includes, not exclusively, the percentage of the workfo rce who are Oakland residents, the use of apprentices, whether the workforce receives area standard wages and health care benefits, whether the workforce is requi red to provide their own tool s, demographic information, and whether contractors are qualified under th e City of Oakland Local and Small Local Business Enterprise Program. Reporting information must be provided prior to a certificate of occupancy being issued to the project. Th e City may also adopt appropriate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) findings in support of these amendments.