1 Kristie Ramos, CMC
From:Jessika Pollard
Sent:Thursday, July 20, 2023 9:50 AM
To:Kristie Ramos, CMC
Cc:Ian Gabriel
Subject:City Council Public Comments - Items 7 & 11
Attachments:Rancho Mirage AHO Support Comment ITEM 7.pdf; RM RFP Support ITEM 11.pdf Follow Up Flag:Follow up
Flag Status:Flagged
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Hello Kristie,
Please find attached a couple comment letters for today's city council meeting.
Thank you!
Best,
Jessika Pollard
Senior Policy Analyst
O: +760.239.7160
C: +760.898.9995
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RE: Consider authorizing a request for proposal for multifamily affordable housing development project on 10-acres of city owned housing element inventory. (Site B – APN 689-180-012)
Dear Mayor Kite, Mayor Pro Tem Downs, and distinguished council members, Lift to Rise would like to offer our staunch support for Rancho Mirage City Council to authorize the production and posting of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a multifamily affordable housing development of a minimum of 200 units on a 10-acre parcel of Housing Element Site B.
Rancho Mirage is one of the few cities in our region to have a certified Housing Element and we are excited that the city is taking steps to prioritize affordability for its residents by acting on the plans of implementation. According to the city’s own certified Housing Element, Rancho Mirage has a current Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) of 1,746 housing units with almost half of them, 748, being allocated for extremely low – low-income needs. Also designated in the Housing Element for this particular site is the Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) that was approved by the city council last year.
The use of an AHO as an affordable housing tool will offer incentives to developers and potential residents. The production of an RFP shows the city's dedication and commitment to meeting the mandated allocation of housing needs in a highly desirable area that will allow for greater employment opportunities, access to transit, parks, major shopping centers and other amenities.
The RFP for Site B would suggest a minimum of 200 units of affordable housing, potentially decreasing the RHNA by 200. Given the AHO on the residential portion of the land, we suggest increasing the minimum to ensure there is a real effort to address the needs of housing especially for those in the extremely low-income brackets.
This is a great step to begin the process of implementing the policies and goals devised in the Housing Element and we hope the city will utilize additional tools and identify additional sites with subsequent RFPs to further support the increase in supply of affordable housing. We encourage the city of Rancho Mirage to keep up the great work and continuously prioritize the needs of its residents who have advocated for the need of more affordable housing by supporting and approving staff to produce an RFP for the identified site and offer our continued support as a resource.
Lift to Rise was formed to transform the systems that generate the supply of affordable housing, recognizing that the combination of low wages and high housing costs are the root causes of financial precarity among Coachella Valley residents.
That is why Lift to Rise and over 60 cross-sector partners, including the City of Rancho Mirage, have coordinated around a shared goal of reducing the regional housing cost burden at a population level through the production of 10,000 units of affordable housing in the Coachella Valley by 2028.
Together, we are operating off a shared Action Plan which spans 5 key strategy areas:
1. Aggregating a pipeline of community-prioritized projects across the valley,
2. Growing a regional Housing Catalyst fund to spur production,
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3. Advocating at the local, state, and federal level for policies and regulatory changes that Support housing production in our region,
4. Engaging and mobilizing residents and elected officials in support of affordable housing, and
5. Keeping residents housed through a coordinated eviction prevention strategy.
We stand ready as a collaborative to support the city to increase affordability. We thank the City of Rancho Mirage for joining us in this work thus far and urge the city council to continue to prioritize the production of affordable housing to ensure that all residents are healthy, stable, and thriving and urge you again prioritize affordability with this recommendation.
Thank you for your time.
Lift to Rise