April 3, 2023
San Rafael City Council
1400 Fifth Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
RE: 6(a) Notice of Funding Availability for Affordable Housing Honorable Mayor and Council Members,
Sustainable San Rafael has been following the housing programs and policies as part of the Housing Element Working Group (2021-22). We appreciate that the City Council is holding a hearing about the proposed Notice of Funding Availability to expend housing trust monies.
There is currently over $2 million in the fund, with a request to allocate over a million to the proposed NOFA.
While the preservation of affordable housing is an important element of the City’s housing plans, it is important to construct new housing to meet the needs of the thousands of people commuting to jobs in San Rafael. There are hundreds of approved units that have not been built. The housing trust funds can help move some of those projects into construction.
We ask that at least half of the funds be spent on NEW affordable units, to increase the housing stock in San Rafael.
Second, the NOFA requests proposals to convert market rate units to apartments owned by nonprofits, thus taking these properties off the tax rolls for all associated public agencies.
We ask that the impact of the funding loss be identified as part of the application process, and the affected public agencies notified.
Third, section 2H1 specifies that a receiving property be preserved for 55 years as affordable; however, there is no enforcement mechanism.
We request that units funded through the Housing Trust be guaranteed to remain affordable for the full 55 years.
Fourth, when a property is bought to be preserved, what protections are there to avoid the eviction of current long-term residents? Are there protections to keep residents in place if they are over the income limits for affordable units? Thank you for your leadership on behalf of San Rafael.
Sincerely,
Linda M. Jackson
Vice-President, Sustainable San Rafael
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
William Carney, President
Linda Jackson, Vice President
Stuart Siegel, Secretary
Arlin Benavides
Greg Brockbank
Carlos Hernandez
Kay Karchevski
Kiki La Porta
Annika Osborn
Howard Schwartz
415.457.7656