Resolution/ Revisions to Adopted Housing Element Page 1 of 10 Rev. Rev: 11/22/17
RESOLUTION NO. 24-008
A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA RECOMMENDING THAT
THE CITY COUNCIL ADOPT A GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT
TO AMEND AND RE -ADOPT THE 2023-2031 HOUSING
ELEMENT WITH REVISIONS INCORPORATED TO ADDRESS
HCD COMMENTS, IN COMPLIANCE WITH STATE HOUSING
ELEMENT LAW
WHEREAS, the California legislature has found that “California has a housing supply and affordability crisis of historic proportions. The consequences of failing to effectively and aggressively confront this crisis are hurting millions of Californians, robbing future generations of the chance to call California home, stifling economic opportunities for workers and businesses, worsening poverty and homelessness, and undermining the state’s environmental and climate objectives.” (Gov. Code Section 65589.5.); and
WHEREAS, the legislature has further found that “Among the consequences of those actions are discrimination against low -income and minority households, lack of housing to support employment growth, imbalance in jobs and housing, reduced mobility, urban sprawl, excessive commuting, and air quality deterioration.” (Gov. Code Section 65589.5.); and WHEREAS, the legislature recently adopted the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB 330) which states that “In 2018, California ranked 49th out of the 50 states in housing units per capita… California needs an estimated 180,000 additional homes annually to keep up with population growth, and the Governor has called for 3.5 million new homes to be built over 7 years”; and WHEREAS, State Housing Element Law (Government Code Sections 65580 et seq.) requires that the City Council adopt a Housing Element for the eight -year period 2023- 2031 to accommodate the City of Santa Clara ( City) regional housing need allocation (RHNA) of 11,632 housing units, comprised of 2,872 very -low income units, 1,653 low-income units, 1,981 moderate-income units, and 5,126 above moderate-income units; and Resolution/ Revisions to Adopted Housing Element Page 2 of 10 Rev. Rev: 11/22/17
WHEREAS, to comply with State Housing Element Law, the City of Santa Clara has prepared its Housing Element Update for the years 2023-2031 (the Housing Element) and has identified sites that can accommodate housing units meeting the City’s RHNA; and WHEREAS, as provided in Government Code Section 65350 et. seq., the Housing Element constitutes a General Plan Amendment; and
WHEREAS, as provided in Government Code Sections 65352 – 65352.5, the City of Santa Clara referred the Housing Element to all California Native American tribes on the contact list provided by the Native American Heritage Commission, to cities abutting Santa Clara’s borders and to Santa Clara County; to local school districts; to the Santa Clara Valley Water District and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission; and to other entities listed.
WHEREAS, No California Native American tribe requested consultation; and WHEREAS, State law requires that the City take meaningful steps to promote and affirmatively further fair housing (Gov. Code Section 65583(c)(5)); and WHEREAS, State law requires that the City make zoning available for all types of housing, including multifamily housing (Gov. Code Sections 65583.2 and 65583(c)); and WHEREAS, the Housing Element must be adopted to comply with State law, accommodate the RHNA, affirmatively further fair housing, and facilitate and encourage a variety of housing types for all income levels, including multifamily housing (Gov. Code Sections 65583.2 and 65583(c)); and
WHEREAS, the preparation, adoption, and implementation of the Housing Element Update requires a diligent effort to include all economic segments of the community; and WHEREAS, the City conducted extensive community outreach throughout the Housing Element Update process, including 27 meetings and activities that included community meetings/events, stakeholder workshops, meetings/interviews with residents, and City task f orce meetings and study sessions; and
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WHEREAS, in accordance with Government Code Section 65585 (b), on July 1, 2022, the City posted a Public Review Draft Housing Element and requested public comment for a 30-day review period, and on August 22, 2022, after responding to public comments, the City submitted the draft Housing Element to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for its review; and
WHEREAS, on October 12, 2022, HCD and City staff had an introductory meeting, which included an informal conversation and feedback from HCD about the City’s Initial Draft Housing Element; and
WHEREAS, on November 18, 2022, the City received a letter from HCD stating that while the draft Housing Element addresses many statutory requirements, HCD was requesting additional revisions; and
WHEREAS, on November 29, 2022, HCD and City staff had a meeting to discuss HCD’s findings letter; and
WHEREAS, on January 24, 2023, the City published a revised draft Housing Element with the changes required by HCD and requested public comment on the draft; and WHEREAS, a notice of the public hearing on the proposed General Plan Amendment was published in the Santa Clara Weekly, a newspaper of general circulation for the City, on December 11, 2022, for the January 11, 2023 Planning Commission meeting and the January 31, 2023 City Council meeting; and
WHEREAS, on January 11, 2023, the Planning Commission opened the public hearing to consider the proposed General Plan Amendment, and then continued the hearing to January 23, 2023; and
WHEREAS, on January 23, 2023, the Planning Commission opened the public hearing to consider the proposed General Plan Amendment, and then due to technical difficulties continued the hearing to January 26, 2023; and
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WHEREAS, the City has prepared an Addendum to the 2010-2035 General Plan Environmental Impact Report adopted by the City Council on November 16, 2010, and to the environmental review documents that were prepared for subsequent amendments to the General Plan that affected housing development in the City, all of which provide environmental clearance for all of the units in the 6th cycle Housing Sites Inventory; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing on January 26, 2023, at the conclusion of which, the Planning Commission determined that the proposed 6 th Cycle Housing Element would not result in any new or substantially more severe impacts than previously identified in the General Plan EIR and recommended that the City Council approve the Addendum to the 2010 - 2035 General Plan EIR prepared for the Housing Element Update; and WHEREAS, on January 26, 2023, the Planning Commission conducted a duly and properly noticed public hearing, reviewed the Housing Element and all pertinent maps, documents and exhibits, including HCD’s findings, the City’s response to HCD’s findings, the staff report and all attachments, and oral and written public comments; and
WHEREAS, on January 26, 2023, the Planning Commission adopted Resolution No. 23- 003, recommending the City Council adopt a General Plan Amendment to update the Housing Element of the General Plan for the period of 2023-2031; and
WHEREAS, on January 31, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 23-9188, adopting an Addendum to the General Plan Environmental Impact Report, for adoption of the 6 th Cycle Housing Element (2023-2031); and
WHEREAS, on January 31, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 23-9189, adopting a General Plan Amendment to update the Housing Element of the General Plan for the period of 2023-2031 to comply with State Housing Element law; and WHEREAS, on March 28, 2023, HCD provided the City its findings on the City’s Adopted Housing Element, requesting additional updates to the document, and in response, the Housing Element was further revised to address HCD’s comments; and
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WHEREAS, on April 20, 2023, HCD and City staff had a meeting to discuss HCD’s findings letter; and
WHEREAS, a notice of the public hearing on the proposed General Plan Amendment was published in the Santa Clara Weekly, a newspaper of general circulation for the City, on May 10, 2023, for the May 24, 2023 Planning Commission meeting and the June 6, 2023 City Council meeting; and
WHEREAS, on May 24, 2023, the Planning Commission opened the public hearing to consider the proposed General Plan Amendment, and then continued the hearing to June 14, 2023; and WHEREAS, on June 2, 2023, HCD and City staff had a meeting to discuss the City’s prop osed revisions to address HCDs findings letter; and
WHEREAS, on June 7, 2023, the City published a draft of the revisions to the Adopted Housing Element with the changes requested by HCD, and solicited additional public comment on the draft; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing on June 14, 2023, at the conclusion of which, the Planning Commission determined that the proposed revisions to the previously adopted 6
th Cycle Housing Element would not result in any new or substantially more severe impacts than previously identified in the General Plan EIR, as addended; and WHEREAS, there were no new policies proposed by the Housing Element Update that would generate new or substantially more significant environmental impacts; moreover, the revised inventory identified slightly fewer sites than in the Housing Element adopted in January 2023, and so any impacts are likely to be slightly reduced. As such, the General Plan EIR and Addendum remained sufficient for the environmental analysis of the proposed Housing Element; and WHEREAS, on June 14, 2023, the Planning Commission conducted a duly and properly noticed public hearing, reviewed the revisions to the previously adopted 6 th Cycle Housing Element and
all pertinent maps, documents and exhibits, including HCD’s findings, the City’s response to HCD’s findings, the staff report and all attachments, and oral and written public comments.
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WHEREAS, on June 27, 2023, the City Council conducted a duly noticed public meeting to review the revisions to the previously adopted 6th Cycle Housing Element and all pertinent maps, documents and exhibits, including HCD’s findings, the City’s response to HCD’s findings, the staff report and all attachments, and to take public testimony on the subject.
WHEREAS, on June 27, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 23 -9244 adopting a General Plan Amendment to update the Housing Element of the General Plan for t he period of 2023-2031 to comply with State Housing Element law; and WHEREAS, on September 29, 2023, HCD provided preliminary feedback and suggested minor edits to clarify certain revisions in the June 27, 2023 re-adopted Housing Element; and WHEREAS, on October 5, 2023, the City posted draft revisions to the June 27, 2023 re-adopted Housing Element and submitted those requested revisions to HCD on October 13, 2023; and WHEREAS, on October 20, 2023, HCD provided the City its findings on the Cit y’s re-adopted Housing Element, requesting additional updates to the document, and in response, the Housing Element has been further revised to address HCD’s comments; and WHEREAS, on November 16, 20233, HCD and City staff had a meeting to discuss HCD’s findings letter and the City submitted preliminary draft revisions to HCD on December 5, 2023; and WHEREAS, from January 3, 2024 through March 22, 2024, HCD and City staff met five times to discuss HCDs informal feedback on preliminary draft revisions to the re-adopted Housing Element until HCD had no remaining comments; and
WHEREAS, on March 1, 2024 , the City published a draft of the Housing Element for public comment; and
WHEREAS, on March 26, 2024, the City formally submitted draft revisions to the June 27, 2023 re-adopted Housing Element to HCD; and
WHEREAS, a notice of the public hearing on the proposed General Plan Amendment was published in the Santa Clara Weekly, a newspaper of general circulati on for the City, on March Resolution/ Revisions to Adopted Housing Element Page 7 of 10 Rev. Rev: 11/22/17
27, 2024, for the April 17, 2024 Planning Commission meeting and the May 7, 2024 City Council meeting; and
WHEREAS, on April 11, 2024, HCD provided the City its findings on the draft revisions to the City’s Adopted Housing Element, indicating that the draft Housing Element U pdate was conditionally in substantial compliance with Housing Element law; and WHEREAS, on April 17, 2024, the Planning Commission conducted a duly and properly noticed public hearing, reviewed the revisions to the previously adopted 6 th Cycle Housing Element and all pertinent maps, documents and exhibits, including HCD’s findings, the City’s response to HCD’s findings, the staff report and all attachments, and oral and written public comments.
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing on April 17, 2024, at the conclusion of which, the Planning Commission determined that the proposed revisions to the previously adopted 6
th Cycle Housing Element would not result in any new or substantially more severe impacts than previously identified in the General Plan EIR, as addended; and WHEREAS, there are no new policies proposed by the Housing Element Update that would generate new or substantially more significant environmental impacts than in the Housing Element re-adopted in June 2023. As such, the General Plan EIR and Addendum remain sufficient for the environmental analysis of the proposed Housing Element.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA AS FOLLOWS:
1. The foregoing recitals are true and correct and are incorporated by reference into this action.
2. General Plan Amendment Findings. That the Planning Commission hereby finds and determines that the General Plan Amendment is in the interest of the public good for the following reasons:
A. The proposed Amendment is deemed to be in the public interest, in that the proposed Amendment is consistent and compatible with the rest of the City’s Resolution/ Revisions to Adopted Housing Element Page 8 of 10 Rev. Rev: 11/22/17
General Plan and any implementation programs that may be affected, in that the Housing Element is consistent with the General Plan’s Land Use and Circulation policies, and does not increase development capacity under the General Plan, as amended.
B. The proposed amendment has been processed in accordance with the applicable provisions of the California Government Code and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), in that the impacts of the Housing Element are disclosed by the General Plan EIR as a ddended by subsequent amendments to the General Plan that affected housing development in the City, including but not limited to the December 2013 Climate Action Plan Negative Declaration; the February 2016 Mission Town Center EIR; the 2016 Related Santa Clara EIR; the November 2016 Lawrence Station Area Plan EIR; the July 2018 575 Benton Project Addendum; the July 2019 Gateway Crossings EIR; the March 2022 Patrick Henry Drive Specific Plan EIR; the June 2022 Climate Action Plan Addendum; and the J une 2022 Freedom Circle Future Focus Area EIR (collectively, the “Subsequent Documents”).
C. The potential impacts of the proposed General Plan Amendment have been assessed and have been determined not to be detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfar e, in that the Housing Element creates a policy framework that provides opportunities for the development of housing in the City through the year 2031. The impacts of the Housing Element have been disclosed through the CEQA process, and the Planning Commission has determined that any impacts from the Housing Element are within the scope of the General Plan EIR, as addended.
3. The Planning Commission finds , based on substantial evidence in the record, that the existing uses on sites contained within the Sites Inventory are likely to be discontinued during the Resolution/ Revisions to Adopted Housing Element Page 9 of 10 Rev. Rev: 11/22/17
planning period and therefore will not impede planned residential development and can be utilized toward demonstrating adequate sites to accommodate the RHNA during the planning period. That substantial evidence includes an analysis about the likelihood of the redevelopment of 6 th cycle Housing Element sites entitled, “Supplemental Sites Inventory Analysis”, available as Appendix C of the Draft Housing Element.
4. The Planning Commission recommends City Council approval of the revisions to the Adopted 6th Cycle Housing Element Update (2023-2031) in its entirety as provided in Attachment 1, plus any non -substantive edits or corrections made as directed by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) after their review of the revisions to the adopted 2023-2031 Housing Element or Addendum to the 2010 General Plan Update EIR. //
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Resolution/ Revisions to Adopted Housing Element Page 10 of 10 Rev. Rev: 11/22/17
5. Effective date. This resolution shall become effective immediately.
I HEREBY CERTIFY THE FOREGOING TO BE A TRUE COPY OF A RESOLUTION PASSED
AND ADOPTED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, AT A SPECIAL MEETING THEREOF HELD ON THE 17TH DAY OF APRIL, 2024, BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Vice Chair Bhatnagar, Commissioner Biagini, Chair Cherukuru, Commissioner Huang, Commissioner Bouza, Commissioner Saleme, and Commissioner Crutchlow
NOES: COMMISSIONERS:
ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS:
ABSTAINED: COMMISSIONERS:
AT TEST:
REENA BRILLIOT
ACTING DIRECTOR,
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
CITY OF SANTA CLARA
Attachments Incorporated by Reference:
1. Revised City of Santa Clara Housing Element dated April 17, 2024