Memorandum
As part of the 2023‐2031 Housing Element update, the City must identify adequate sites to meet our Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) of 11,966 units. To meet our RHNA, the Housing Element Sites Inventory relies heavily on sites in the Moffett Park Specific Plan (MPSP), which is currently in progress and will result in exte nsive rezoning of sites within Moffett Park for residential use.
In order for parcels to be included in the Housing Element Sites Inventory to meet our RHNA, the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) requires that the appropriate zoning be in place by the start of the Housing Elem ent planning period on January 31, 2023. Due to recently identified delays in the environmental review process, the City anticipates that MPSP will no longer be adopted by this deadline, and instead anticipates adoption later in the First Quarter 2023. As a result, MPSP sites cannot be included in the Sites Inven tory and there will be a shortfall of units in the Housing Element to meet the RHNA. Because this delay was only recently identified by staff, the information provided in this memo was not included in the RTC or in the Draft Housing Element that the Council w ill consider on June 21. Therefore, this supplemental memo provides background to modifications that will be made to the Draft Housing Element after the Council meeting, but prior to HCD review in July.
Impact on the RHNA
As shown in Table 1 below, by removing MPSP parcels from the Sites Inventory, the City will have a shortfall of 2,401 lower‐income uni
ts and 2,931 above moderate‐income units. To correct this issue, the Housing Element now must include a new Rezone Program that will acknowledge the RHNA shortfall and address how the City will meet it through the adoption of MPSP. This shift to a Re zone Program does require several significant revisions to the Draft Housing Element, which are summarized in this memorandum. These revisions will also cause significant delay in Housing Element adoption, which now must follow MPSP adoption in order to comply with CEQA regulations.
Table 1: 2023‐2031 Sites Inventory Summary of Capacity with MPSP Rezone Program Income Category Lower‐Income
Capacity
Moderate‐Income
Capacity
Above Moderate‐
Income Capacity
Total
Capacity
2023‐2031 RHNA 4,677 2,032 5,257 11,966
Pipeline Projects 511 1,101 1,719 3,331
Lawrence Station Area Plan 532 134 221 887
Downtown Specific Plan 172 60 70 302
El Camino Real Specific Plan 684 361 285 1,330
Village Centers 0 706 0 706
Additional Sites 318 254 6 578
Accessory Dwelling Units 59 85 25 170
Date: 6/17/2022
To: City Council
From: Trudi Ryan, Community Development Director
Subject: Housing Element Moffett Park Rezone Program
22-0646 Added Attachment (posted 20220617)
Memorandum
Total Capacity (no MPSP) 2,276 2,702 2,326 7,304
Surplus/Shortfall ‐2,401 670 ‐2,931 ‐4,662
MPSP Rezone Program 4,545 0 3,034 7,580
Total Capacity + MPSP 6,822 2,702 5,360 14,884
The Rezone Program
The MPSP Rezone Program will be included as a new program in Chapter 2 (“Housing Program”) of the Draft Housing Element in the coming weeks. Sites that are included in the Rezone Program to meet the lower‐income shortfall must also meet specific criteria identified by HCD. The draft prog ram language below shows how the Rezone Program will ensure that lower‐income shortfall sites meet these criteria:
Rezone Program. As of the start of the planning period (January 31, 2023), the City has an unmet RHNA of 2,401 lower‐income and 2,931 above moderate‐income units. The City shall approve a sp
ecific plan for the Moffett Park area to accommodate the City’s RHNA shortfall by January 31, 2024, and shall ensure that sites rezoned to meet the City’s unmet lower‐income RHNA meet the following criteria:
Permit owner‐occupied and rental multifamily uses by right pursuant to Gove rnment Code section 65583.2(i) for developments in which 20 percent or more of the units are affordable to lower income households
Accommodate at least 50 percent of the lower‐income RHNA shortfall on parcels designated exclusively for residential uses.
Allow for densities of at least 30 dwelling units per ac re, with a minimum density of 20 dwelling units per acre
Have existing or planned water, sewer, and dry utilities. Objective: Rezone sufficient land to accommodate the RHNA shortfall of 2,401 lower‐ income units.
Policy(ies) Implements: H‐1.1
Timeframe: January 31, 2024
Responsible Department or Ag ency: Community Development Department, Housing Division
Please note that these criteria will only apply to the sites that will meet the 2,401 unit lower‐income shortfall; they do not apply to other sites in the Rezone Program or in the Sites Inventory. Based on current MPSP land use plans, the City w
ill be able to meet these criteria for the lower‐income shortfall units without issue. The requirement to permit by‐right residential uses for developments with 20% or more lower‐income units is a significant modification. However, the City does not anticipate that 22-0646 Added Attachment (posted 20220617)
Memorandum
developments in sites that are selected to meet the lower‐income shortfall will meet this 20% lower‐ income unit threshold, which results in very limited risk for the City.
Other Impacts on the Draft Housing Element
The Rezone Program will require several new additional revisions to the Draft Housing Element. As stated earlier
, these changes are not shown in the current public draft Housing Element in the City Council’s agenda packet, but will be made prior to submitting the document to HCD in July. A summary of these revisions is below:
Chapter 5: Sites Inventory
o Summary of Capacity (pg 5‐72) will ide ntify a shortfall of lower‐income and above moderate‐income units.
o MPSP component will be moved from Section 5.2 “Residential Sites Inventory” to a separate section following the Summary of Capacity.
o MPSP component will still include maps and identify sites, but these will be referenced as “proposed” or “candida te” sites for the Rezone Program. o MPSP component will refer to the Rezone Program and identify how the City will meet the RHNA as shown in Table 1 above.
Chapter 6: Constraints
o Minor revisions will be made to the MPSP discussion (page 6‐14) to reflect changes in antici
pated adoption date of MPSP and future updates to this section.
Although the shift to an MPSP Rezone Program does require additional revisions to the Draft Housing Element, the program will enable the City to meet our RHNA and obtain HCD certification. To prevent delay in certification, staff recomme nds that the aforementioned revisions be made prior to the planned submission to HCD in July for their initial review, which is identified in the staff recommendation found in the RTC. This will provide ample time for HCD to review and allow the City to address any comments on the Rez one Program later this year.
Staff is happy to answer any questions during the public hearing on June 21. 22-0646 Added Attachment (posted 20220617)