CITY OF YUCAIPA
AGENDA REPORT
SECOND READING AND ADOPTION
Ord. No. 407 Date: 9 26 22 Item No. 9
First reading approved on 9/ 12/22
(Daze)
Waive further reading and adopt Ord. No. 407
Approved By:
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Fermin Preciado, Director of Development Services Benjamin J. Matlock, Planning Manager/City
FOR: City Council Meeting of September 12, 2022
SUBJECT: Case No. 22-063/GPA: City. of Yucaipa General Plan Housing Element Update RECOMMENDATION:
1. Approve first reading, by the title only, as read by staff, of Ordinance No. 407, amending Ordinance No. 343, amending the Official Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance as adopted by the City of Yucaipa to include the change the land use designation for a property located at the southeast corner of Oak Glen Road and Avenue E; and BACKGROUND:
The General Plan's Housing Element is the City of Yucaipa's official housing plan and serves as the chief policy document on housing -related issues. A Housing Element provides the plan and programs that focus on conserving and improving existing affordable housing; providing adequate housing sites -131-
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for all income levels; assisting in the development of affordable housing; removing constraints to housing development; and promoting equal housing opportunities.
To ensure that cities do not "overlook" their local responsibilities to provide housing opportunities for all income levels, each city is assigned a "fair share" number of housing units that it needs to be accommodated in the next housing cycle. The City of Yucaipa, along with all California cities and counties, is required to adequately plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community, and to update its plan for each housing cycle. The 4"' housing cycle update of the Housing Element was adopted by the City Council on February 23, 2009, for the 2008-2014 planning period, and the 5°i housing cycle update of the Housing Element was adopted on April 22, 2013 (Resolution No. 2013- 16), covering the 2014-2021 planning period. To correspond to the 6'1' housing cycle covering the 2021-2029 planning period, cities will need to have an updated Housing Element approved by their City Council and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
The foundation for the Housing Element is the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), in which the State estimates each region's housing needs for all income groups for the upcoming housing cycle. Section 65588 of the California Government Code dictates that local government agencies within the Souther California Association of Governments (SCAG) regional jurisdiction are to file their adopted housing element with the State update by October, 2021. As Council is aware, the delivery of housing units is a statewide priority, and the adopted RHNA reflects those concerns. The City currently has an assigned RHNA of 2,866 units, out of the 1,341,827 units delegated to the entire SCAG region, which represents a significant increase relative to the prior housing cycles. The RHNA is then separated based on four (4) income categories that the City must plan for during the planning period. The allocation is as follows:
Very Low:
708 units
Low:
493 units
Moderate:
511 units
Above Mod:
1 154 units
Total:
2,866 units
Review of the Housing Element Update Efforts:
On January 13, 2020, the City Council approved a Professional Services Agreement with PlaceWorks, a planning consultant firm, to facilitate the City's Housing Element Update. At the regular Council Meeting of January 27, 2020, PlaceWorks provided a presentation as part of a study session that helped tie together recent key legislation, and highlighted how these laws would impact the preparation of the Housing Element as the City initiated the planning process. Similar presentations were provided to the Planning Commission at their regular meeting of March 18, 2020, and to other City -based committees, such as the American Viticultural Area Planning Committee.
The basic summary is that these laws have resulted in significantly more stringent requirements for the preparation of housing elements and the associated efforts to plan for affordable housing sites that are identified in the Housing Element. This includes limitations on what can be considered a feasible site and new more rigorous requirements for the analysis to identify potential housing sites. These -132-
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changes have been required by the State as an effort to avoid creating `paper' designated affordable housing sites that feature size and development limitations which may make them infeasible to complete, but these requirements also constrain the number of sites that would have otherwise been considered in prior Housing Elements. Further, failure to achieve an HCD-compliant Housing Element or to subsequently deny projects consistent with the City's Development Code and General Plan requirements for housing may result in financial penalties, and while cities are not required to actually build the units themselves, the failure to even meet the RHNA may result in even more reductions of local control over housing projects.
Since the initiation of the Update, staff and PlaceWorks have been working on the analysis for the Housing Element update. Subsequent Study Sessions have been provided to the City Council for their review and input. This included a Study Session at the regular meeting of September 28, 2020, that offered an opportunity for Council to review and provide input on the key direction of the Update, and based on that Study Session, additional information on the different approaches was provided at a Study Session on January 11, 2021. Based on input received at these Study Sessions, another Study Session was conducted at the regular Council meeting of April 12, 2021, to help finalize the key policy initiatives and identify the planned attainable housing site areas that were needed to complete a draft of the Housing Element.
Throughout the process, outreach opportunities regarding the Update were provided, including information on the Housing Element within various press releases and on the City's website, several community surveys, presentations at different committees and groups, and information at a Planning Division booth at the 2021 Music and Arts Festival.
Prior to adoption of the City's 2021 - 2029 General Plan Housing Element, the City must first submit a draft of the element to the HCD for their review and "certification." The City must consider their findings before taking any final action to adopt it and should make any changes necessary to complete the process. Following the Planning Commission study session, the draft Housing Element was presented for City Council review at the regular meeting of City Council Meeting of August 23, 2021.
At the meeting, the City Council directed staff to submit the draft Housing Element to HCD for their review, which was completed on September 2, 2021. Since the submittal, HCD provided comments on the Housing Element for the City to incorporate before its ultimate adoption. Many of the comments included strengthening references in the Housing Element to meet state law, clarifying details of the analysis, and incorporating additional information regarding fair housing following HCD's recently released guidance on the new Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) statutes.
Staff and Placeworks have been working with HCD over the past few months to refine the document based on their input and have ultimately developed a Draft Housing Element that responds to all of the continents. As noted previously, the original adoption date required for Housing Elements would have been in October, however, the significant amount of updated state law requirements, AFFH analysis guidelines, and the overall RHNA requirements for this cycle has resulted in almost all the SCAG cities falling behind that schedule, with a majority of cities that have yet to adopt their elements. The City's efforts have been to comprehensively address the comments received from HCD as part of the adoption and certification process. Based on HCD's email from November 30, 2021, -133-
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the updated draft also provides all of the changes in a "track -changes" format for their review/concurrence following adoption of the Housing Element. With these elements, the Housing Element is being presented for adoption, as required by state law.
Planning Commission Hearing:
The updated Housing Element that was prepared following HCD's comments was presented to the Planning Commission at a public hearing during their regular meeting of May 18, 2022. The Plarming Commission found that the Housing Element maintains the City's priorities and that the updated draft addressed the comments received. Following their discussion, they recommended that the City Council adopt the Housing Element and the addendum to the General Plan EIR.
City Council Continuances:
Following the Planning Commission hearing, the City had resubmitted the proposed Housing Element draft to HCD and had requested an expedited review to receive preliminary certification findings so that the process would be complete prior to Council adoption. During that review, HCD identified a list of items that they would like to see, or additional information that would be helpful to complete the analysis of the Housing Element. These various items represented a potentially significant time and cost investment to complete, and in some cases included elements that were not necessarily applicable to the City or had limited value to the overall efforts made. As a result, the initial adoption of the Housing Element was continued, and then a series of conference calls were made with HCD staff to address each specific item in detail and to determine the best approach to meet the collective needs of the City and the state. Staff believes that the updated draft addresses all the outstanding items identified by HCD, and merely clarifies or amplifies the existing vision of the plan with no changes to the overall units or the proposed housing sites.
DISCUSSION:
As part of the adoption of the Housing Element, the following discussion is intended to provide for an overview of the key components and strategies for the Housing Element and highlight elements revised based on comments received from HCD.
Housing Element Format:
The draft 6"' cycle Housing Element has been developed to meet state law requirements and includes a background teclumical information of the City's housing -related conditions, as well as a planning housing sites inventory and associated policies and program that are ultimately designed to support safe housing options for Yucaipa residents. The chapter arrangement is as follows:
• Introduction: Provides the background and statutory requirements of the Housing Element • Housing Needs: Assesses the housing demographics and trends within the community • Constraints Analysis: Explores both governmental and nongovernmental elements which may limit or otherwise hinder the development of housing
• Housing Resources: Provides the strategies to be used by the City to meet the RHNA. -134-
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• Program Evaluation: Assesses the progress and success of the prior Housing Element. • Housing Plan: Establishes the City's housing -related goals and policies, along with the proposed programs that are designed to meet those goals.
Housing Element Sites for RHNA:
As noted in the background section of this report, one of the foundational objectives of any Housing Element is to address the RHNA. The draft Housing Element identifies two different key elements for meeting the RHNA requirements. One is the consideration of all of the previously -approved projects, including the anticipated market rates/rents for those projects, to establish a housing "pipeline" of the feasible development that will occur over the course of the upcoming housing cycle.
The Housing Element provides a list of these previously -approved projects, which effectively establishes the initial baseline of the City's anticipated progress towards the RHNA.
The second element is associated with the planning for viable housing sites. A core component of the Housing Element is providing the opportunities for new housing to occur; the RHNA allocation is not a mandate that the City ensure a certain number of units are built. In addition, the City cannot force developers to build units nor is the City required to build the units themselves. However, the City must demonstrate that there is enough land zoned at the appropriate densities that would support the residential development needed to meet the RHNA allocation and diligently mitigate potential obstacles for development.
As part of the HCD review, it was noted that the default density established by the state that qualifies for lower income units is 30 dwelling units per acre (du/ac), whereas the City's affordable density that has been established is 24 du/ac. In response, the City has added additional information regarding the affordable and attainable housing projects that had been built in the 5`i' Housing Cycle, which had ranged from 16 du/ac to 24 du/ac, to highlight that the City's proposed densities are sufficient and have been successful to meet the RHNA.
As part of developing the proposed Housing Sites inventory, an analysis of potential sites was conducted to address any impediments that would preclude the ability to develop, and includes programs to ensure that the zoning and entitlement processes would reasonably allow for such development to occur.
As part of HCD's review, additional information was requested to confirm that the proposed sites would be feasible, or to help clarify details that are needed to confirm compliance with state housing law. Additionally, certain strategies and programs previously identified were strengthened best meet the continents received. However, the core strategies and approach of the Housing Element remains the same and a summary is as follows:
1. Mobilehome Park Overlay — The Mobilehome Park 3 (MHP3) Overlay will be modified to allow the currently-pennitted 24 du/ac in a by -right process.
2. Uptown —The Uptown Business District Specific Plan would be modified to allow for the currently -permitted 24 du/ac in a by -right process. HCD had noted that a few of the potential sites featured smaller lots and/or existing development, which may pose as a constraint for -135-
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future development. Staff and Placeworks has had discussions on these sites to help better clarify the thoughts of future development, including the success already made with the senior housing project along Yucaipa Boulevard. HCD recognized that he Uptown strategy represents a small percentage of the City's total RHNA, and the strategy to allow by -right development and ultimately support the community's vision and economic potential of the area was a worthwhile endeavor. However, HCD recommended a lot consolidation program be added to help address the small sites and remove that potential constraint, which has since been incorporated.
3. Freeway Corridor — The Freeway Corridor Specific Plan currently provides for 24 dulac in a by -right process. However, based on the current infrastructure and project phasing elements, one site west of Live Oak Canyon Road and one along Outer Highway 10 are planned to be developed during this housing cycle. Future residential sites would be available in subsequent cycles, particularly after the adoption of the Freeway Corridor Specific Plan update.
4. College Village — The College Village Overlay includes provisions to permit 100 units out of the entire residential capacity in a by -right process. The College Village Guidelines that were adopted by the City Council included these provisions.
5. Commercial Corridor — Based on Council direction, an overlay district will be established for the commercial -designated sites along Yucaipa Boulevard between 14"' Street and 2nd Street to permit residential projects as either a stand-alone project or in a mixed use setting. A Development Opportunity Reserve will establish an initial baseline number of 50-100 units, which can be modified to address any potential no net loss issues that could arise through the housing cycle.
6. Oak Glen Road Sites — The City -owned parcel at the southeast corner of Avenue E and Oak Glen Road shall be rezoned to RM-24, which connects to the previously designated RM-24 site directly south. Additional efforts through a SLAG grant and the state's LEAP grant are in progress to further support development of these sites.
7. Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) — Policies and actions are included to provide encouragement to residents to build ADUs, consistent with emerging trends in the community and properly owner support based on prior surveys. Based on HCD's comments, the assumptions for ADUs have been slightly reduced. The comment letter had requested clarification with the trend of ADU development, but their basis for the continent was due to the fact that the 2021 annual report was not complete at the time of their review, which shows the progressive increase in units built referenced in the draft Element. However, to maintain compliance, the original annual assumption of units would have to be built each year, or a new strategy would need to be added. To account for any market -related changes that happen in the future, a slightly more conservative estimate was provided. Additional efforts can be included to help incentivize the development of ADUs, including development of pre - approved construction plans and allowances for smaller attached garages that can be included in the ministerial permit process.
Other Key Considerations:
Past Study Sessions have identified the importance of having a buffer within the Housing Site strategy to prevent any "no net loss" issues of the City's proposed housing sites. These "no net loss" provisions are associated with AB 166 and identify that if a Project is proposed and ultimately approved with -136-
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less units on a site than what was originally planned for in the Housing Element site inventory, the City would be required to find an alternative site within 180 days to make up the deficit. For example, a designated affordable site that is ultimately built with less units than envisioned in the Housing Element, or at the moderate -income level instead of the low-income level, would require a replacement site(s). To that end, Council provided direction for the Housing Element to include a not - to -exceed buffer of 15%, which would provide the flexibility needed to maintain the RHNA as individual projects are proposed.
Moderate and Above Moderate RFINA Housing Categories:
The State's priority with the current housing challenges is to provide housing at all income levels. As the RHNA is broken into various income categories, the City's Housing Element needs to therefore encourage housing at all income categories, which includes affordable units but also the above - moderate units and the spending power that is associated with those households. While affordable housing projects typically feature the most substantive impediments in ensuring their delivery, the Housing Element, along with the City's overall housing strategy, continues to ensure that all housing needs are met. As a general approach, the City's Multiple Residential (RM-72C and RM-10M) districts are intended to fulfill the moderate -income range, and the City's Single Residential (RS) and Rural Living (RL) districts support the above moderate -income range.
As part of the RM District, two different project types currently represent the expected housing strategy and are a part of the current "pipeline" projects. Several pending apartment projects, including those approved along 18°i Street, 0' Street, 5`t' Street, and Avenue H have expected rental rates that would qualify at the moderate -income range. The other "pipeline" projects include the detached condominium projects that have been approved. Based on the expected cost of each unit, the 3-bedroom units are projected to qualify for moderate income housing, and the 4-to-5-bedroom units are generally projected to be above moderate units, and this income percentage split has been included in the Housing Element's assessment of the pipeline and potential sites.
Above moderate -income housing projects are generally reserved to the City's single-family designated areas and include homes in the mid-$400,000 range or above. The current pipeline projects for this income category are predominately in the North Bench, but also at the Oak Glen Creek Specific Plan, including the Woodside Homes project, the Mountain Gate project along Highway 38, and along vacant areas of Wildwood Canyon Road near the eastern area of the City. In addition, other smaller infill areas spread throughout the community that feature approved tentative subdivisions also contribute to the above -moderate pipeline. Encouraging the development of higher income houses and providing opportunities for those projects to come to fruition is part of the overall housing strategy to appropriately ensure a balance of housing options and income ranges for Yucaipa's future.
Housing Element Goals, Policies, and Programs:
The Housing Element works to maintain the same fundamental goals and policies that are currently in effect, with many of the existing policy directions carried over into the proposed draft. No changes were required to the Goal and Policies following HCD's review, and the Housing Element goals are as follows:
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• GOAL HN-1: HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOOD
Neighborhoods of well -maintained housing, ample public services, open space, and infrastructure that provide quality places to live.
• GOAL HN-2: HOUSING SITES
Adequate sites through General Plan land use designations and specific plans that provide opportunities for a range in type, tenure, and affordability of housing in appropriate locations. • GOAL HN-3: HOUSING DESIGN
Well -designed housing that contributes to property values, is affordable to Yucaipa residents, is practical and cost-effective to build, and affordable to a range of income levels. • GOAL HN-4: HOUSING ASSISTANCE
Improved opportunities for moderate and low-income residents and those with special needs to affordably rent, purchase, maintain, and retain adequate housing. • GOAL HN-5: FAIR HOUSING
Promote equal and fair housing opportunities for residents of all ages, income levels, abilities, and status to reside in the type of housing best suited to their individual needs.
It should be noted that Goal HN-5 is a new goal topic intended to address the Housing Element's Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) requirements, however, many of the policies associated with this goal have been typically included within other goals and policies. The City has recognized the importance of providing safe housing for all people and continues to implement these fair housing provisions consistent with past city goals and with consideration of the AFFH provisions.
As noted previously, new AFFH guidance was developed following the completion of the initial Housing Element draft, and additional information and modifications to the proposed housing program were made to meet these requirements.
The draft Housing Element features a total of 33 different programs, which was increased by 4 following HCD's review, that are designed to support and implement the goals and policies of the Housing Element. Similar to the goals and policies, many of these programs build off the current Housing Element, and either continues successful programs or features revised elements to help better ensure success in the future and to also align with the proposed housing strategies. Further, each of the Housing Element goals are listed, which helps to best identify which programs and policies are intended to fulfill those respective goals.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The proposed Housing Element does not directly result in the development of any parcel of land. An Addendum to the 2016 Yucaipa General Plan Environmental Impact Report that addresses the changes proposed by the Housing Element has been prepared and the Planning Commission has recommended its adoption with the Housing Element. This Addendum was prepared pursuant to Section 15164 of the CEQA Guidelines. The analysis contained in the addendum demonstrates that the conditions described in Section 15162 of the Guidelines that call for preparation of a subsequent or supplemental EIR have not been met, and therefore a subsequent or supplemental EIR is not required, and that the adoption of the Ordinance would not result in impacts not originally analyzed in the 2016 General Plan EIR.
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CONCLUSION:
The proposed housing sites that have been identified in the agenda report have been developed to meet and/or exceed the total number of units that will be needed to meet the RHNA requirements, and to ultimately provide the necessary flexibility in the City's strategy. In addition, the draft Housing Element includes an adequate buffer of units of 15% as approved by Council to prevent any no net loss implications that may arise if a desired housing project proposal is submitted, but falls short of the originally anticipated units. This measure works to minimize any potential subsequent HCD review processes and separate rezoning actions that would be required to approve such a project. In addition, the draft Housing Element includes a variety of existing policies that are carried over, but which may include revisions or additional actions to encourage greater housing product variety and/or to streamline the process to ftirther support market demand, which ultimately supports the delivery of the types of new housing desired within the community. Ultimately, the City is not responsible for building houses and cannot force property owners to develop their properties, but simply makes the process easier for those owners who choose to do so.
As noted previously, this draft Housing Element has been submitted to HCD for their review and has been revised based on their comments. Adoption of the Housing Element is necessary prior to final approval by HCD, and following City Council's consideration after Planning Commission's reconunendation, the adopted Housing Element will be resubmitted to HCD for final review and certification. Based on HCD's request for the submittal of the adopted Housing Element, the document is currently shown in a "track changes" format to help highlight the changes made. HCD has 90 days to complete its final review and issue a determination whether the adopted Housing Element complies with State law. If additional substantive revisions are necessary to address HCD comments, the revised Housing Element will be presented to the City Council for re -adoption once preliminary certification has been obtained fiom HCD. However, the updated Housing Element considers all of HCDs comments and have incorporated them, and the City has resubmitted the draft to HCD and has requested an expedited review to receive preliminary certification findings. As noted previously in the agenda report, staff has had one on one meetings to discuss the final elements and ensure a smooth review process, but in light of the difficult process experienced by other agencies, the recommendation for the adoption requests the authorization and direction to the City Manager and Planning Manager/City Plarmer to make any technical or clerical revisions of clarifications to the Housing Element as may be required by HCD in order to obtain a finding of substantial compliance with State law. Once the Housing Element is formally certified, the document will be corrected to remove the "track change" format.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Housing Element Update is being funded through the S132 Grant. Subsequent implementation of programs/processes will be funded through different grant programs and the General Fund as applicable.
Attachments: ■ ",
Ordinance No. 407
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Approved by:
AL-
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ORDINANCE NO.407
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF YUCAIPA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING ORDINANCE
NO. 343, AMENDING THE OFFICIAL LAND USE PLAN
AND ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF YUCAIPA
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF YUCAIPA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. A public hearing has been held before the City Council of the City of Yucaipa (the "City"), duly noticed and conducted pursuant to the Planning and Zoning Laws of the State of California and applicable provisions of Division 3 of the Development Code as adopted by Ordinance No. 124; and the Official Land Use Plan of the City, as adopted by Ordinance No. 343, is hereby amended as provided in Section 2 herein below.
Section 2. The proposed land use designation contained on the "Official Land Use Districts Map" on file with the City, and bearing the file number Case No. 22-063/GPA, changes the Land Use District designation on a property from IN (Institutional) to RM-24 (High Density Residential) on approximately 8.2 acres at the southeast corner of Oak Glen Road and Avenue E, as shown on the attached Exhibit A.
Section 3. The City Clerk is hereby directed to cause the following summary of this ordinance to be published by two (2) insertions in the Yucaipa News Mirror, a newspaper of general circulation that is printed, published, and circulated in the City of Yucaipa, and hereby designated for that purpose by said Council of the City of Yucaipa: "Ordinance No. 407 changes the Land Use District designation on a property from IN (Institutional) to RM- 24 (High Density Residential) on approximately 8.2 acres at the southeast corner of Oak Glen Road and Avenue E as part of the Housing Element implementation." PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED on this 26'h day of September 2022.
ATTEST:
Jennifer Crawford, City Clerk
David Avila, Mayor
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Exhibit A
PROPOSED GENERAL PLAN CHANGE AREA
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