TITLE
Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, adopt resolution approving the 2013-2021 Housing Element as part of the City's General Plan, authorize its submittal to the State Department of Housing and Community Development; authorize Director of Development Services to submit the adopted Housing Element to the California Coastal Commission for a finding of conformance with the Certified Local Coastal Program; and
Certify the Negative Declaration ND 03-13. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
The Housing Element is one of seven State-mandated General Plan Elements. Unlike other General Plan Elements, the Housing Element is subject to detailed statutory requirements and must be updated periodically. In addition, the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) must review the Housing Element for compliance with the applicable statutory requirements. The proposed Housing Element covers the period from 2013-2021 (Housing Element 5, or HE 5), and is an update to the Housing Element adopted in 2009 (Housing Element 4, or HE 4).
State Housing Element Law (Government Code § 65580 et seq.) requires that the Housing Element contain the following components:
· An assessment of current and future housing needs.
· An inventory and analysis of residential sites.
· A review and analysis of constraints on the production of housing.
· A set of housing programs to address the housing needs identified.
· Quantified objectives for development, rehabilitation, and conservation of housing over the Housing Element period.
A key component of the Housing Element is the identification of sites for future residential development, and evaluation of the adequacy of these sites in fulfilling the City's share of regional housing needs as determined by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). State Housing Element law requires that a local jurisdiction accommodate a share of the region's projected housing needs for the planning period. This share, called the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), is important because State law mandates that jurisdictions provide sufficient land to accommodate a variety of housing opportunities for all economic segments of the community. Compliance with this requirement is measured by the jurisdiction's ability in providing adequate land to accommodate the RHNA.
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), as the regional planning agency, is responsible for allocating the RHNA to individual jurisdictions within the six-county region, including the County of Los Angeles. The RHNA is distributed by income category based on average median income (AMI). For the 2013-2021 Housing Element update, the City of Long Beach is allocated a RHNA of 7,048 units as follows:
· Extremely Low Income (up to 30 percent of AMI): 886 units (12 percent)
· Very Low Income (31 to 50 percent of AMI): 887 units (13 percent)
· Low Income (51 to 80 percent of AMI): 1,066 units (15 percent)
· Moderate Income (81 to 120 percent of AMI): 1,170 units (17 percent)
· Above Moderate Income (more than 120 percent of AMI): 3,039 units (43 percent)
The City must ensure the availability of residential sites at adequate densities and appropriate development standards to accommodate these units. It is important to note that the RHNA is a planning goal rather than a production goal, meaning that compliance with the RHNA requires only that the City demonstrate that there are adequate sites with the appropriate allowable densities to accommodate the housing units allocated to the City.
This Housing Element update (Exhibit A) is organized into the following sections:
· A description of the community outreach effort, community comments and a response to this input (Section I and Appendix A).
· An analysis of the City's demographic, household and housing characteristics to help identify the community's housing needs (Section II).
· A review of potential market, governmental, and environmental constraints to meeting the City's identified housing needs (Section III).
· An evaluation of the land, financial, and administrative resources available to address Long Beach's housing needs (Section IV).
· A statement of the Housing Plan to address the City's identified housing needs, including housing goals, policies and programs (Section V).
· A summary of public participation, staff notes and community comments received during the public forums on the Housing Element (Appendix A).
The Housing Plan section of this Housing Element identifies policies, programs and objectives that focus on the following issues: (1) conserving and improving existing affordable housing; (2) providing adequate sites for new housing; (3) assisting in the development of affordable housing; (4) removing governmental constraints to housing development; and (5) promoting equal housing opportunities for Long Beach's population. Many of the programs included in the Housing Plan are active programs that were carried over from the previous Housing Element; several of these existing programs have been modified to reflect current conditions or to address new issues. These programs include existing City-funded efforts such as home rehabilitation loans, voucher assistance to low income households, and code enforcement efforts, among others. In addition, several new programs are included in the draft Housing Element, either as a result of a need identified, or due to new funding sources available to the City. These new programs are as follows:
· First Right of Refusal for Displaced Low Income Households
· Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH)
· Project Based Vouchers (Palace Hotel and Villages at Cabrillo)
· Neighborhood Improvement Services
· Neighborhood Resources
· Foreclosure Registry
· Adaptive Reuse
· Housing Fund
· County First Time Homebuyer Assistance
· Annual Report
Please refer to Exhibit B, which provides a summary comparison chart of the programs included in the previous Housing Element as the proposed draft Housing Element. Collectively, the programs contained in this draft Housing Element demonstrate the ability to accommodate the 7,048 units of housing allocated to the City through the RHNA process; would assist more than 3,000 households through home rehabilitation programs; and would provide nearly 7,000 housing choice vouchers to extremely low- and very low-income households.
The State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is required to review the draft Housing Element for compliance with State Law. The City submitted a first draft of the Housing Element to HCD in June 2013. HCD provided a letter to the City on August 26, 2013 that identified four compliance issues they wished the City to address (Exhibit C). Three letters from local advocacy groups were sent directly to the State HCD, dated August 1, August 2, 2013, and November 26, 2013, respectively. Copies of these letters are attached as Exhibit D.
As part of this Housing Element development, the City's public participation program included both formal and informal outreach to key stakeholders. Staff conducted three general community meetings to solicit input on housing needs, the most underserved groups in the community, and appropriate locations/types of new housing. These community meetings were held on March 23, April 24, and April 27, 2013. The community meetings were advertised on the City's website and direct invitations to the meetings were sent via emails to individuals, organizations, and agencies that had previously expressed interest in housing and community development matters in the City. The email list contains over 1,000 addresses. Comments received are documented in Appendix A of the Housing Element.
In addition, the Planning Commission conducted public study sessions on March 7 and June 20, 2013, to discuss the Housing Element and receive public comments. City staff posted the first draft of the Housing Element on its website in June 27, 2013, a revised draft on July 3, 2013, an updated draft on November 5, 2013, and the final draft on December 30, 2013. It has been available for public review and comment continuously since the end of June. In addition to the formal community workshops and study sessions, staff has held numerous individual meetings with stakeholders and interested parties since the first draft of the Housing Element was released in June 2013.
On December 5, 2013, the Planning Commission held a public hearing to consider adoption of the Housing Element. After extensive public testimony, the Planning Commission recommended the City Council adopt the Housing Element, subject to some minor revisions related to the study of rent escrow accounts and other programs to enhance rental unit habitability issues. On December 10, 2013, the City Council held a public study session and allowed public presentations from interested stakeholders. Ten stakeholder groups made presentations and provided comments. Exhibit E includes a list of the ten stakeholder groups, and a letter received from the Apartment Association, Southern California Cities, Inc.
Relevant revisions which reflect the Planning Commission's actions and the City Council's comments are included in the proposed Housing Element. City staff has discussed the collective comments extensively with HCD and included additional revisions suggested by HCD. Collectively, these changes involve strengthening commitments to timeframes for conducting certain activities, commitments to investigating new funding sources for affordable housing development, edits to underlying data including site inventory, and commitments to researching possible implementation of new programs, including, but not limited to, the rent escrow program, to enhance residential rental unit habitability concerns.
In accordance with the Guidelines for implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a Negative Declaration (ND 03-13) was prepared for this Housing Element update (Exhibit F). The Negative Declaration was made available for a 30-day public review and comment period that began on June 27, 2013, and ended on July 26, 2013. Comment letters on the Negative Declaration (Exhibit G) were received from the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Native American Heritage Commission, and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The Public Utilities Commission recommended the City add language to this Housing Element ensuring that any future development adjacent to or near railroad/light rail right-of-way is planned for safety considerations. The Native American Heritage Commission recommended certain actions be taken for any housing construction that could have substantial adverse impacts to historical resources. Caltrans recommended the City provide regional cumulative traffic analysis to mitigate potential impacts on State facilities from future projects.
In the past, the Planning Commission has certified Negative Declarations and Environmental Impact Reports even when the Planning Commission has not been the final decision maker on a particular project. However, a new Court of Appeals decision (California Clean Energy Committee v. City of San Jose) ruled that CEQA does not allow a city council to delegate certification authority to a planning commission if the council is the final decision maker on the project. The role of a planning commission in such cases would be only to make a recommendation on City Council final CEQA certification action.
On December 5, 2013, the Planning Commission approved a recommendation to the City Council to certify Negative Declaration ND 03-13, and adopt the 2013-2021 Housing Element.
A Notice of Public Hearing (Exhibit H) was published in the Press Telegram on December 19, 2013, and made available at City Hall and the Main Library.
On December 27, 2014, HCD published a letter (Exhibit I) advising that the City's Housing Element as drafted will comply with Article 10.6 of the Government Code once the City Council adopts it and staff submits it to HCD, pursuant to Section 65585(g). City Council adoption of the Housing Element will allow the City to remain on an eight year planning cycle.
This matter was reviewed by Assistant City Attorney Michael J. Mais on December 20, 2013 and by Budget Management Officer Victoria Bell on December 17, 2013.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
In order to meet statutory requirements, the City Council must adopt the Housing Element by February 12, 2014. City Council action is requested on January 7, 2014, in order to provide the City Council with adequate time to review and approve the proposed 2013-2021 Housing Element, and to provide sufficient time for staff to prepare the submission to the State Department of Housing and Community Development.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact of adopting this Housing Element is not known at this time. Since the Housing Element proposes several new policies and programs to be considered during the next planning cycle, there may be fiscal impacts to their eventual implementation. For example, if research concludes that there is a demonstrated need to consider a new approach to handling substandard building conditions, a rental escrow account program may be considered. Potential costs associated with this and other programs could be both direct (i.e., additional program staff) and indirect (i.e., services from various City departments, such as legal, accounting, billing and collections). While the backbone of the Housing Element relies on programs funded by state and federal resources, new programs may require new local funding. Program costs and revenues will need to be weighed against other City priorities at the time of each program's consideration.
BODY
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH ADOPTING AND CERTIFYING A NEGATIVE DECLARATION, AND LIKEWISE APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE HOUSING ELEMENT FOR THE CITY OF LONG BEACH (2013-2021) IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE LAW; AND AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES TO SUBMIT THE HOUSING ELEMENT TO THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND TO THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
AMY J. BODEK, AICP
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
APPROVED:
PATRICK H. WEST
CITY MANAGER