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Recommendation to determine that the project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15305 (Class 5 - Minor Alterations to Land Use Limitations) of the CEQA Guidelines and none of the exceptions in 15300.2 apply, and that it is further exempt pursuant to Section 15308 (Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment) and Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption), as it will not result directly or indirectly in significant environmental impacts (CE20-090);
Declare ordinance amending Title 21, Zoning Regulations (Zoning Code), of the Long Beach Municipal Code to add Chapter 21.61 (Maintenance of Low Income Housing in the Coastal Zone) to limit exceptions to the requirements to replace affordable units and to increase the in-lieu fees for Coastal Zone areas of Long Beach, read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading; and
DISCUSSION
In 2014, the City Council adopted the current 2014-2021 General Plan Housing Element. The document identifies several actions to be completed during the 2014-2021 period including Program 4.4 related to Affordable Housing Funding Opportunities. One of the actions involves an update to the Coastal In-Lieu Fees that developers are required to pay if a lower-income unit is demolished within the Coastal Zone. Along with the updating of the fees to reflect current market costs, this action will remove a one- to two-unit exemption from the fee requirements that is no longer consistent with State law and best practices.
In 1981, the California legislature enacted Government Code Section 65590, the Mello Act, which prohibits the demolition of lower-income housing units within the Coastal Zone unless a provision is made for those units to be rebuilt onsite or within a certain distance or to be replaced through the payment of in-lieu fees. Between 1981 and 2014, the City of Long Beach (City) received over $2...
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