CITY COUNCIL: Resolution Adopting Updated Housing Element of the General Plan & Negative Declaration

Meeting Date: 13 July 2010
Prepared by: Sean Conroy,Plng & Bldg Services Manager

City Council
Agenda Item Summary

Name: Consideration of a Resolution adopting the updated Housing Element of the General Plan and a Negative Declaration.

Description: The Housing Element is designed to: identify adequate sites for a range of housing opportunities; facilitate the development of adequate and affordable housing; address constraints to meeting the City’s housing needs; and conserve and improve the condition of the City’s existing housing stock and remote housing opportunities for all persons.

Overall Cost:
City Funds: N/A
Grant Funds: N/A

Staff Recommendation: Adopt the Resolution.

Important Considerations: This project consists of an update to the Housing Element. State law mandates that each jurisdiction create and maintain a Housing Element and that it be regularly updated. On 8 February 2010, the State Office of Housing and Community Development (HCD) determined that the proposed Housing Element complies with State law.

Decision Record: The Planning Commission recommended that the Council adopt the Housing Element and Negative Declaration on 15 June 2010.

Attachments:
• Housing Element Update (under separate cover).
• Initial Study/Negative Declaration (under separate cover).
• Summary of requested changes by HCD.
• Letter from HCD.

Reviewed by:

__________________________ _____________________
Rich Guillen, City Administrator Date

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY PLANNING AND BUILDING
STAFF REPORT
TO: MAYOR MCCLOUD AND COUNCIL MEMBERS
FROM: SEAN CONROY, PLNG & BLDG SERVICES MANAGER
THROUGH: RICH GUILLEN, CITY ADMINISTRATOR
DATE: 13 JULY 2010
SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE UPDATED HOUSING ELEMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN AND A NEGATIVE DECLARATION

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND
The General Plan is a long-term policy document that guides decisions of the City Council, all commissions, boards and staff. The General Plan is currently divided into nine elements. These elements include: Land Use; Circulation; Housing; Coastal Access/Recreation; Coastal Resource Management; Public Facilities; Open Space and Conservation, Environmental Safety, and Noise.

This project consists of an update of the Housing Element. State law mandates that each jurisdiction develops and maintains a Housing Element and that it be regularly updated, typically every five to seven years. The Housing Element is intended to meet the following objectives:

1. Identify adequate sites for a range of housing opportunities;
2. Facilitate the development of adequate and affordable housing;
3. Address constraints to meeting the City’s housing needs;
4. Conserve and improve the condition of the City’s existing housing stock; and
5. Promote housing opportunities for all persons.

PROCESS
Adoption of the updated Housing Element requires the following steps:
1) Planning Commission review of the draft. On 10 June 2009, the Planning
Commission commented on the draft Housing Element and forwarded the draft to the City Council.

2) City Council review of the draft. The City Council reviewed the draft Housing Element on 7 July 2009 and forwarded it to State Office of Housing and Community Development (HCD), as written.

3) HCD Review. The City forwarded the draft Housing Element to HCD on 9 July 2009. Subsequently, the City and HCD had several discussions regarding the content of the Housing Element. The City made several changes to address comments from HCD, which are summarized in Attachment “A”. On 8 February 2010, the City received a letter from HCD indicating that the Housing Element is now in compliance with State Housing Element Law (Attachment “B”).

4) Final Planning Commission Review. On 15 June 2010, the Planning Commission recommended that the City Council adopt the updated Housing Element and the Negative Declaration.

5) City Council Adoption. This hearing is to allow the City Council to review the final draft of the Housing Element and the Negative Declaration. If the Council supports the final draft, a resolution should be adopted approving the project and the Negative Declaration.

6) Final Transmittal to HCD. Once the project is adopted by the Council, it will be transmitted to HCD for its final determination.

Staff notes that any significant changes made at this point in the process will require additional review by HCD and may result in a significant delay in adoption.

EVALUATION
CEQA: The City prepared the attached Initial Study (IS) for the project. The IS and Negative Declaration (ND) were circulated from April 26-May 26, 2010. One comment was received (Attachment “C”). Based on the findings of the IS, the project will not result in any significant environmental impacts. Adoption of an ND, therefore, is recommended.

The Housing Element is divided into the following sections:
Section 1 – Introduction: This section provides an introduction of what a Housing Element should be, how it should be used, and how it relates to state housing law.

No changes to this section were made since it was last reviewed by the Planning Commission.

Section 2 – Housing Development Resources: This section describes and analyzes the resources available to the City for the development, rehabilitation and preservation of housing in the City. Each planning period (generally five to seven years) the City is assigned a Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), which identifies the City’s fair share of the projected housing need for the region.

For the planning period of 2007-2014, the City of Carmel’s RHNA is 32 new housing units, 16 of which should be reserved for low, very low, or extremely low-income occupants (see Table 2-1). The City is not required to construct these units itself, but must facilitate the production of these units through the various policies and programs contained in the Housing Element. During this planning period, several units were constructed and or permitted. This adjusts the City’s RHNA to only seven units.

Some changes were made to this section at the request of HCD. The changes included additional information on the Trevvett Court senior housing project, potential residential development sites, and on the City’s Green Building program.

Section 3 – Goals, Policies & Programs:
This section defines the City’s goals and policies, and the programs required to implement these goals and policies. The existing Housing Element contains a section dedicated to the goals, objectives and polices of the plan, followed by a section dedicated to programs implementing the identified goals. To streamline the updated Element and to create a more user-friendly document, these sections were combined. The majority of the
existing goals, objectives and polices were carried over to the updated draft.

Some changes were made to this section to either add additional policies and programs or clarify existing policies and programs. These changes were the primary focus of HCD’s review.

Appendices: The appendices provide background and supporting information for the Housing Element and information required by HCD, including a housing needs assessment, constraints on housing production, past housing program accomplishments, the Housing Element Workshop summary, and a glossary of terms.

Some changes were made to Appendix “A” (Housing Needs Assessment) and Appendix “B” (Constraints on Housing Production) to provide additional information, as requested by HCD.

Summary: The proposed Housing Element adequately addresses the primary objectives of: 1) identifying adequate sites; 2) facilitating the development of affordable housing; 3) addressing housing constraints; 4) conserving and improving the existing housing stock; and promoting housing opportunities for all people. The updated Housing Element now complies with State housing laws and is supported by HCD.

RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a Resolution adopting the updated Housing Element and a Negative Declaration.

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION 2010-
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA ADOPTING THE UPDATED HOUSING ELEMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN AND A NEGATIVE DECLARATION

WHEREAS, the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea is a unique oceanside community that prides itself on its community character and environmental resources; and

WHEREAS, State law requires the City to prepare and maintain a Housing Element; and

WHEREAS, the Housing Element establishes Goals, Policies and Programs to address the housing needs of the community; and

WHEREAS, on 2 February 2010, the State Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) determined that the City’s updated Housing Element complies with state housing law; and

WHEREAS, the City prepared an Initial Study/Negative Declaration for this project and determined that no significant environmental impacts would result; and

WHEREAS, on 15 June 2010, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended
adoption of the updated Housing Element and Negative Declaration to the City Council.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA does hereby:
1. Adopt the attached updated Housing Element.

2. Adopt the attached Negative Declaration for the project.

PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA this 13th day of July 2010 by the following roll call vote:

AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS:

SIGNED,

________________________
SUE McCLOUD, MAYOR

ATTEST:

_______________________
Heidi Burch, City Clerk