HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07212009 - D.20 (2)RECOMMENDATION(S):
1. OPEN the public hearing and receive testimony on the 2009 Housing Element Update,
2007-2014 (County File: GP#08-0005).
2. CLOSE the public hearing.
3. ADOPT a Negative Declaration of Environmental Significance that the 2009 Housing
Element Update will not result in any new significant impacts on the environment and
determine that this environmental review is adequate consideration for this General Plan
Amendment.
4. ADOPT the 2009 Housing Element Update (as recommended in County Planning
Commission Resolution No. 17-2009) as the first consolidated General Plan Amendment for
calendar year 2009, as allowed under State Planning Law, and acknowledge that this
amendment would supersede and replace text, maps, and related appendices for Chapter 6.
Housing Element contained within the Contra Costa County General Plan (2005-2020).
5. AUTHORIZE the Chair, Board of Supervisors, to sign cover transmittal letter and
APPROVE OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
Action of Board On:
07/21/2009 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:Instances that read "first consolidated General Plan Amendment" should read "SECOND General Plan
Amendment..."
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
AYE:John Gioia, District I
Supervisor
Gayle B. Uilkema, District II
Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III
Supervisor
Susan A. Bonilla, District IV
Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V
Supervisor
Contact: Patrick Roche, 335-1242
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board
of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: July 21, 2009
David J. Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
By: June McHuen, Deputy
cc:
D. 20
To:Board of Supervisors
From:Catherine Kutsuris, Conservation & Development Director
Date:July 21, 2009
Contra
Costa
County
Subject:Hearing on 2009 Housing Element Update
forward the adopted 2009 Housing Element update to the California Department of Housing
and Community Development for final review and certification.
RECOMMENDATION(S): (CONT'D)
6. DIRECT the Department of Conservation and Development to file the Notice of
Determination for the Negative Declaration on this project with the County Clerk.
7. AUTHORIZE the Department of Conservation and Development to evaluate and
report on potential opportunity sites for the establishment of higher density residential
development and/or mixed use development in suitably located unincorporated
communities and neighborhoods other than redevelopment project areas with the goal of
providing for a more equitable distribution of affordable housing opportunities, as
recommended by the County Planning Commission in Resolution No. 17-2009.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The costs for preparing the 2009 Housing Element update have already been included in
the Department of Conservation and Development’s budget. Some of the costs incurred
by the Department for the 2009 Housing Element update are reimbursable by the state.
BACKGROUND:
Each governing body (City Council or Board of Supervisors) of a local government in
California is required to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical
development of the city, city and county, or county. The Housing Element is one of the
seven mandated elements of the local General Plan. Housing Element law, enacted in
1969, mandates that local governments adequately plan to meet the existing and
projected housing needs of all economic segments of the community. The law
acknowledges that, in order for the private market to adequately address housing needs
and demand, local governments must adopt land use plans and regulatory systems which
provide opportunities for, and do not unduly constrain, housing development. As a result,
housing policy in the State rests largely upon the effective implementation of local
General Plans and, in particular, local Housing Elements. Housing Element law also
requires the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)
review local Housing Elements for compliance with State law and to report its written
findings to the local government.
The County’s current Housing Element (third revision) was adopted by the Board of
Supervisors in December 2001, and it covers the period from 1999 to 2006. The Housing
Element was subsequently included in the reconsolidation of the County General Plan in
2005. As required by State Law, cities and counties in the nine-county San Francisco Bay
Area must complete the fourth revision of their Housing Element by June 30, 2009. The
Department previously reported to the Board of Supervisors in a May 13, 2008 Board
Order which reviewed and recommended the process for 2009 Housing Element update
(statutorily mandated fourth revision).
The Housing Element has two primary purposes: (1) to provide an assessment of current
and future housing needs and an inventory of resources and constraints to meeting these
needs; and, (2) to state the County’s goals, objectives and strategies for the development
of housing to meet the identified needs, including the need for housing affordable to
lower-income households. The geographic area covered under the Housing Element is
the unincorporated area of Contra Costa County. The Housing Element update must
satisfy all State regulations and guidelines, must be internally consistent with the General
Plan, and must be submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD).
The planning period for the 2009 Housing Element update covers the period from 2007
through 2014. The 2009 Housing Element update consists of the following major
components:
• An analysis of the County’s demographic profile, housing characteristics, and existing
and future housing needs based on more current Census Data;
• A review of potential market, governmental, and environmental constraints to meeting
the County’s identified housing needs;
• An evaluation of the land, financial, and organization resources available to meet the
County’s housing need;
• An evaluation of accomplishments under the current Housing Element; and,
• The County’s five year Housing Plan to address the County’s identified housing needs
(through Yr. 2014), which sets forth housing goals, policies, and programs in seven
specific program areas (Housing and Neighborhood Conservation, Housing Production,
Special Needs Housing, Housing Affordability, Provision of Adequate Sites, Removal of
Governmental Constraints, and Promotion of Equal Housing Opportunity).
The County Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on June 23, 2009 for the
2009 Housing Element update, and adopted a resolution recommending the Board of
Supevisors approve the Housing Element update (see County Planning Resolution No.
17-2009). Prior to the June 23, 2009 County Planning Commission public hearing, the
Department submitted an initial draft of the 2009 Housing Element in late February 2009
to HCD for the purpose of initiating their mandatory review of the element. Pursuant to
State Law, HCD completed its 60-day review of the element by forwarding to the
Department a review letter on the draft element. A copy of the May 1, 2009 HCD review
letter is provided as part of the attached 6/23/2009 report to the County Planning
Commission. Overall the modifications and additions to the element requested by HCD
were generally minor in nature or easily correctable, and HCD’s initial review of the
element does not require the County to alter its proposed approach to the 2009 Housing
Element update.
The draft version of the 2009 Housing Element update presented for the Board’s
consideration, as recommended for approval by the County Planning Commission,
reflects revisions to the element in response to the 5/1/2009 HCD review letter. Enclosed
with the 6/23/2009 staff report and recommendation to the County Planning Commission
is an Errata Sheet that identifies and describes changes to the element in response to
HCD.
Also presented for the Board’s consideration is a copy of the Land Inventory – Vacant &
Underutilized Sites Analysis that was prepared in support of the 2009 Housing Element
Update. The Land Inventory is a required component to the Housing Element. Its purpose
is to identify suitable sites for residential development and to evaluate the adequacy of
these sites in fulfilling the County’s share of regional housing needs as determined by the
Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The regional housing need allocated to
the County through ABAG for this update of the Housing Element is 3508 dwelling
units, including 815 units that will be affordable to very-low income households, 598
affordable to low income households, 687 affordable to moderate income households,
and the remaining 1408 affordable to above moderate income households. As
documented in both the draft 2009 Housing Element and the accompanying Land
Inventory, Contra Costa County can meet the regional housing allocation of 3508
dwelling units within the reporting period from 2007 through 2014.
The draft version of the 2009 Housing Element presented for Board consideration
addresses several new laws affecting the Housing Element that have been enacted since
the last update in 2001. Namely, Senate Bill (S.B.) 2 came into effect in January 2008
strengthening the Housing Element law to ensure that local zoning encourages and
facilitates emergency shelters and limits the denial of emergency shelters and transitional
and supportive housing under the Housing Accountability Act. It requires that at least
one zone be identified to permit an emergency shelter without a conditional use permit or
other discretionary action, it requires that sufficient capacity be identified to
accommodate the need for emergency shelters, and it requires written and objective
standards be established for development review of emergency shelters. S.B. 2 also
requires that transitional and supportive housing shall be considered a residential use and
only subject to those restrictions that apply to other residential uses in the same zone. In
response to S.B. 2, the draft 2009 Housing Element identifies the C: General Commercial
District as the zoning district in which emergency shelters would be permitted without
conditional use permit. It is also noted that in response to the 5/1/2009 HCD review letter
the draft Housing Element now specifies a program to revise the County Zoning
Ordinance Code with the following changes:
• Amend the C: General Commercial District to permit emergency shelters by-right
(without a conditional use permit).
• Permit transitional and supportive housing as a residential use subject to only those
restrictions that apply to other residential use of the same type in the same zone.
• Include development standards and permit procedures that will facilitate the
development of single room occupancy residences.
• Allow agriculture employee housing to be permitted by-right (without a conditional use
permit) in single family zones for less than six person and in agricultural zones with no
more than 12 units or 36 beds consistent with Health and Safety Code § 17021.5 and
17021.6.
As a final matter, County Planning Commission Resolution No. 17-2009 requests that the
Board authorize the Department of Conservation and Development to evaluate and report
on potential opportunity sites for the establishment of higher density residential
development and/or mixed use development in suitably located unincorporated
communities and neighborhoods other than redevelopment project areas with the goal of
providing for a more equitable distribution of affordable housing opportunities. This
recommendation is in response to an analysis prepared by staff that examines where
affordable housing units are being provided in the unincorporated area during the
reporting period from 2007 to 2014 for the Housing Element update. As the attached
table illustrates, three-fourths of the affordable units identified for the element’s reporting
period are located within redevelopment project areas. There are concerns not only with
inequitable geographic distribution of the affordable housing units, but also whether such
a heavy concentration of the affordable housing units within redevelopment project areas
could potentially frustrate the overall economic revitalization efforts within such
communities. The County Planning Commission is recommending that upon adoption of
the Housing Element update the Department be authorized to conduct an analysis on
opportunity sites for higher residential density and/or mixed use development and report
back on the results of this analysis to the County Planning Commission and Board of
Supervisors. It is noted that the Board has previously approved a line item in the Energy
Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) for a review of the County’s Zoning
Code and General Plan to allow mixed use development within commercial zoning
districts. This line item in the EECBG program is complementary to the analysis
recommended by the County Planning Commission and might provide a partial funding
source to support such an effort.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
There could be negative consequences for Contra Costa County if an updated Housing
Element is not submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) for certification in a timely manner. These include:
(1) The County could become ineligible or non-competitive for grant funding for housing
and possibly future transportation funding; and, (2) The County could become vulnerable
to lawsuits for failure to comply with State Law mandating an update of the Housing
Element. It is noted that several jurisdictions throughout the state have been successfully
sued by housing advocates and/or the home building industry for failure to prepare a
timely updated to their Housing Element. The City of Pleasantion was recently sued by
the State Attorney General for failure to adopt and implement its Housing Element.
CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution No. 2009/348
Exhibit #1: Report and Recommendation to County Planning Commission, June 23, 2009
Attachment #1: draft 2009 Housing Element
Attachment #2: Land Inventory - Vacant & Underutilized Sites Analysis
Attachment #3: Negative Declaration/Initial Study
Attachment #4: Review of Contra Costa County's Draft Housing Element, California Department of Housing and
Community Development, letter dated May 1, 2009
Attachment #5: Errata Sheet, listing revisions to 2009 Housing Element Update in response May 1, 2009 review letter
from HCD
Exhibit #2: County Planning Commission Resolution No. 17-2009
Exhibit #3: Land Inventory Summary