REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
April 11, 2019
FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, Director
Development and Resource Management Department
THROUGH: DAN ZACK, Assistant Director
Development and Resource Management Department
BY: SOPHIA PAGOULATOS, Planning Manager
Development and Resource Management Department
AMBER PIONA, Planner
Development and Resource Management Department
SUBJECT
Title
HEARING to obtain public comments regarding the 2018 Housing Element Annual Progress Report and accept the 2018 Housing Element Annual Progress Report
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council:
1. Hold a public hearing to obtain the views and comments from interested persons regarding the 2018 Housing Element Annual Progress Report and
2. Accept the 2018 Housing Element Annual Progress Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
California housing law requires that the City of Fresno produce a Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR) to document the City’s progress on implementing housing objectives and programs in the Housing Element. As part of implementing Program 3 of the Housing Element, the City is required to hold a public hearing on the APR. This hearing has historically occurred in front of the Housing and Community Development Commission. A hearing had been planned for a special meeting of that Commission on March 20, 2019, however, the Housing and Community Commission has had to cancel both the March 20th and March 27th meetings due to lack of a quorum. The annual progress report is submitted to the State Department of Housing and Community Development on April 1 of each year. Staff is bringing the public hearing on the 2018 Housing Element Annual Progress Report to City Council to afford the public an opportunity to provide public testimony and written comment.
BACKGROUND
In April of 2017 the City of Fresno amended the 2015-2023 Housing Element-a state-mandated planning document which provides a coordinated and comprehensive strategy for promoting the production of safe, decent and affordable housing for all community residents. Per Government Code 65400, the City is required to prepare an annual progress report on the City’s status and progress in implementing the Housing Element; the forms and tables for this report are provided by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and use of their forms is required. The Fresno 2015-2023 Housing Element has twenty eight major programs. As part of implementing Program 3 of the Housing Element, the City is required to hold a public hearing on the Housing Element Annual Progress Report.
2018 Annual Progress Report Overview
The format of the 2018 APR is different from prior years. In the fall of 2017 the California State Legislature passed a number of laws relating to housing, known collectively as the 2017 Legislative Housing Package. Two laws, AB 879 and SB 35, added new data requirements to the Annual Progress Reports that went into effect for the 2018 APR reporting period. See Exhibit A for the full 2018 Housing Element Annual Progress Report.
Table A and A2: Previous APRs reported the total number of housing units permitted (Single Family, Multi-Family, and all affordable units) during the reporting period, Tables A and A2 of the 2018 APR include significantly more information regarding housing projects throughout the development process. Table A includes information on all housing projects that were submitted for planning entitlements. Table A2 includes information on each housing project that: received planning entitlements, received building permits, and received a certificate of occupancy during the reporting period. Because it is possible for a project to go through several steps in the development process in a year (to receive a planning entitlement and a building permit for example), there is overlap between categories. A summary of these two tables has been produced for the draft 2018 APR, and the full tables are included as appendices. Maps illustrating where housing development activity has occurred in the city can be found in Exhibit D.
Table B: The City’s progress towards its Regional Housing Needs Allocation is reported in Table B. This table tracks the annual number of units that have received building permits at each income level for the Housing Element cycle.
Table C: This table is for reporting sites identified or rezoned to accommodate shortfall housing need. The City of Fresno’s Housing Sites Inventory has maintained a surplus of housing capacity in all income categories during the reporting period and therefore has not needed to identify sites to accommodate a shortfall housing need and therefore this table has been left blank.
Table D: This table provides a summary of the City’s progress on all 28 major programs in the Housing Element.
Table E: This table is for reporting projects that received a commercial development bonus. No projects applied for the commercial development bonus pursuant to Government Code 65915.7 during the reporting period and therefore this table has been left blank.
Table F: The 2015-2023 Housing Element does not include a program to accommodate a portion of its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) obligation through the rehabilitation, preservation or acquisition of units per Government Code 65583 and therefore this table has been left blank.
2018 APR Highlights
Highlights from the 2018 APR include:
• Table A2: The 40 unit Parc Grove Commons Northeast Veterans has been built and 2 Habitat for Humanity houses on N. Barcus have received building permits.
• Program 4 Density Bonus Programs: A 27 unit mixed-use project at Van Ness and Home Avenues received a density bonus for including affordable housing.
• Program 12A Downtown Displacement Prevention: The Anti-Displacement Task Force was established by City Council on November 29, 2018, and Task Force appointees were approved on January 31, 2019. The first Anti-Displacement Task Force meeting will be held in Spring 2019.
• Program 20 Comprehensive Code Enforcement: Over 80,000 rental units have been registered with the Rental Housing Registry.
Outreach
A public workshop and hearing on the APR were planned for March 20, 2019, in a special meeting in front of the Housing and Community Development Commission. Staff used a number of methods of public outreach for this meeting. This hearing was published as a display ad in English and Spanish in the Fresno Bee on March 8, 2019, and Vida en el Valle on March 13, 2019. A radio ad was placed with Hmong Radio. The hearing was advertised with fliers in English and Spanish which were posted on the City’s social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Nextdoor) on March 5, 2019, and at every mobile home park in Fresno from March 11-15, 2019. Emails were sent to the 500 person Housing stakeholders list announcing the availability of the Draft APR, the public hearing and providing a summary brochure of the Annual Report Highlights in English, Spanish and Hmong. A copy of the adopted Housing Element and 2018 APR was placed in the City Clerk’s office, the Code Enforcement public counter, in all of the public libraries in the city on March 8, 2019. At the March 20th meeting the Housing and Community Development Commission was unable to achieve a quorum and the item was continued to the March 27, 2019. The March 27, 2019, meeting of the Housing and Community Development Commission was later cancelled due to lack of a quorum.
In order to provide the public the opportunity to provide oral testimony and written comments on the 2018 Housing Element Annual Progress report, the venue for the public hearing was moved to the City Council. The meeting was noticed in the Fresno Bee on March 29, 2019, and Vida en el Valle on April 3, 2019. A radio ad was placed with Hmong Radio. The hearing was advertised with fliers in English and Spanish on the City’s social media platforms on March 28, 2019. Emails were sent to the 500 person Housing stakeholders list announcing the updated public hearing on March 29, 2019. Public outreach materials can be found in Exhibit C.
Public Comment
The public comment period for the 2018 Housing Element Annual Progress Report began on March 8, 2019, and was extended from its original end date of March 25 to April 5 to accommodate the City Council public hearing date. One comment has been received to date, from Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, see Exhibit F. The letter comments on several of the Housing Element Programs, including housing capacity and inventory tracking, outreach and partnering with housing advocates, pursuit of housing funding, special needs housing, mobile home park assistance, housing choice vouchers, large and small lot development, agricultural employee housing, code enforcement, neighborhood infrastructure, and equitable communities. Staff notes that the progress that has been made in these areas is described in Table D of the APR. The housing element is on an 8-year cycle, with the current cycle ending in 2023; there are still several more years to continue program implementation. All written public comments received by April 5, 2019, will be addressed in a comment matrix which will be forwarded as a supplement to Council prior to the hearing date.
Latest Revisions
Since the public release of the draft APR on March 8, staff has made various revisions to the document to clarify or add information. The redlined pages are included in Exhibit B.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This item is not a “project” for the purposes of CEQA Guidelines section 15378. Therefore, no analysis pursuant to CEQA is required.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not applicable because this item does not include a bid or award of a construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
N/A
Attachments
Exhibit A: 2018 Housing Element Annual Progress Report
Exhibit B: Revisions to the City of Fresno 2018 Housing Annual Progress Report
Exhibit C: Public Outreach
Exhibit D: Maps
Exhibit E: Staff Presentation
Exhibit F: Public Comment