REPORT TO THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
April 12, 2017
FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, Director
Development and Resource Management
BY: SOPHIA PAGOULATOS, Planning Manager
Long Range Planning Division
SUBJECT
Title
Workshop on the Housing Element Amendment
Body
RECOMMENDATION
A workshop to brief the Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC) members on the Housing Element Amendment.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Plan Amendment Application A-17-001 proposes to amend the text of Chapter 11 of the Fresno General Plan, the Housing Element Chapter, with a Housing Element Amendment. The Housing Element is the City’s policy document for meeting its housing needs, including housing affordable to low- and moderate-income households and special needs groups. Plan Amendment A-17-001 includes amendments to Chapter 1: Introduction to include more information on public outreach, Chapter 3: Land for Housing to include an additional sites inventory related to the 2008 Regional Housing Needs Allocation, and Chapter 6: Housing Plan to incorporate the above changes. The amendment also includes adding detail to Program 1: Adequate Sites; Program 2: Residential Densities on Identified Sites; Program 3: Annual Reporting Program; Program 5: Housing Funding Sources; Program 8: Homebuyer Assistance; Program 10-A: Mobile Home Parks; Program 10-B: Housing Choice Vouchers; Program 12: Downtown Development; Program 12-A: Downtown Displacement Prevention; Program 16: Large and Small Lot Development; Program 16-A: State Laws Related to Housing Development; Program 20: Comprehensive Code Enforcement; and Program 27: Equitable Communities.
BACKGROUND
The California Legislature has identified the attainment of a decent home and suitable living environment for every Californian as the state’s main housing goal. Recognizing the important part that local planning programs play in pursuit of this goal, the Legislature has mandated that all cities and counties prepare a Housing Element as part of their comprehensive general plans. The Housing Element is a mandatory General Plan element. It identifies ways in which the housing needs of existing and future residents can be met. State law requires that all cities adopt a Housing Element.
The City’s previous Housing Element covered the period 2008-2015. The City adopted its current 2015-2023 Housing Element on April 28, 2016. Plan Amendment A-17-001 is an amendment to the 2015-2023 Housing Element and will be incorporated into Chapter 11 of the Fresno General Plan. No land use changes or zone changes are proposed with this amendment (see Attachment B for the March 2017 Public Review Draft-Revised for a redline version of the amendment).
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is required to certify the City’s Housing Element. HCD provided guidance on the adopted Housing Element in a letter dated August 11, 2016, and an updated letter on November 1, 2016 (see Attachment C). Since that time, the City has worked diligently to follow the guidance provided.
Outreach
The following outreach was conducted for the Housing Element Amendment:
• December of 2016, 2 workshops and a stakeholder meeting were held. These were publicized in the following manner:
o Several radio announcements on Radio Bilingue and Hmong Radio
o Trilingual Flyers to 8 schools in the vicinity of the workshops
o Multilingual notices in the Fresno Bee and Vida en el Valle
o Emailed to 500+ stakeholders and posted on the City’s website
o Document placed in all Fresno libraries
o Phone calls to housing network leaders
• December 13, 2016 - January 13, 2017 - Public Comment Period on the December 2016 Public Draft of the Housing Element Amendment was publicized as follows:
o Multilingual notices in the Fresno Bee and Vida en el Valle
o Emailed to 500+ stakeholders and all workshop attendees
o Posted on the City’s website
o Placed in all Fresno libraries
• January 27, 2017 - January 2017 Revised Public Draft Housing Element Amendment released and distributed in the following manner:
o February 1, 2017 Workshop before the Fresno Planning Commission
o February 8, 2017 Workshop before the Housing and Community Development Commission
o Comment Matrix provided to all commentors on the December 2016 Public Draft
o Posted on the City’s website
o Placed in all Fresno libraries
o Sent to HCD for review and certification
• March 31, 2017 - March 2017 Revised Public Draft Housing Element Amendment released and distributed in the following manner:
o Multilingual notices in the Fresno Bee and Vida en el Valle
o Emailed to 500+ stakeholders and posted on the City’s website
o Radio announcements on Hmong Radio
Public Comment
Three comments letters (one signed by 27 residents) were received during the public comment period and 23 verbal comments from 10 residents were made at the workshops/stakeholder meeting held in December 2016. An additional comment letter was received on March 6, 2017. All comments were recorded in the comment matrix (attached) with responses indicating how each comment was addressed. Copies of the letters, with the exception of the March 6 letter, are contained in the Housing Element Amendment Appendix A. The March 6, 2017 letter is included with the Comment Matrix in Attachment D to this staff report.
Housing Element Amendment Summary
The City has worked diligently throughout the amendment process to satisfy comments in HCD’s comment letters. Specifically, HCD authored a letter dated August 11, 2016, and revised on November 1, 2016, providing guidance on the City’s Housing Element Amendment (see Attachment C). The changes proposed in the amendment compared to the adopted Housing Element (April 2016) can be summarized below:
Chapter 1: Introduction
This section was updated to incorporate outreach conducted for the Housing Element Amendment.
Chapter 2: Housing Needs No changes
Chapter 3: Land for Housing
This chapter was updated to revise data pertaining to unaccommodated need from the prior 4th cycle (2008-2013) Housing Element planning period. This is also sometimes referred to as the “rollover RHNA” (Regional Housing Needs Allocation). The Amendment now shows the sites inventory with two separate components: sites to meet the 2013-2023 RHNA and sites to meet the 2008-2013 RHNA. Analysis includes discussion on how the sites are in compliance with the requirements in 65583.2(h) of the Government Code. See Figures 3-1 and 3-2 in the March 2017 Public Review Draft of the Housing Element for maps depicting the sites inventories.
Chapter 4: Constraints to Housing Production No changes
Chapter 5: 2008-2013 Program Accomplishments No changes
Chapter 6: Housing Plan
Several programs were edited to reflect the adoption of the Downtown Development Code (which had not yet been adopted when the Housing Element was adopted), the revision of the sites inventories in Chapter 3, and provide additional clarification and information on various programs. Specific Program revisions are listed in Attachment E, Summary of Changes.
Attachments:
A: Area of Applicability Map
B: Housing Element Amendment March 2017 Public Review Draft
C: CA Department of Housing and Community Development Letter
D: Public Comments
E: Summary of Changes