COUNTY OF SONOMA PERMIT AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT 2550 Ventura Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA (707) FAX (707)

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1 COUNTY OF SONOMA PERMIT AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT 2550 Ventura Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA (707) FAX (707) MEMO Date:, 1:05 p.m. To: Sonoma County Planning Commission From: Jane Riley, Project Planner Subject: Public Hearing on the 2014 Draft Housing Element Attached for your Commission s consideration is the 2014 Draft Housing Element and Subsequent Negative Declaration. As your Commission is aware, the County has been in the process of updating its General Plan Housing Element for over a year and has conducted an extensive public outreach program that has included the following public meetings: 1. A joint public workshop with the county, each of its cities, and the state s Housing and Community Development (HCD) staff was held on July 10, 2013 to kick off the Housing Element Update process. The first half of the workshop was focused on the Housing Element update process, and featured a presentation and a question & answer session with HCD staff. The second half of the workshop involved the broader public, and introduced key staff and stakeholders involved in the update process. Issues were identified to be addressed in the Housing Element Updates. 2. A Planning Agency meeting was held on August 29, 2013 to introduce the Housing Element update process, schedule, and opportunities for public input. 3. A second public workshop was held on February 13, 2014 to review and receive input on the technical data collected to date, and to brainstorm ideas for new policies to address housing needs. 4. Based on input received to date, the Draft Housing Strategy (a compilation of the proposed housing element goals, policies, objectives and programs) was published on April 15, 2014, with a May 2nd deadline for public comment. 5. A third public workshop was held on April 28, 2014 to solicit input on the Draft Housing Strategy. The Draft sites inventory and maps were also presented and reviewed at this workshop. 6. The 2014 Draft Housing Element and Subsequent Negative Declaration were released for public comment on May 15, 2014, with a public comment period through this (June 5) Planning Commission meeting. Throughout the process of preparing the 2014 Housing Element Update, there have been ongoing technical consultations among County staff, service providers, nonprofit groups, other local jurisdictions, and various advocacy groups regarding housing needs and data available to be used in the Element. Newspaper display ads, a mailing list of interested parties, and an extensive ing list have been used to notify interested members of the public and to solicit input. A 2014 Housing Element Update website was also developed. This website has been continually updated and is used to provide information related to housing elements, including links to workshop materials, questionnaires in both English and Spanish, upcoming meetings and workshops, draft materials for public review. See

2 Following today s public hearing on the Draft Housing Element and Subsequent Negative Declaration, the Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors and a public hearing will be held before the Board of Supervisors (tentatively scheduled for August 2014) to review the Draft Element and the recommendations of the Planning Commission. The 2014 Draft Housing Element, incorporating any revisions made by the Board of Supervisors, will then be transmitted to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for their compliance review. Any revisions to the Element requested by HCD will be returned to the Board of Supervisors for its consideration prior to final adoption. State law mandates that local agencies adopt updated Housing Elements before the end of HCD Streamlined Review Communities that obtained certification of their Housing Elements by the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) in the last planning cycle ( ) and completed all of the basic program implementation are eligible for streamlined review of their Housing Elements by HCD for this planning cycle. Streamlined review means that HCD will focus their review only on changes in the Housing Element since the last cycle. The streamlined review is designed to reduce the number and scope of housing element submittals to HCD and reduce the iterative process of editing, revising, and submitting the Draft Housing Element to HCD prior to adoption. Because one of the requirements for streamlined review is submittal of a Housing Element showing all changes since the last Housing Element, a separate attachment for s is available at the end of this staff report. In this document, legislative style revision marking is used where text has been amended, and yellow highlighting of a subsection title is used when the entire subsection has been rewritten. Because the entire Technical Background Report (TBR) that comprises Section 4 has been updated to reflect the most recently available data, it is not shown as changed text. The Housing Element is an important tool for decision makers. Specifically, the Housing Element sets forth how the County will address the housing needs for all economic segments of the community, focusing especially on low- and moderate-income families and special needs families and individuals. The Housing Element identifies housing needs, including the County s fair share of the regional housing need; establishes goals and quantified objectives; evaluates constraints to the production of housing; inventories available sites; and establishes programs and policies to meet the identified needs. It also provides housing-related data and information to the public on housing in the County. Organization of the Housing Element The Housing Element is organized into four sections: Section 1 provides an introduction to the overall Housing Element update effort, as well as a review of the effectiveness of the 2009 Housing Element and the County's progress in its implementation. Section 2 sets forth the County's Housing Goals, Objectives, Policies and Action Programs. The County's Quantified Objectives are also included in Section 2. Section 3 presents a detailed housing site inventory and compares this inventory to the County's projected housing needs. Section 4 provides the Technical Background Report, which includes statutorily required data; an assessment of housing needs and programs; an analysis of non-governmental and

3 governmental constraints to affordable housing provision; and a discussion of special needs populations. Program Changes in the 2014 Housing Element Update The 2014 Housing Element update is not a comprehensive "new" housing element, but rather an update of the 2009 Housing Element. The focus of the update process has been to "keep what works, and fix what doesn't." The same six goals and many of the objectives of the existing 2009 Housing Element have been maintained, with new additional policies and programs proposed to meet changing needs. Most ongoing policies and programs were highly successful and are continued in the Housing Element update. Limited-term programs that were accomplished have not been carried forward and are shown to be deleted. The 2014 Housing Element updates housing numbers related to RHNA, outlines public participation, lists goals achieved since 2009, and makes limited changes in programs that do not commit the County to any land use changes. A brief summary of the proposed policy recommendations, changes and additions are listed by Goal below: Goal 1: Sustain Existing Affordable Housing Programs and Affordable Units 1. Existing programs work well and should be retained, affordable rental units at risk of converting to market rate should be retained, 3. SB 510 (mobilehome park conversions and resident support requirements) should be implemented to protect park residents, 4. The existing Vacation Rental program should be reviewed to determine if revisions are needed to limit the conversion of housing stock. Goal 2: Promote the Use of Available Sites for Affordable Housing Construction and Provide Adequate Infrastructure 1. Better promote sites in housing inventory and provide more info to developers, 2. The existing Vacation Rental program should be reviewed to determine if revisions are needed to avoid the loss of urban residential lands, 3. Include infrastructure needs analysis for Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities (DUCs) and Roseland in the Land Use Element (not a part of Housing Element). Goal 3: Promote Production of Affordable Housing Units 1. Consider new shared and community housing models, 2. Review the Growth Management programs for obsolescence, 3. Promote safety in group homes and congregate housing, 4. Review the potential use of park model homes for long-term occupancy, 5. Consider the use of standards other than Level-of-Service ( LOS ) for assessing potential traffic impacts, 6. Consider Special Occupancy Parks for year-round use with X Combining Zone. Goal 4: Continue to Provide Funding for Affordable Housing 1. Continue County Fund for Housing, which has provided over $10 million to date, 2. Coordinate with other departments and agencies when impact fees are updated to evaluate impacts relative to household size and consider a tiered fee structure,

4 3. New annual commitment from Reinvestment and Revitalization (R&R) funds to replace Redevelopment funds. Goal 5: Promote Production of Housing Units for Special Needs 1. Continue to permit transitional and permanent supportive housing on all residential lands, 2. Continue to allow small homeless shelters as permitted uses in C3, LC and M1 Zones, 3. Continue to allow emergency shelters as a permitted use in M1 and PF zones, 4. New models of shared & community housing to be explored, 5. Continue quantified objectives for special needs. Goal 6: Improve Conservation of Energy and Natural Resources 1. Better encourage the use of alternative building materials such as straw bale, rammed earth and other energy-efficient construction methods, 2. Continue to develop and promote green building and energy conservation measures, 3. Consider a pilot program to develop and monitor different types of small, energy-efficient structures that can house people. A program-by-program listing of the County s status in implementing each program in its 2009 Housing Element is provided in Table 1-2, 2009 Housing Program Evaluation at the end of Section I in the attached Draft 2014 Housing Element. Quantified Objectives State law requires that the Housing Element address the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) and that each agency adopt Quantified Objectives to meet the housing needs of all economic segments of the community. The RHNA for the current ( ) housing element period is consistent with Smart Growth principles and the County s city-centered growth policies, and the Quantified Objectives in the new Housing Element are equal to the RHNA in terms of the number of units to be produced within the planning period. These include 220 units affordable to extremely-low and very-low income households, 172 units affordable to low-income households, 160 units affordable to moderate-income households, and 429 units affordable to above-moderate income households. Additionally, the County has made a concerted effort to include a wide variety of special housing needs options within its Quantified Objectives in this new Element. The dire need for housing to meet a variety of special needs is outlined in the County s10-year Homeless Action Plan, which, for example, calls for over 150 shelter, transitional, and Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) beds in the Russian River area alone. Many of these special needs forms of housing are not considered to be units under census definitions, and thus do not count towards achievement of the RHNA. Nonetheless, they are a vital part of the housing solution in this County and are thus included as Shared Housing objectives (see discussion and Quantified Objectives Tables at end of Section 2). Therefore, in addition to the units included in the Quantified Objectives above, the County will strive to produce sufficient non-unit housing types to help address the identified needs of homeless families and individuals, the elderly, the disabled, farmworkers, non-farm migrant workers, and those making the transition from homelessness. These shared housing types are expected to include homeless shelters beds, transitional housing beds, beds within group homes and community care facilities, farmworker housing bunks, and single-room occupancy (SRO) units without individual kitchen facilities. The shared housing objectives can be found in Table 2-5, and include 150 beds for

5 extremely-low and 30 beds for very-low income households, in addition to the units shown in the regular Table 2.4 Quantified Objectives. Housing Site Inventory Pursuant to state law, the inventory of housing sites provided in Section 3 contains both a detailed land inventory and a general analysis. The inventory includes an estimated listing of rural housing sites and a site-specific listing of urban properties available for housing production. The listing of urban sites includes Assessor Parcel Numbers (APNs), along with the Zoning and General Plan designation, sizes and existing uses of each of the identified sites. All sites in the inventory listings have or are planned to have sufficient infrastructure to serve planned residential construction within the planning period. To supplement the site-specific inventory, a general analysis of environmental constraints is set forth in Section 3.6. Additional information regarding the availability of sewer and water for each of the urban service areas represented in the inventory is included in Section 3.7. The site inventory is broken into three general categories: (1) urban residential sites; (2) commercial and industrial sites which allow residential uses; and (3) rural sites. The inventory of urban residential sites shows that there are sufficient sites available with appropriate zoning to accommodate 2,963 new residential units, including 1,570 new units accommodated by-right on urban sites zoned exclusively for housing. Commercial and industrial sites offer opportunities for further residential development of 1,393 new housing units, including mixed use, work live and single room occupancy (SRO) units as shown in Table 3-1. The rural housing site inventory provides for approximately 2000 units, as described in Section 3.4. Table 3-1: Urban Sites with Appropriate Zoning to Address Housing Needs Type of Housing Number of Sites Potential (net) New Units Urban Residential Totals Single Family Ownership (Type C) Multi Family Rental (Type A) Commercial & Industrial Allowing Residential Totals Mixed-Use (Office or Retail + Residential) Work-Live (Industrial Lofts) Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Affordable Housing Combining Zone (AH) Totals for urban sites 136 2,963 The County s full RHNA for very-low, low-, and moderate-income households can be accommodated on existing urban residential, urban commercial, and urban industrial sites; no rezoning of sites is required. Because the County has adopted minimum residential density standards for all Urban Residential zoning designations, the density calculation for these sites utilizes the established minimum density, pursuant to state law. Realistic potential densities are based on the County's experience with its by-right Type A and Type C programs, which double the minimum densities. Additional units affordable to lower- and moderate-income households can be accommodated in second dwelling units, farm-family and farmworker housing in rural areas. Units for above-moderate

6 income households can be accommodated on rural parcels located outside of urban service areas, and are not required to be included within the parcel-specific sites inventory. While no rezoning of sites will be required to meet the adequate sites test under state law, the County will continue to promote the use of all appropriate sites as potential affordable housing sites. Programs are included in Section 2 to enhance and expand the use of urban sites for affordable housing, including expanding the Affordable Housing Combining Zone (-AH) program to include more urban sites close to transit and considering using sites adjacent to urban service areas for affordable and farmworker housing. Ongoing Programs to expand the opportunities for affordable housing on rural sites, such as second dwelling units and farmworker bunkhouses are also included. These programs reflect the County s practice to first consider every site as a potential affordable housing site. Updated Housing Needs The Sonoma County Housing Element Technical Background Report (TBR) is contained in Section 4 of the Draft 2014 Housing Element. Pursuant to the California Government Code, Section 4 sets forth the most recent information available regarding the demographic and economic conditions in the unincorporated County, as well as local trends in housing development and the conditions of the existing housing stock. Much of the data contained within the TBR was presented and reviewed at the second public workshop in February The data collected for this effort provided the foundation for the evaluation of the County's housing programs and production efforts by providing a rich source of demographic and housing-related data specific to the unincorporated County. General Plan Consistency The proposed 2014 Housing Element is consistent with the Land Use Element and other elements of the County's General Plan. The 2014 Housing Element reflects existing land use policy, and would not change the location, character, timing or amount of new development planned for the unincorporated area. It is consistent with the Land Use Element, as no changes in land use or land use densities are proposed. It provides consistency with the Open Space and Resource Conservation Element by encouraging housing development to be more energy-efficient, and it recognizes the constraints and importance of city-centered growth by focusing on urban sites. This focus on urban lands for future development is also consistent with the Agricultural Resources and Water Resources Elements. The focus on higher-density sites located close to transit provides consistency with the Circulation and Transit Element. The proposed 2014 Housing Element is in harmony with the balance of the General Plan. California Environmental Quality Act The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Sections through set forth the criteria for determining the appropriate additional environmental documentation, if any, to be completed when there is a previously adopted Negative Declaration covering the project for which a subsequent discretionary action is required. Staff prepared this Subsequent Negative Declaration (SND) to the previously adopted Negative Declaration prepared for the 2009 Housing Element. This SND is governed by Section (a) of the CEQA Guidelines. RECOMMENDED ACTION Staff recommends that the Planning Commission hold a public hearing on the Draft Housing Element, and adopt the attached Resolution recommending to the Board of Supervisors adoption of the Subsequent Negative Declaration and approval of the 2014Housing Element.

7 List of Attachments EXHIBIT A: EXHIBIT B: Draft 2014 Housing Element Update Draft Planning Commission Resolution Separate Attachments for s: Legislative style revision markings of Draft Housing Element Sections 1-3, showing changes since the 2009 Housing Element; and Subsequent Negative Declaration based on Initial Study dated May 12, 2014

8 Resolution Number County of Sonoma Santa Rosa, California Jane Riley RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION, COUNTY OF SONOMA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING THAT THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ADOPT A SUBSEQUENT NEGATIVE DECLARATION AND ADOPT THE DRAFT 2014 HOUSING ELEMENT OF THE SONOMA COUNTY GENERAL PLAN FOR SUBMISSION TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOR COMPLIANCE REVIEW AND CERTIFICATION WHEREAS, California law requires each county to prepare and adopt a Housing Element of the General Plan, and to update the Housing Element on a regular basis; and WHEREAS, Section of the California Government Code requires the fifth revision of the County s Housing Element to be adopted by December 31, 2014; and WHEREAS, The County held a series of public workshops as follows: (1) A joint public workshop with the county and its cities was held on July 10, 2013 to kick off the Housing Element Update process and to identify key issues to be covered in the Update; (2) A second public workshop was held on February 13, 2014 to review and receive input on the technical data collected to date, and to brainstorm ideas for new policies to address new or changed housing needs related to each of the six major housing goals; and (3) A third public workshop was held on April 28, 2014 to review and take comment on the initial housing site inventory, and to take input on the Draft Housing Strategy which sets forth the Housing Element's six major housing goals along with objectives, policies and programs; and WHEREAS, following the three public workshops and consideration of the recommended changes staff prepared a Draft Housing Element, which was made available for public review and comment on May 15, 2014; and WHEREAS, Staff prepared a Subsequent Negative Declaration for the Draft Housing Element, according to CEQA Guidelines, based on an Initial Study dated May 12, 2014 and made available on May 15, 2014 for public review; and WHEREAS, a Notice of the County s intent to adopt the Subsequent Negative Declaration was published on May 15, 2014; and WHEREAS, in accordance with the provisions of law, on, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Subsequent Negative Declaration and the Draft Housing Element, at which all interested persons were given an opportunity to be heard; and

9 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Planning Commission recommends that the Board of Supervisors adopt the Subsequent Negative Declaration dated May 15, 2014 and the 2014 Draft Housing Element for submission to the State Department of Housing and Community Development for review and certification. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Planning Commission finds: 1. That the Subsequent Negative Declaration has been completed, reviewed, and considered, together with comments received during the public review process, in compliance with CEQA State and County guidelines. 2. That the Subsequent Negative Declaration reflects the independent judgment of the Planning Commission. 3. That the Draft Housing Element complies with all applicable provisions of California law governing Housing Element content; and 4. That the Draft Housing Element is consistent with the goals, policies and objectives of other General Plan elements, and with the land use maps of the Land Use Element. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Planning Commission designates the Secretary of the Planning Commission as the custodian of the documents and other material which constitute the record of proceedings upon which the decision herein is based. These documents may be found at the Permit and Resource Management Department, 2550 Ventura Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA THE FOREGOING RESOLUTION was introduced by, who moved its adoption, seconded by, and adopted on roll call by the following vote: Ayes: Noes: Absent: Abstain: WHEREUPON, the Chair declared the above and foregoing Resolution duly adopted; and SO ORDERED.