HomeMy WebLinkAboutGPA 11-04; Housing Element Program 2.1; General Plan Amendment (GPA)The City of Carlsbad Planning Division
A REPORT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION
Item No.
P.C. AGENDA OF: July 6, 2011
Application complete date: N/A
Project Planner: Scott Donnell
Project Engineer: N/A
SUBJECT: GPA 11-04 - HOUSING ELEMENT PROGRAM 2.1 - Request for a
recommendation of approval of an Addendum to the previously adopted
Mitigated Negative Declaration and a General Plan Amendment to make minor
changes to the time frames of 2005-2010 Housing Element Program 2.1.
I. RECOMMENDATION
That the Planning Commission 1) ADOPT Planning Commission Resolution No. 6787
RECOMMENDING APPROVAL of an Addendum to the adopted Mitigated Negative
Declaration for the 2005-2010 Housing Element, and 2) ADOPT Planning Commission
Resolution No. 6779 RECOMMENDING APPROVAL of General Plan Amendment GPA 11-
04 based on the findings contained therein.
II.INTRODUCTION
On April 26, 2011, the City Council passed Resolution 2011-068, declaring its intention to
update the completion dates listed in the "Objectives and Time Frame" section of Housing
Element Program 2.1 and directing the Planning Director to study the same. Program 2.1,
labeled "Adequate Sites," identifies land use actions (e.g., General Plan and zone changes) the
City will take to make sites available for lower and moderate income housing during the current
housing cycle. "Sites" include specific properties, such as Quarry Creek and Ponto, and general
areas, such as the downtown Village and adjacent Barrio Area.neighborhood.
Providing adequate sites is necessary so Carlsbad can meet its Regional Housing Needs
Assessment (RHNA) obligations, which is an estimate of housing units necessary to meet growth
projections over a certain time period, or housing cycle. These projections and how Carlsbad
meets them are discussed in detail in Housing Element Section 3 and, in particular, Table 3-12.
The current housing cycle began in 2005 and was to have ended June 30, 2010; it has been
extended through at least April 2013 to coincide with the Regional Transportation Plan update in
accord with recent legislation (SB 375 and SB 575). The Housing Element is one of seven
mandated elements of the General Plan.
The Council's declaration and direction stem from a recent San Diego Superior Court case,
Friends of Aviara vs. City of Carlsbad. After adoption of the current Housing Element in
December 2009, Friends of Aviara sued the city. The suit challenged the city's environmental
action on the project and alleged Carlsbad's Housing Element is inconsistent with other elements
of the General Plan.
GPA 11-04 - HOUSING ELEMENT PROGRAM 2.1
July 6, 2011
PAGE 2 ^^_
In its ruling on the suit, the Court upheld the city's environmental action. It also ruled that to
comply with the California Government Code and ensure consistency between the Housing
Element and the other elements of the General Plan, Carlsbad must adopt a timeline for
implementation of the General Plan amendment actions identified in the Housing Element.
These amendment actions are all contained in Program 2.1. Among other things, these actions
would amend the General Plan Land Use Element to designate various sites at densities higher
than what the Land Use Element currently allows. For example, the program specifies raising
the minimum density of the city's Residential High Density (RH) land use designation from 15
units per acre to 20 units per acre. The state considers this and other proposed densities as
appropriate for lower and moderate income housing.
Accordingly, the City must make minor changes to Program 2.1. While this program already
establishes time frames, they must be updated. Except for the time frames, GPA 11-04 will
revise no other aspect of Program 2.1 or the Housing Element. It also proposes no development
and will not result in any land use changes. The latter will require applications and hearings that
are completely separate from this current effort.
On May 12, 2011, the Housing Commission recommended approval of GPA 11-04 to the City
Council.
Along with the recommended action on the General Plan Amendment, staff also recommends
approval of an addendum to the adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Housing
Element. The recommended Addendum, an attachment to Planning Commission Resolution
6787, describes the minor revisions proposed by GPA 11-04. The Addendum also describes
minor changes to Housing Element assumptions regarding development of future affordable
housing. While the assumption changes do not require an amendment to the Housing Element,
they were noted in the city's 2010 Annual Housing Element Progress Report. This report, an
attachment to the Addendum, is mandated by the state and describes the city's progress in
meeting its housing programs and RHNA. It is presented to the City Council each year and
provided to state agencies and SANDAG.
III. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND BACKGROUND
Throughout the current housing cycle, the City has made substantial progress in achieving its
Housing Element goals and accomplishing its programs but it has not met some of the specified
deadlines which were set when the Housing Element update was drafted. The attached Council
resolution attests to this progress.
Current Program 2.1 timeframes, found at the end of the program, state the city was to
implement the various land use actions by either October 2009 or, in the case of actions
regarding the Quarry Creek site only, May 2010. While the city did not meet these deadlines,
most program actions are in the draft stage and are expected to be accomplished within the next
two years. Therefore, the updated time frames proposing replacing "October 2009" with
"September 2012" and "May 2010" with "February 2013." The proposed dates all occur within
the extended 2005-2010 housing cycle.
Program 2.1 land use actions identified for Ponto and the Barrio Area were originally designated
for completion by October 2009. Upon further consideration of the land use actions, which are
GPA 11-04 - HOUSING ELEMENT PROGRAM 2.1
July 6, 2011
PAGES
similar in complexity to those actions required for Quarry Creek, their completion by the later,
February 2013 time frame is now recommended. Additionally, since preparation of Program 2.1,
the City Council has determined that Barrio Area changes should be processed as part of the
General Plan Update, a multi-year effort anticipated to conclude in spring 2013.
The changes regarding Ponto and the Barrio Area and the new timeframes proposed above
represent the extent of all revisions planned.
Carlsbad is obligated by state law to provide completion dates for its various Housing Element
programs. Although time frames are estimations, agencies that do not complete actions within
the housing cycle to provide adequate sites (as Program 2.1 proposes) are required by law to
complete them within the first year of the following cycle. If a jurisdiction fails to do so, state
Housing and Community Development Department will not certify its element for the following
cycle until the jurisdiction completes the actions necessary to make the adequate sites available.
The new time frames will fit within the current housing cycle, as extended. SB 575 legislation
enacted in 2009 requires local governments within the regional jurisdiction of the San Diego
Association of Governments (SANDAG) to adopt Housing Element revisions no later than 18
months after adoption of the first regional transportation plan update (RTF) to be adopted after
September 30, 2010. SANDAG currently estimates the updated RTF will be adopted in October
2011, which would extend the current Housing Element cycle to on or about April 1, 2013. This
date may be extended further if adoption of the RTF is delayed. At the end of the current
housing cycle, a revised Housing Element will be due.
Exhibit 1 to this staff report is the proposed Planning Commission resolution recommending
approval of the proposed changes. Exhibit X to the resolution lists Program 2.1 with the
recommended changes shown in a strike-out and underline format; only the "Objectives and
Time Frame" section of the program is revised.
Carlsbad relies on Program 2.1 and proposals by private developers to make sites available so the
city can meet its RHNA obligations for lower and moderate income housing. For example,
Housing Element Section 3 counts the affordable housing component of the Bridges at Aviara
(Pontebello) proposal. In 2010, after the Housing Element was adopted by the City Council and
certified by the state, the developer of Bridges at Aviara withdrew the project, resulting in the
loss of 76 potential low income units and creating a shortfall in the city's ability to meet its
RHNA needs.
In the 2010 Annual Housing Element Progress Report, the city informed the California
Department of Housing and Community Development of the plan for addressing this deficiency.
This plan relies on other development proposals, Quarry Creek and Dos Colinas, to replace the
low income units lost by the withdrawal of the Bridges project. The description of the
developer's withdrawal of the Bridges at Aviara project and the city's plan to meet the related
deficit are described in the Addendum and on pages 3-5 of the 2010 Annual Housing Element
Progress Report. These revisions constitute a minor technical change or addition to the Housing
Element's Mitigated Negative Declaration, particularly its Project Description and Initial Study,
and appropriately documented in the proposed Addendum.
GPA 11-04 - HOUSING ELEMENT PROGRAM 2.1
July 6, 2011
PAGE 4
IV. ANALYSIS
Staff developed its approval recommendation by analyzing the proposed amendment's
consistency with General Plan elements besides the Housing Element and other General Plan
policies and programs besides Program 2.1.
Overall, the proposed amendment does not conflict with any goal, objective or policy of the
General Plan. For example, Land Use Element Residential Policy C.I directs the City to
encourage the provision of low and moderate income housing to meet Housing Element
objectives. Further, a purpose of the Housing Element is "...to provide the City with a
coordinated and comprehensive strategy for promoting the production of safe, decent, and
affordable housing within the community." Accordingly, Housing Element Goal 2 states, "new
housing developed with diversity of types, prices, tenures, densities, and locations, and in
sufficient quantity to meet the demand of anticipated city and regional growth."
The proposed revision to Program 2.1 timeframes is minor and necessary to address the recent
court finding. It maintains consistency with the parts of the General Plan not proposed for
amendment. The revision accomplishes this by simply revising the time frames for completion
of the various program actions within the current housing cycle, as extended, that serve to
provide sites for lower and moderate income housing.
Additionally, and in response to the Friends ofAviara vs. City of Carlsbad ruling, the proposed
amendment establishes time frames for the Program 2.1 land use actions to ensure consistency
will be achieved between the Housing Element and the other elements of the General Plan, such
as the Land Use Element.
V. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The recommended action is within the scope of the previously approved Mitigated Negative
Declaration (MND) for the 2005-2010 Housing Element. The revisions proposed to Program 2.1
time frames and described in the 2010 Annual Housing Element Progress Report are minor
technical changes and none of the conditions described in CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 that
require adoption of a subsequent environmental document have occurred. Therefore, the analysis
is appropriate for the Planning Commission to recommend approval of an Addendum to the
MND.
Attached to the resolution recommending approval of the Addendum are a number of exhibits,
including the adopted MND and the 2010 Annual Housing Element Progress Report.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Planning Commission Resolution 6787
2. Planning Commission Resolution 6779
3. City Council Resolution 2011 -068