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Home My WebLink About1980-07-08; City Council; 6292; Housing Element General Plan Amendment GPA-54CITY OF CARLSBAD AGENDA BILL NO. 6> £ DATE: July 8. 1980 DEPARTMENT; Piannina l°l^ INITIAL Dept. Hd. Cty. Atty Cty. Mgr. SUBJECT: HOUSING ELEMENT, GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT GPA-54 STATEMENT OF THE MATTER California State Law requires that every City and County must adopt a Housing Element to the general plan. Carlsbad's existing Housing Element was adopted in 1970. In 1977, the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) produced new guidelines to be used in this preparation of local Housing Elements. These guidelines emphasize the provision of low and moderate income housing. In an attempt to meet these guidelines the City of Carlsbad hired a housing consultant in June of 1979. A citizen's committee was formed which produced a draft Housing Element in December of 1979. The Planning Commission held several public hearings on the Housing Element and discussed its contents on a page by page basis. On March 26, 1980, the Planning Commission voted to recommend to the City Council that they approved the draft Housing Element as amended. Subsequently, further revisions were made to the draft based on comments from HCD. A number of policy issues arise in the draft which should be addressed by the City Council. Staff has identified the following major issues: -Condominium Conversion Policy -Mobile Home Zoning -Fairshare Housing Numbers -Inclusionary Zoning -Series V Forecasts These issues are addressed in the attached memo to the City Manager dated June 30, 1980. EXHIBITS 1. Memo to the City Manager (June 30, 1980) 2. City Council Resolution No.^QjJ (To be furnished later.) .3. Letter from Jim Anderson, Citizens Committee Chairman RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council direct staff to make any necessary changes to the draft and return to council for adoption. (Continued on Page 2) AGENDA BILL NO. 6292 Page 2 Council Action: 7-8-80 Council directed staff to change the document in accordance with their discussion, and then to refer same to the Planning Commission for further review and recommendation. MEMORANDUM DATE: July 2, 1980 TO: Frank Aleshire, City Manager FROM: James C. Hagaman, Planning Director RE: HOUSING ELEMENT In drafting the proposed Housing Element the consultant and the Citizens Committee had the arduous task of trying to draft a document which was consistent with the existing goals and policies of the City and was also consistent with the Housing Element guidelines developed by the State Department of Housing and Coinnunity Development (HCD). At times the committee felt it was necessary to compromise between the two. As a result, a number of programs proposed in the draft Housing Element constitute major policy issues which will have to be addressed by the City Council. Some of the programs presented in the "Goals and Policies" section of the document will be difficult to implement and will create costs to the City. The Council should be made aware that approval of such programs should mean that they are intending to ajtiplement these programs in the future. There are existing court cases where development has been halted because it was found that a local jurisdiction was not properly implementing its general plan. Staff has identified five major issues which the Council will face in the Goals and Policies section of the draft. Listed below is a brief description of each issue. Condominium Conversion (p. 19, action 7) One of the current problems in determining the pros and cons of condominium conversion is the dichotomy that exists. On one hand condo conversion may create ownership opportunities for moderate income households because such units are generally priced below new condos and single family residences. At the same time a conversion often displaces the low/moderate income households who are renting those units as apartments. Because very few new apartments are being built, those persons displaced by a conversion have great difficulty in finding another apartment to rent. The issue before the City Council is whether or not the City should continue to regulate condo conversions by development standards, or by looking at other factors such as vacancy rates, displacement of low and moderate income households, cost and demand for rental households, and proposed sales prices. Staff favors wording in the Housing Element which would allow the City to look at both the quality of the development and at the social factors mentioned above. Attached is a proposed wording for this section (from the Attorney's Office) based on the Housing Element of Walnut Creek. Staff would recommend that this wording be incorporated into the draft. Mobile Homes (Main Clause page 23, action 7) In addressing mobile homes the draft Housing Element states that the development of suitable sites for mobile homes within master plan areas should be encouraged along with mobile home subdivision. The Planning Commission added wording to the effect that zone code amendments for such housing should be considered. The Council must decide if the language in the existing draft is adequate or if language should be added to support the development of a mobile home zone. Staff would propose that wording be added to this section calling for the development of a mobile home zone. Fairshare Housing Figures (p. 17 #3) In November of 1979 the City Council adopted OOP's Housing Allocation Formula which identified Carlsbad's "fair share" of the regional low income housing needs as 825 units over the next five years. This figure was used in the original drafts of the Housing Element. CPO was then asked to revise these figures by HCD and base the revisions on "households needing assistance." This term applies to lower income households which meet the requirements for federal rental housing subsidies. The result of this revision is that Carlsbad's fair share of low income units has risen to 2845 units to be provided over the next five years. HCD has indicated that these new figures should be reflected in Carlsbad's Housing Element. As a result, staff has now incorporated these numbers into the draft Housing Element even though these numbers have not been adopted by Council. Council must decide if these new figures reflect Carlsbad's goals for provision of low income housing over the next five years and if they should be incorporated into the Housing Element. Staff feels that these numbers should be included mainly because it is unlikely HCD will certify this document without them. Inclusionary Zoning (p. 21, action 1) Inclusionary Zoning is a tool being used by a number of communities to try and expand the supply of low and moderate cost housing. Such inclusionary programs require that all new developments above a certain size contain a specified proportion of low and/or moderate cost units. Inclusionary ordinances may include density bonuses and other incentives to make the inclusion more palatable for developers. The program proposed in the draft Housing Element offers a density bonus incentive to developers wishing to participate. The Housing Element Citizens Committee and the Planning Commission indicated that this program should be voluntary. The Council must decide if such a program will be beneficial in Carlsbad in providing low and moderate income housing. They must also decide whether or not such a program should be voluntary or mandatory. Staff feels that the program should be voluntary and if possible, reviewed after a year to determine if the program is working. Series V Some of the programs and numbers in the draft Housing Element are based on Series V (CPO) population projections which have not been adopted by the City Council. These numbers may change as CPO has not brought the final Series V figures to the local jurisdictions for adoption. These figures can be easily changed after Council adoption of the final Series V numbers. Staff will recommend to Council that they adopt the draft Housing Element including the changes made by the Planning Commision, the changes made by staff in response to HCD, and the inclusion of the condo conversion policy suggested by the Attorney's office. James C. Hagaman Director of Planning JCH:CG:ka Condominium Conversions Recormended wording for page 19, action 7. The City may amend its subdivision Ordinance and revise existing Zoning Ordinances regarding Condominium and other similar conversions in order to: 1. Establish criteria for conversion of existing multiple family rental housing to condominiums. 2. Reduce the impact of such conversions on tenants in rental housing who may be required to relocate due to the conversions of apartments to condominiums by providing for procedures for notification at adequate time and assistance for such relocations, including the payment of relocation costs in hardship cases. 3. Provide special considerations for low and moderate income and senior citizen tenants or projects as they will be most severely impacted by such conversions. 4. Insure that purchasers of converted housing have been properly informed as to the physical condition of the structure which is offered for purchase. 5. Insure that converted housing be of appearance, quality and safety as is consistent with the goals of the City. 6. Attempt to maintain a supply of rental housing for low and moderate income persons. 7. Attempt to maintain a supply of rental housing for low and moderate income persons. 8. Limit the number of conversions each year to a percentage of the existing rental units in the community when necessary to maintain an adequate supply of rental housing units. 1200 ELM AVENUE •§ ^&7 m TELEPHONE: CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 92008 ^JJLW dM (714)438-5621 Ctt? of Cartebab October 26, 1979 Honorable Members Planning Commission & City Council City of Carlsbad In April of 1979, the City Council selected a nine member committee of citizens to revise the Housing Element of the General Plan. As you are aware, the State Housing Element Guidelines strongly stress housing needs with emphasis on local programs that will encourage the development of low and moderate income housing. The Housing Element Committee spent many hours analyzing programs to determine their compatibility with the existing character of the City. Because of diverse backgrounds, committee members sometimes disagreed concerning the adequacy of programs and policies to be recommended. The final draft, however, has the unanimous support of the entire committee as it reflects much compromise, which we feel has made the draft even more effective. The Committee strongly urges that the City adopt the revised Housing Element substantially as it is presented, and also recommends that measures be taken to implement the policies and action programs outlined in the document. Without an aggressive implementation program, the Housing Element is of little value. Sincerely lairman lousing Element Committtee Committee Members: Julie Bagley Ed Ebright Jim Hicks Bob Mullins Jeannette Smale Rosemary Stafford Pearl Tade 1 PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 1595 2 A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING TO 3 THE CITY COUNCIL, ADOPTION OF GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT NO. 54, ADOPTING A NEW HOUSING ELEMENT 4 OF THE GENERAL PLAN OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD. 5 APPLICANT: CITY OF CARLSBAD CASE NO.: GPA-54 6 ' WHEREAS, the City Council, on March 6, 1979, directed the 7 preparation of a new Housing Element of the General Plan which 8 would meet the requirements of State law; and 9 WHEREAS, the City Council did appoint a nine-person Housing 10 Element Citizen's Committee to review data and provide input 11 concerning the housing needs of the City of Carlsbad; and 12 WHEREAS, the Housing Element Citizen's Committee has met 13 as directed, reviewed the new Housing Element and approved the 14 new Housing Element; and - 15 WHEREAS, an Environmental Impact Report was completed for 16 the Housing Element which analyzed the potential effects on the 17 environment which Environmental Impact Report has been recommended 18 for certification by the Planning Commission; and 19 WHEREAS, the Planning Commission did on January 23, 1980; 20 February 6, 1980; March 5, 1980; and March 26, 1980; hold duly 21 noticed public hearings as prescribed by law to consider said 22 amendment; 23 NOW, THEREFORE BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the Planning Commissio 24 of the City of Carlsbad as follows: 25 A) That the above recitations are true and correct. 26 B) That based on the evidence presented at the public hearings 27 January 23, 1980; February 6, 1980; March 6, 1980; and March 26, 1980, and upon hearing and considering testimony 28 and arguments, if any, of all persons who desired to be heard, said Commission finds that: to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ^ 1. The goals and policies described in the Housing Element meet the intent of State Law; 2. The Housing Element is a necessary and desirable component of the General Plan; 3. The Housing Element is consistent with the future goals of Carlsbad and is consistent with the other elements of the General Plan; C) That the Planning Commission recommends approval of the Housing Element, (GPA-54) attached as Exhibit "A" dated December, 1980, and incorporated by reference. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this by the following, vote, to wit: 26th day of March, 1980 AYES: Schick, Larson, Leeds, Friestedt, Rombotis, Jose, and Marcus . NOES : None . ABSTAIN : None . ABSENT : None . K /f\ (/JL/i EDWIN V \ /"""x r \ V \ L< l^J^L^NA-S. SCHICK., JR., Chairman CARLSBAD PLANNING COMMISSION ATTEST: <^^^^(^"1^^^^JAMES C. HAGAMAN, Secretary t?ARLSBAD PLANNING ^MMI SS ION / PC RESO #1595 -2- \\