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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-06; Planning Commission; ; GPA 11-04 - HOUSING ELEMENT PROGRAM 2.1The City of Carlsbad Planning Division A REPORT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION P.C. AGENDA OF: July 6, 2011 ltemNo. 0 Application complete date: NIA Project Planner: Scott Donnell Project Engineer: NIA 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 PAGE2 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, GP A 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 GP A 11-04 -HOUSING ELEMENT PROGRAM 2.1 July 6, 2011 PAGE3 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 (R TP) to be adopted after September 30, 2010. SANDAG currently estimates the updated RTP 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 RTP 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 A viara (Pontebello) proposal. In 2010, after the Housing Element was adopted by the City Council and certified by the state, the developer of Bridges at A viara 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 PAGE4 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.l 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 of Aviara 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 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 RESOLUTION NO. 2011-068 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, DECLARING ITS INTENTION TO AMEND THE 2005-2010 HOUSING ELEMENT TO PROVIDE UPDATED TIMELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIONS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY WHEREAS, on December 22, 2009, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2009-322 approving General Plan Amendment GPA 03-02, the 2005-2010 Housing Element, and the related Mitigated Negative Declaration; and WHEREAS, the adopted Housing Element set forth programs to be utilized to provide housing for all economic segments of the community, including those with low and moderate incomes, in order to meet the City's share of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment; and WHEREAS, in compliance with Government Code Section 65583(c) the Housing Element identifies actions in Program 2.1 that will be taken to make sites available for housing during the planning period that could not be accommodated on sites identified in the inventory, each with a timeline for implementation, as follows: • The City shall process a General Plan amendment(s) to redesignate a minimum net acreage of each site in Table 6-1 to RH and require that the redesignated sites be developed at a minimum density of 20 units per acre. As part of this program, the City shall also process all necessary amendments to the Zoning Ordinance and other planning documents, such as master or specific plans; • The City shall process a General Plan amendment(s) to redesignate a minimum net acreage of each site in Table 6-2 to RMH and require that the redesignated site be developed at a minimum density of 12 units per acre. As part of this program, the City shall also process all necessary amendments to the Zoning Ordinance and other planning documents, such as master or specific plans; • The City shall process General Plan amendments to establish minimum densities of 12 units per acre and 20 units per acre for the RMH and RH land 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 use designations, respectively, except for those RH designated properties in the Beach Area Overlay Zone; • The City shall process amendments to the Village Redevelopment Master Plan and Design Manual and/or other planning documents as necessary to establish, for residential projects and mixed use projects with residential components within the Village Redevelopment Area, minimum densities equal to 80% of the maximum of the density range. For land use districts 1 -4 (density range of 15 -35 units per acre), as specified in the Carlsbad Village Redevelopment Master Plan and Design Manual, 80% shall be 28 units per acre. For land use districts 5 -9 (density range of 15 -23 units per acre), 80% shall be 18 units per acre. Furthermore, the City shall approve modifications to development standards of the Carlsbad Village Redevelopment Master Plan and Design Manual if a project satisfactorily demonstrates as determined by the City that such modifications are necessary to achieve the minimum densities; • The City shall process amendments to the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance and process other planning documents as necessary to establish and permit the minimum densities, areas, and land uses as described in Section 3 and specified in Tables 3-4, 3-6 and 3-9 for the Barrio Area; • The City shall amend its Zoning Ordinance, General Plan, and other land use documents as necessary to permit residential in a mixed use format on shopping center sites and commercial areas with General Plan designations of "CL" and "R" and zoning designations of "C-L", "C-1" and "C-2", and/or other General Plan and zoning designations as appropriate. Mixed use residential on shopping center and commercial sites shall be at a minimum density of 20 units per acre. WHEREAS, the City included in the adopted Housing Element timelines for implementation to achieve General Plan consistency for each of the actions in Program 2.1 1 as follows: • "Program components above shall be implemented by October 2009, except for Quarry Creek. General Plan and zoning amendments for Quarry Creek shall be processed by May 201 O"; and WHEREAS, achievement of these actions will provide internal consistency with the.other elements of the City's General Plan; and 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 WHEREAS, the State Department of Housing and Community Development certified the adopted Housing Element on March 30, 2010, finding it " ... in full compliance with State housing element law (Article 10.6 of the Government Code)"; and WHEREAS, throughout the current housing cycle the City has made substantial progress in achieving its Housing Element goals and accomplishing its Programs; and WHEREAS, SB 575 legislation enacted in 2009 requires revisions of the housing element for local governments within the regional jurisdiction of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to be adopted no later than 18 months after adoption of the first regional transportation plan update ("RTP") to be adopted after September 30, 2010; and WHEREAS, the current 4th revision housing cycle is scheduled to end no sooner than April 2013 and may be extended further if adoption of the RTP is delayed; and WHEREAS, on March 22, 2011, the City Council approved the Housing Element annual progress report, including a notation that the Pontebello/Bridges at Aviara project previously identified was withdrawn and identifying additional affordable units in the Cantarini/Holly Springs and Quarry Creek projects; and WHEREAS, in 2010, the City aided two households with home repair loans in accordance with Program 1.4, which directs the City to provide assistance to primarily lower-income and special needs homeowners so they can rehabilitate deteriorating housing; and WHEREAS, in 2008, in accordance with Program 2.1, the City developed inventories of vacant and underutilized properties in the Village and Barrio areas, and amended various development standards in the Carlsbad Village Master Plan and 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 Design Manual to provide flexibility in those standards to facilitate the achievement of higher density residential projects; and WHEREAS, also in accordance with Program 2.1, the City maintains a monthly "Real Estate Hot Sheet" that lists properties for lease and for sale in the Village area; and WHEREAS, in 2010, the City also drafted ordinances and text revisions as part of planned amendments to the General Plan, Zoning Ordinance, and other documents; these efforts, prepared to implement part or all of various Housing Element programs, including 2.1, 2.3, 3.13, and 3.14, will be completed within the current Housing Element cycle; and WHEREAS, in 2007 the City, in accordance with Program 2.2 amended various development standards in the Zoning Ordinance Chapters 21.44, 21.45, and 21.82, and in the Carlsbad Village Master Plan and Design Manual to provide flexibility in those standards to facilitate the achievement of higher density residential projects; and WHEREAS, to implement objectives of Program 2.4 encouraging energy conservation, the Housing and Redevelopment Commission, on November 20, 2007, adopted revisions to the Village Master Plan and Design Manual to permit development standard modifications if necessary to enable a development to qualify for a silver level or higher LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification; and, the City adopted a Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance on May 11, 2010, and the 2010 Building Code, including the California Green Building Standards, on April 5, 2011; and WHEREAS, the City has in accordance with Program 3.1 continued to implement its lnclusionary Housing Ordinance resulting in the construction of approximately 1,000 housing units affordable to very low and low income families since 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 2003, the first year of the current Regional Housing Needs Assessment allocation period; and WHEREAS, the City has in accordance with Program 3.4, created 67 City initiated or non-inclusionary affordable housing units in the Cassia Heights and Roosevelt Gardens projects, the latter of which just completed construction in January 2011;and WHEREAS, the City has in accordance with Program 3.5, assisted in the development of over 200 affordable units to date in the current Housing Element cycle; and WHEREAS, in accordance with Program 3.7, the City continues to maintain the Housing Trust Fund, which had an approximate balance of $13.5 million as of January 2011, and to seek opportunities to disburse trust funds as it did for the Glen Ridge affordable apartment and Roosevelt Gardens affordable condominium projects in 2007, and the Harding Street Senior Condominiums (Western Community Housing/Meta Housing) in 2009; and WHEREAS, on June 4, 2008, the Planning Commission in accordance with Housing Element Program 3.10, which seeks to provide senior housing opportunities, approved the Harding Street Senior Condominiums Project which as approved would add eight low income senior housing units and seven moderate income senior units; and, in furtherance of this Program and Program 3.7, the Housing and Redevelopment Commission on August 11, 2009, appropriated $3,750,000 in housing set aside funding to develop this project as a 50-unit, senior-restricted apartment complex, 100% affordable to very low and low income renters; and 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 WHEREAS, on March 22, 2011, in accordance with Program 3.11, the City Council approved a new Municipal Code Ordinance, Chapter 21.87, establishing a procedure for making requests for reasonable accommodation for disabled persons in land use, zoning and building regulations to comply with Fair Housing Law; and WHEREAS, on August 24, 2010, the City Council revised the definition of a "family" in Chapter 21.04 of the Municipal Code also in accordance with Program 3.11 and to comply with state housing law; and WHEREAS, the City continues to monitor the construction and demolition of units in the Coastal Zone per Program 3.19 of the Housing Element; and WHEREAS, as required by Program 3.20, the City has prepared and continues to prepare Annual Housing Element Progress Reports, the latest of which was accepted by the City Council on March 22, 2011; and WHEREAS, after adoption of the 2005-2010 Housing Element, Friends of Aviara sued the City challenging the Mitigated Negative Declaration approved for the project and alleging that the City's Housing Element is inconsistent with other elements of the General Plan, and WHEREAS, on March 28, 2011, the Superior Court upheld the City's Mitigated Negative Declaration ruling that Friends of Aviara had failed to sustain its burden of presenting substantial evidence of a fair argument that the mitigation measures are inadequate to avoid any potentially significant environmental effects; and WHEREAS, the Court also ruled that the City must adopt a timeline for implementation of necessary additional amendments to the General Plan in order to comply with California Government Code section 65583(c). 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 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, as follows: 1. That the above recitations are true and correct. 2. That the City Council declares its intention to amend Program 2.1 of the 2005-2010 Housing Element "Objectives and Time Frame" to provide updated timelines for implementation of the actions set forth therein regarding adequate sites, all to be accomplished within the extended 2005-2010 housing element cycle. 3. That the Planning Director is directed to prepare recommendations for updated timelines for implementation of the actions regarding adequate sites set forth in the Housing Element, to be accomplished within the extended 2005-2010 housing element cycle. II I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I 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 PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad on the 26th day of April, 2011, by the following vote to wit: AYES: Council Members Hall, Kulchin, Blackburn, Douglas and Packard. NOES: None. ABSENT: None. ATTEST: