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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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).
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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.
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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: