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Resolution 1998-61 . . RESOLUTION NO. 98-61 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GILROY APPROVING M 98-09/ARE 98-03, AN APPLICATION FOR AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING EXEMPTION FROM THE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE, APN 790-04- 057,-059,and-062 WHEREAS, South County Housing ("Applicant") submitted M 98-09/ARE 98-03, requesting an affordable housing exemption from the Residential Development Ordinance ("RDO") for the purpose of constructing 114 affordable housing units; and WHEREAS, in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), the City Council on July 20, 1998, adopted a Mitigated Negative Declaration in conjunction with Z98-05, which application for a zone change included this project, along with the Mitigation Monitoring Program for the project; and WHEREAS, the City Council may grant the requested RDO exemption only if it determines that it meets the criteria set forth in Zoning Ordinance section 50.62(b )(3), which criteria is set forth and fully discussed in the Staff Report dated September 3, 1998, which is attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by this reference; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission reviewed application M 98-09/ ARE 98-03 at a duly noticed public hearing on September 17, 1998, and recommended that the City Council approve it subject to the two (2) conditions set forth on page 10 of the Planning Division Staff Report, attached hereto as Exhibit A; and WHEREAS, the City Council reviewed Application M 98-09/ ARE 98-03 and all documents relating thereto and took oral and written testimony at its duly noticed public hearing of September 12, 1998; and \KHM\426712.01 81-102304706002 -1- RESOLUTION NO. 98-61 . . WHEREAS, the location and custodian of the documents or other materials which constitute the record of proceedings upon which this project approval is based is the office of the City Clerk. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT A. The City Council hereby finds as follows: 1. The RDO exemption limits a project to 75 units per housing type. Although the 54 single family units in this application could be considered as additional to the 75 single family units exempted by Resolution No. 98-06 for application M98- 06/AHE 98-02, this project as submitted by Applicant is a separate and distinct project and is considered adjacent to the other project. 2. The project is hereby granted a specific exemption pursuant to Zoning Ordinance section 50.62(b )(3) from the limitation upon granting exemptions to the RDO for immediately adjacent projects within three years of approval of the first proj ect. 3. The project complies with Zoning Ordinance section 50.62(b)(3) in that it would substantially benefit the City, and would not create significant negative impacts to public facilities, to providers of public services in the community, or to the Gilroy Unified School District. The City Council makes these findings based on facts as set forth in the record, including the attached Staff Report. B. M 98-09/AHE 98-03 should be and hereby is approved subject to the two (2) conditions in the attached Staff Report, along with an additional third condition, as follows: \KHM\426712.01 81-102304706002 -2- RESOLUTION NO. 98-61 . . 1. The applicant shall be subject to the revised requirements of the "Affordable Housing Exemption Procedure for Private Developments" policy. These revisions are expected to be completed by the late Fall or early Winter of 1998. 2. The developer shall sign a contract agreeing to the provisions contained within the "Affordable Housing Exemption Procedure for Private Developments," prior to approval of an Architectural and Site review for this site. 3. The applicant shall sign an agreement with the Gilroy Unified School District, prior to the issuance of any building permits, agreeing to mitigate any impacts on the school district that may arise in connection with the proposed development. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 2nd day of November, 1998 by the following AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: ARELLANO, MORALES, ROWLISON, GILROY NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: GIFFORD, SPRINGER, SUDOL ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ATIE~ Rhonda Pellin, City Clerk ~~~~ \KHM\426712.01 81-102304706002 -3- RESOLUTION NO. 98-61 .. 1 COl11mUnlty Deve opment Planning Division Staff Report . . Department September 3, 1998 File Number: M 98-09 / ARE 98-03 Applicant: South County Housing (c/o Karen Saunders) Location: Property located between Kern Avenue and Santa Teresa Boulevard, South of Longmeadow Drive Staff Planner: Melissa Durkin REQUESTED ACTION: The applicant is requesting a 114 unit Affordable Housing Exemption from the RDO competition for the Los Arroyos project, consisting of 60 apartment units and 54 single family homes. DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY: Parcel Number: 790-04-057,059, and 062 Parcel Size: 54 acres Flood Zone: Zone B, Panel # 0603400001 C Panel Date: 10/06/81, Revised to reflect LOMR 8/31/95 STATUS OF PROPERTY: Existing LancLUs.e Sing. Fam. Homes/Storage Bldgs. General Plan.Designation Low Dens. Res./High Dens. Res. Zoning R11R3-PUD ST A TUS OF SURROUNDING PROPERTY: Existing Land Use N: Channel/Sing. Family Homes S: Channel/Sing. Family Homes E: S. F. Homes/G.U.S.D. Farm W: Santa Teresa Blvd.lS.F. Homes General Plan Designation P.F./L.D. Res/H.D. Res. Low Dens. Res., Med. Dens. Res. Medium Density Residential Low Density Residential Zoning RI-PUD R1, R3-PUD R1, R3, County Ag. Rl, R1-PUD EXHIBIT A . 2 . 9/03/98 M 98-09 / ARE 98-03 CONFORMANCE OF REQUEST WITH GENERAL PLAN: The proposed project conforms to the land use designation for the property on the General Plan map, and is consistent with the intent of the text of the General Plan document. This project conforms with the policies of Gilroy's General Plan. The following example demonstrates this. compliance: Residential Environment (Section IV): Policy 1: "The City will continue to work towards the goal of a balanced community with a variety of housing types and prices, sufficient job opportunities, and an efficient and adequate provision of City services and amenities. " The proposed project is in conformance with this policy, because it will provide a mix oflow income for- sale housing, and low income rental housing, including senior apartment units. All of these housing types are under-represented in Gilroy, Policy 2: "The City will encourage the construction of multi -family units, especially units suitablefor lower income households and large families. " The proposedproject is in conformance with this policy, because it will include multi-family units that are affordable to low income households. Urhan Development and Community Design (Section II): Policy 3: "Urban Development will only occur within the incorporated portion of the Planning Area, Land will therefore be annexed to the City before final development approval is given. " The proposed project is in conformance with this policy, because this land has been within City limits for many years. Policy 4: "The City will phase development in an orderly, contiguous manner in order to maintain a compact development pattern to avoid premature investment for the extension of public facilities and services, New urban development will occur in areas where municipal services are available and capacity exists prior to the approval of development in areas which would require major new facility expansion. " The proposed project is in conformance with this policy, because this site IS adjacent to urban development. M 98-09 / ARE 98-03 . 3 . 9/03/98 ENVIRONMENT AL IMP ACTS: NEGATIVE DECLARATION An Initial Study has been prepared for this project. The study identified potentially significant effects on the environment, however, the applicant has agreed to individual mitigation measures which will avoid or mitigate the effects to a point where no significant impacts will occur. A Negative Declaration with 15 mitigation measures has been adopted for this project. OVERVIEW OF THR LOS ARROYOS PROJECT: The Los Arroyos project is a master-planned residential development that is planned to have the following components: · 382 Dwelling Units Cl 150 Market Rate Single Family Homes Cl 129 Affordable Single Family Homes Cl Cl [Received RDO in 1996 (RD 96-09)] [75 Units Received RDO Exemption in June, 1998 (ARE 98-06). The remaining 54 units are requesting an exemption as part of this application] 22 Cluster Units (Town House Units) [ReceivedRDO Exemption in June, 1998 (ARE 98-06)] 60 Multi-family and Senior Apartment Units [Denied an RDO Exemption in June, 1998, Requesting a revised exemption in this application] A 21 unit independent-living apartment complex for the developmentally disabled (Villa Esperanza). [Note: This portion of the project was approved previously under PUD Architectural and Site Review A/S 97-05., and was exempted from the RDO under Affordable Housing Exemption application M 97-12, ARE 97-03.] Cl · A child care center/community center . A 2.5 acre park [Note: The size, placement, and development of this park will be subject to negotiations with the City.] BACKGROUND: A request for an Affordable Housing Exemption from the Residential Development Ordinance (RDO) for this project was presented to the Planning Commission and City Council in June, 1998. At that time, the applicant requested approval of an exemption for 157 affordable housing units, as follows: ~ 75 Single Family Homes ~ 22 Cluster Units (Town Homes) ~ 60 Multi-Family Apartment Units At the June 4, 1998 Planning Commission meeting, the project was recommended for approval as requested by the applicant, by a vote of 4-1-2. At the June 15 City Council meeting, the City Council approved an exemption for 97 units (75 single family homes and 22 cluster units), by a vote of 6-1. . 4 . 9/03/98 M 98-09 / ARE 98-03 The Council specifically excluded approval of the 60 apartment units in this development. Some of the concerns expressed by the Council were: . That the neighborhood should have an opportunity to become established prior to introducing the apartments; . That the potential impacts of constructing the apartments could better be determined after the single family portion of the neighborhood was occupied; and . That there were already several low-income homes in this area, and constructing more apartment units may negatively impact the sustainability of the neighborhood. ANALYSIS OF REQUEST: The applicant is currently requesting approval of an Affordable Housing Exemption from the RDO under the provisions of Zoning Ordinance section 50,62 (b) (3), to allow the construction of 114 affordable housing units. [Note these units will be in addition to the 97 units that were already approved by the City Council, for a total of 211 exempt units in this development.] The current application is a request for 54 single family homes, and 60 apartment units. The apartment units will include 30 senior citizen units, and 30 multi-family units. Thefollowing chart delineates the number of units that have already been approved and the applicant's current request: PREVIOUS REQUEST CURRENT REQUEST TOTAL # OF UNITS PROPOSED FOR DEVELOPMENT Single Family Homes II . o 22 75 TYPE OF UNIT Apartments Cluster Units 60 o 54 60 22 129 211 Zoning Ordinance section 50.62 (b) (3) governs affordable housing developments that are constructed by agencies that receive government funding, Under this section, up to 75 units within each of the following categories of housing may be exempted from the City's Residential Development competition process: (a) single family homes, (b) condominiums or townhouse ownership units, and (c) rental units. This section also states, M 98-09 / ARE 98-03 . 5 . 9/03/98 "Such projects may not be immediately adjacent to another project exempted under subsection (3) or (4) of this Section within the previous three (3) years except where the City Council approves a specific exemption, " The applicant's June, 1998 approval of75 single family homes and 22 cluster units was awarded under section 50.62 (b) (3) of the Zoning Ordinance. Therefore, for the current request to be approved, the City Council must grant a specific exemption from this section of the Ordinance. Projects that are exempt from the RDO under this section must comply with the City's "Affordable Housing Exemption Procedure for Private Developments" policy, which is currently being revised. These revisions are expected to be completed by the Fall or Winter of 1998. Staff recommends that, if this Affordable Housing Exemption request is approved, the applicant be subject to the revised policy. As stated in section 50,62 (b) (4), the City Council may grant RDO exemptions for affordable housing projects if the project is determined to meet specific criteria. This section states, The City Council shall grant an exemption under this subsection only if the City Council determines the project would substantially benefit the City, and would not create significant negative impacts to public facilities or to providers of public services in the community or to the Gilroy Unified School District. The City Council shall consider the following elements in determining whether to grant this exemption: a. The number of exempt units which have already been granted during the current RDO cycle, and the number of years left in the cycle; b. The affordability of the project; c. The need for the types of units which are proposed; d. The number of affordable housing projects constructed or proposed within the project vicinity; e. The diversity of unit type and architectural styles which are proposed in the entire development; and f. The site design and proposed building elevations. Following is staffs determination of this project's consistency with this exemption criteria: This applicant has sl.;1bmitted a letter agreeing to mitigate all impacts on the Gilroy Unified School District [See Exhibit A]. In addition, mitigation measures have been agreed to by the applicant, and adopted for this project, that will mitigate any impacts to public services or public facilities. The applicant will incorporate any needed public improvements into the design of this project prior to approval of the architectural and site review. Staff believes this project is Consistent with this criterion. M 98-09 / ARE 98-03 . 6 . 9/03/98 A. The number of exempt units which have already been granted during the current RDO cycle, and the number of years left in the cycle The City Council set aside 950 housing units to be exempted from the RDO competition in the ten year cycle between 1994 and 2003. Although there are no annual limits on the number of exempt units that can be awarded, the City Council has expressed a desire to ensure that the exempt units are not completely allocated in the first few years of the RDO cycle. So far, 680 units have been allocated through the exemption process, leaving a balance of 270 units available for the 5 years remaining in the cycle. [Note: Some of the projects that have received RDO exemptions have buildout schedules that will take them into future years of the RDO cycle.] The following table shows all of the RDO-exempt projects that have been approved in this RDO cycle: I Project I Number of Units Approved I Summerhill 65 Units Glenbrook 46 units Gilroy Garden Apartments 74 Units Gilroy Park Apartments 74 Units Monterra Village 34 Units Alderwood 62 Units Victoria Woods 75 Units Villa Esperanza 21 Units Los Arroyos (Phase I) 97 Units Small Market-Rate Lots 132 Units II TOTAL 680 Units II If this request is approved, 156 exempt units will be available to be allocated in the remaining 5 years of this RDO cycle, which is approximately 16% of the original number of RDO exempt units. Although this request is No1.Consistent with this criterion, staff does believe that this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the developer is proposing a three-year build-out schedule for this project. This schedule, which includes the RDO-exempt units allocated to this project in June, is as follows: M 98-09 1 ARE 98-03 . 7 . 9/03/98 Single Family Homes Cluster Homes Multi-Family Homes Total No. of Units 1228 21 units ~ 61 Units 2illlfi 47 units 22 units 60 units 121 units 21 units 69 units = 211 Units B. The affordability of the project The mortgage or rental amount of the homes in this development will be as follows: Near Market Rate (12 Units): $230,000 - $250,000 Below Market Rate (16 Units): $160,000 - $180,000 Self Help (26 Units): $85,000 - $115,000 Cluster Homes (22 Units): $85,000 - $115,000 Multi-Family and Senior Rental Units (60 Units): $400 - $800/month Staff believes this project is Consistent with this criterion, because both the for-sale and rental units are in substantial compliance with the Affordable Housing Exemption policy, C. The need for the types of units which are proposed According to the City's Consolidated Plan, which was adopted on May 1, 1995, Gilroy has a demand for 846 new affordable rental units. Since that document was adopted, there have been five affordable rental projects approved within the City, totalling 278 units: 1. Monterra Village (34 Units) 2. Gilroy Park Apartments (74 Units) 3. Gilroy Garden Apartments (74 Units) 4. Villa Esperanza (21 Units) 5. Victoria Woods (75 Units) Therefore, there is still a need for 568 affordable apartment units in Gilroy. Although the Consolidated Plan did not specify the need for low income "for sale" homes in Gilroy, South County Housing has presented the following information to address this issue: ~ With one week of advertising, approximately 500 families applied for the 30 self-help homes at the Glenbrook project on Mantelli Drive. (220 of the applicants qualified to participate in the program. ) ~ The sales absorption rate for the low income (non self-help) homes at Glenbrook was six homes per week. According to South County Housing, this is more than six times the average new home absorption rate in Gilroy. M 98-09 / ARE 98-03 . 8 . 9/03/98 ~ At the Alderwood project, 320 families qualified for the 20 self-help homes. ~ At the Summerhill project, no marketing was required for any of the homes, All of the homes were sold based on interest lists kept by the applicant. ~ South County Housing has 505 families on their self-help waiting list. According to South County Housing, 97% of these families either live or work in Gilroy. Based on the infonnation contained within the Consolidated plan, and the infonnation presented by South County Housing, Staff believes this project is Consistent with this criterion. D. The number of affordable housing projects constructed or proposed within the project vicinity There are six affordable housing projects near t~is site: 1. Summerhill - 65 Low Income and MedianJModerate Income owner-occupied homes, located adjacent to the Los Arroyos northern project boundary, but separated by a channel. 2. The Redwoods - 30 Low Income apartment units, located adjacent to the southeastern portion of the Los Arroyos project, but separated by a channel. 3. Glen brook - 46 Low Income and MedianJModerate Income owner-occupied homes, located adjacent to the Los Arroyos southern project boundary, but separated by a channel. 4. Monterra Village - 34 Low Income and Very Low Income apartment units, located approximately 200 feet southeast of the Los Arroyos project boundary. 5. Villa Esperanza - 21 Very Low Income apartment units for the developmentally disabled. This is part of the Los Arroyos master plan, so it is contained within the current request. 6. Los Arroyos [phase 1] - 97 Low Income to near market rate units, This is part of the Los Arroyos master plan, so it is contained within the boundaries of the current request. As this list shows, there are 293 affordable housing units adjacent to this site. If this exemption request is approved, there will be 407 affordable housing units within approximately Yz mile of each other. Although Staff believes that this project is N.ot C.onsistent with this criterion, there are some factors that may mitigate the impacts of this high concentration of affordable housing units: IQ' There are five distinct types of units that will be constructed in this area (multi-family rental apartment units, senior citizen rental apartment units, owner-occupied single family homes, owner-occupied town homes, and housing for the developmentally disabled), M 98-09 / ARE 98-03 . 9 . 9/03/98 s Taken as a whole, the affordable housing projects in this 1/2 mile area are affordable to Very Low, Low, Median, and Moderate income groups. Because these projects are affordable to a mixture of incomes, people of various incomes and backgrounds are living together, In the long term, this creates more sustainable neighborhoods, and better planned communities, s Approximately 9 acres of the property which is proposed to be developed in this application has a General Plan designation of High Density Residential, which could correspond to a maximum zoning designation ofR4, and would most likely be developed with apartment units, regardless of whether they are affordable. s There are 150 market rate units also proposed for this project. E. The diversity of unit type and architectural styles which are proposed in the entire development There will be several different housing types within the Los Arroyos project. These are: · Single family market rate homes · Single family self help homes · Cluster homes (town homes) · Apartment units (30 units will be for senior citizens, and 30 units will be for families) In addition, South County Housing has worked to create a wide mix of different architectural designs in this development, which will add architectural interest to the street. Staff believes this project is Consistent with this criterion. F. The site design and proposed building elevations The applicant has proposed a site design which shows looped streets, a City park in the center of the project, a pedestrian bridge overpass to the homes on Kern Avenue, and a good mix of the self help, below market rate, and near market rate homes. Staff does believe that the market rate units should be more evenly distributed throughout this project, however, overall, Staff believes this project is c.onsistent with this criterion. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The applicant has submitted a letter clearly outlining this proposal, and the reasons for requesting additional RDO-exempt units at this time. This letter is attached as Exhibit B, M 98-09 / ARE 98-03 . 10 . 9/03/98 PLANNING COMMISSION AND CITY COUNCIL ACTION: The Planning Commission and City Council must make the following determinations: A. Whether this project shall be given a specific exemption from the RDO to allow affordable housing units to be constructed adjacent to another exempt project within a three year time period; and B. Whether the requested number of RDO-exempt units, and the requested type of RDO-exempt units (i.e. single family homes and senior and multi-family apartment units) should be granted for this project. ST AFF RECOMMENDATION: This project is inconsistent with the Zoning Ordinance criteria for exempting affordable housing units in two areas: 1. If this project is approved, there will be only 156 units left for affordable housing exemptions in the remaining 5 years of this RDO cycle; and 2. If this project is approved, there will be 407 low income housing units within a Yz mile area. lli.he..flanning Commission and City Council believe that the po.sitiYeJ>enefi~oLthis_pl'oj.e.c.t outweigh these two areas of inconsistency, Staff recommends A PPRatLil._of_thisLe.ques.t. If this project is approved, staff recommends that the following conditions be applie.d.1o..J~approYal: I. The applicant shall be subject to the revised requirements of the "Affordable Housing Exemption Procedure for Private Developments" policy. These revisions are expected to be completed by the late Fall or early winter of 1998. 2. The developer shall sign a contract agreeing to the provisions contained within the "Affordable Housing Exemption Procedure for Private Developments," prior to approval of an Architectural and Site review for this site. Respectfully, YI~ j) ~~ William Faus Planning Division Manager ~, t . . I, RHONDA PELLIN, City Clerk of the City of Gilroy, do hereby certify that the attached Resolution No. 98-61 is an original resolution, duly adopted by the Council of the City of Gilroy at a regular meeting of said Council held on the 2nd day of November, 1998, at which meeting a quorum was present. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Official Seal of the City of Gilroy this 24th day of November, 1998. ~~ City Clerk of the City of Gilroy (Seal)