DATE: June 9, 2016.
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Planning Manager
SUBJECT
Title
Planning/Land Use Topics; Roles and Responsibilities of the Planning Commissioner .
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That the Commission review and provide additional feedback and direction, including related to future work session topics.
Body
BACKGROUND
On April 28, 2016, Commissioner Enders presented information related to encouraging Strong Communities, which included a call to action related to five key areas: Catalyst Sites, Taking stock of the Housing Inventory, Small Lot Single Family Design Criteria, Improving Walkability, and Design Innovation. With support from the majority of the Commission, Chair Parso-York requested staff return at the following meeting with responsive information. At the following meeting, staff shared with the Commission that a work session would be held on June 9 in response to the items requested.
DISCUSSION
The following includes some basic information in response to Commissioner Enders request for information. Should additional information related to the topics be desired, staff welcomes Commission direction and feedback, so staff can provide at a future work session(s).
1. Catalyst and Opportunity Sites
Due to the strong market, but also due to the emphasis the City has placed on attracting and retaining businesses and City staff insisting early and throughout the review process the importance of high quality developments, the level of projects has improved significantly over the last several months. Setting clear expectations with developers and assisting them through the process has proven invaluable and will help contribute to improving Hayward. Such efforts will continue as Hayward’s reputation for requiring high quality developments and being an attractive city in which to invest increases.
The City’s Economic Development Strategic Plan <http://hayward-ca.gov/your-government/documents/economic-development-strategic-plan> (EDSP) was adopted in 2013 by the City Council covering the Fiscal Years 2014-2018 timeframe. Some of the objectives relevant to the Planning Commission identified in the EDSP’s Mission Statement are “ensuring efficient and predictable business permitting processes” and “creating and sustaining a safe, clean, green, and fiscally sound business environment that benefits residents, businesses, and the region.” The EDSP’s three areas of focus are: Branding and Marketing; Industrial Sector; and Service and Retail Industry. Related to the last two areas of focus are identification of catalyst and opportunity sites, the purpose of which is “to focus limited city resources on the sites that will provide the most immediate positive results related to the City’s business attraction and retention efforts.” Catalyst sites were defined as key retail areas and were identified using the following criteria: the potential impact on associated retail areas, high visibility, vacant or underutilized parcels/buildings, single or few owners, and acreage. Some key catalyst sites include the former Mervyn’s Headquarters and City Center sites, Southland Mall, and the former Kaiser Hospital site. Opportunity sites were selected within the Industrial area utilizing the following criteria: vacant or underutilized parcels/buildings, greater than five acres, single or few owners, proximity to major corridors/arterials, and minimal CEQA concerns. Some of these Opportunity sites include the Air National Guard site at the Hayward Airport, the Depot Road auto wrecking yards, and the auto auction site off Industrial Parkway West along I-880.
Maps identifying the Catalyst and Opportunity sites from the EDSP have been included as Attachments I and II, though as reflected in a February 7, 2016 retail corridor baseline profile report to the Council Economic Development Committee <https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2559083&GUID=0AF922FE-F9C7-44AA-A004-C92E841FC173>, other area have been identified for consideration for focus. Those areas are Downtown B Street (to be covered in the upcoming Downtown Specific Plan project), Central and South Mission Boulevard (included in the Form-Based Codes and also part of the Route 238 Bypass properties), Tennyson Road, and the I-880/Whipple area.
In addition to these opportunity and catalyst sites, the City believes that much of the former Caltrans Route 238 Bypass right of way lands will also serve as catalysts sites. As you might be aware, the City has entered into a Purchase and Sales Agreement (PSA) with Caltrans related to many of these property groups in an attempt to have more control over their disposition and ultimate development. In addition, the City has executed an Exclusive Negotiating Rights Agreement with William Lyon Homes related to a number of these properties in the South Hayward area near South Hayward BART (Groups 1-3 in Attachment III). In addition, staff has had multiple meetings with other interested parties with respect to other groups of 238 properties including a large open space parcel and the former Carlos Bee quarry site. Staff believes the ultimate development of these catalyst sites will spur additional development and serve as a catalyst to redevelop or garner additional investment in Hayward neighborhoods that have been ignored for quite some time.
If the Planning Commission so desires, staff can schedule a future work session with Economic Development staff to provide an update on activities and progress related to economic development.
2. Housing
State Housing Element law requires that each local jurisdiction accommodate a share of the region’s projected housing needs for a determined planning period. In this case, the planning period is 2014-2022. The Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) is established in this region by the State Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The RHNA is allocated to each city/jurisdiction in the region by income category, shown in a report from ABAG <http://www.abag.ca.gov/files/ABAG_Final_RHNA_Publication.pdf>. As shown on page 21 of that report, Hayward has an allocated RHNA of 3,920 units for this planning period as follows:
|
Income Category |
# Residential Units |
|
Extremely Low (up to 30% of AMI) |
425 |
|
Very Low (up to 50% of AMI) |
426 |
|
Low (51-80% of AMI) |
480 |
|
Moderate (81-120% of AMI) |
608 |
|
Above Moderate (more than 120% of AMI) |
1,981 |
The Housing Element <http://www.hayward-ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/HayHE_FINAL_Adopted.pdf>, which is part of the City’s General Plan <http://www.hayward-ca.gov/your-government/documents/planning-documents/general-plan>, has various programs identified to demonstrate how the City could meet this RHNA either by already approved projects or within areas in the City where new units could be constructed via what is called a Sites Inventory. Staff plans to include a table showing the City’s progress toward meeting our established RHNA in future Commission reports regarding new residential projects. Alternatively, this information could be included as a work session item and presented annually to show our progress in meeting our RHNA.
Regarding affordable housing, the City has an Affordable Housing Ordinance <http://hayward-ca.gov/sites/default/files/Ch-10_A-17_AffordableHousing.pdf> applicable to new residential developments consisting of 20 units or more, which identifies options for compliance to promote affordable housing, such as inclusion of affordable units within the development or payment of in-lieu fees. Attachment IV is a summary of the Affordable Housing Ordinance.
As described in the table above, the income categories vary depending on the level of affordability and all are based on Area Median Income (AMI). The AMI for a four-person household in Alameda County is $93,500. Based on the AMI, the following table outlines what income levels would be considered for each of the categories:
|
Income Category |
Income Limits |
|
Extremely Low |
$28,050 |
|
Very Low |
$46,750 |
|
Low |
$74,800 |
|
Moderate |
$112,200 |
|
Above Moderate |
$112,201+ |
It is important to understand these are income levels, but does not define what would be considered an affordable unit for rent or purchase. This is a more complicated calculation based on the idea of not paying more than a percentage of your income on your housing needs. If the Commission desires, Housing could also be added as a topic for a future work session, especially given that the affordable housing crisis in the Bay Area is the subject of much discussion at the local, region and state level. That being said, there are goals, policies and programs in the Housing Element <http://hayward-ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/HayHE_FINAL_Adopted.pdf> of the General Plan that speak to the development of affordable housing, including Goal 2, policies H2.1-H2.4 and implementation programs 4, 8, 11, and 12.
3. Small lot family criteria and guidelines
Years ago, just before the market crashed, staff was tasked with developing small lot single family development standards. This was an attempt to create some specific criteria whereby clear guidance could be provided to a developer as well as staff and decision makers about what small lot single family developments should look like. Unfortunately, that project was de-prioritized and the project was shelved. If work load and staffing allow, development of such standards will be done.
As it relates to Planned Developments, typically where we have seen small lot single family products proposed, staff is wondering if the Commission has specific concerns regarding the process for Planned Developments and/or are there specific concerns with the small-lot product types being proposed under Planned Development Districts?
For the benefit of the Commission, the FY17 project priorities have been identified through the City’s budget process for the Planning Division, which include the Downtown Specific Plan, Industrial District Zoning Regulations Overhaul, Form-Based Codes Updates, and a HASPA Sea Level Rise study in cooperation with HARD and the East Bay Regional Park District. Of course, these projects are in addition to the regular current planning development applications that Planning staff processes. The next level of priorities, based on age of regulations and need to bring regulations into compliance with our new General Plan, would be updates to the Off-Street Parking Regulations and comprehensive Zoning Ordinance Update.
4. Walkability
The General Plan certainly discusses concepts of healthy communities and complete streets. The idea of walkability is a key factor in the idea of complete communities. Walkscore.com <http://www.walkscore.com> is an interesting site, but in reviewing it, staff noticed that a walkability score is very location specific. Hayward in general has an average score of 52, but Hayward City Hall has a score of 90! <https://www.walkscore.com/score/777-b-st-hayward-ca-94541>.
Aligned with the idea of Complete Communities, which is described in the Land Use Chapter of the Hayward 2040 General Plan <http://www.hayward-ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/HayGPU_Part%203.1_LU-Element_Approved_2014-07-01.pdf>, staff would suggest for the Commission’s consideration the inclusion of some information in staff reports that can provide some of this information. The staff reports could include some basic information for projects such as proximity to transit, proximity to services such as grocery or drug stores, proximity to childcare facilities, open space or parks, schools, or number of housing units if the proposed project is nonresidential. Requiring developments to integrate features that encourage pedestrian movement and connectivity should be a priority for the City and aligns with the General Plan policies. Also, developing/revising a pedestrian/bike master plan for Hayward, which is slated to occur this coming fiscal year, is a high priority. A future work session with Public Works staff and with HARD staff would be suggested for consideration.
5. Future Topics
Staff would like to suggest that we hold regular work sessions with the Planning Commission, one every other month, to cover topics of interest to the Commission. The concept of design innovations including such things like micro-units could be topics for future work sessions. Staff might also recommend such topics as economic development activities, housing, CEQA, Planning 101, pedestrian/bike plan development, parks, etc. Staff envisions inviting both City and other agency staff to such sessions. Staff would also be interested in any ideas or suggestion from the Commission.
6. Roles and Responsibilities of the Planning Commission
Staff has prepared a short presentation (Attachment V) related to the roles and responsibilities of the Planning Commission. Staff looks forward to engaging with Commissioners at the work session and in the future, as staff and the Commission work together to improve Hayward and the quality of life for its residents.
NEXT STEPS
As indicated above, staff intends to hold regular work sessions with the Planning Commission, whereby various topics of interest can be discussed with various staffs.
Staff contact
Prepared by: Sara Buizer, AICP, Planning Manager
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Approved by:
David Rizk, AICP, Development Services Director
Attachments:
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Attachment I |
Map of Adopted Catalyst Sites from the Economic Development Strategic Plan |
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Attachment II |
Map of Adopted Opportunity Sites from the Economic Development Strategic Plan |
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Attachment III |
Map of the 238 Properties subject of the City/Caltrans Purchase and Sale Agreement |
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Attachment IV |
Hayward’s Affordable Housing Ordinance Summary |
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Attachment V |
Roles and Responsibilities of Planning Commission Slides |