HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/09/1978City-Council Minutes
May 9, 1978
Page 2
1. The City Council met in joint session with the City Housing Authority
for an update report and:. recommendations from.the.Authority.
Mildred Roske,.member of the Housing Authority, presented a short slide program
on the progress -of the local Housing Authority in the City of San Luis Obispo
showing efforts.of:units constructed by the.Housing Authority and also units
leased by the Housing Authority.
Leland Bilatti, Chairman of.the Housing_Authority,.then reviewed for the City
Council various factors effecting -housing'assistance programs.in the City of
San Luis Obispo. He stated that the Department of Housing and Urban Development
was the primary funding..source. for housing assistance programs.. Funding levels
were determined by Federal legislation which essentially allocated funds on an
urban /rural basis with 80% of the funds going to urban areas and 20% to rural
areas. He'stated that this year's allocation.of funds by:HUD for the County
of San Luis Obispo through .other rural California counties and 12 Arizona
Counties were 362 units under various programs of HUD. He stated that
competition for these funds were expected to be highly competitive because
of the limited dollar amounts. He continued that there were some funds
available from the State of California through its Department.of Housing
and Community Development-and the California Housing Finance Agency. The
dollar amount of these funds were very limited. Additionally, there was
no allocation plan for distribution of financing available for new construction.
The funds being allocated were on the basis of private and /or public developer
demand. He stated estimates by'the Housing Authority for housing assistance
needs varied in range. from 1500 households (HUD estimate) to .700 (City estimate).
Part of the reason for the difference stemmed from different data bases from
which the estimates- were.based: Although the estimates'for.need varied, pro-
bably the most important aspect of the need for housing assistance was the rate
at which the figure was growing. He stated that the Housing Authority did not
have firm figures on the local growth rate and housing assistance needs, but he
did know that the number of households.needing assistance was increasing. The
increase in need-was due largely to the fact that household housing costs were
increasing at a greater rate than-the household income. He stated that
although the housing cost income problem affected the rate at which housing
assistance needs were growing, there were.other contributing factors. A
reduction in supply of existing rental units could contribute to this problem,
especially when there was a low vacancy rate in the rental market. Rental
unit reduction under such circumstances tended to push rental rates of the
remaining rental units to higher levels. He stated that landlord restrictions
placed on existing rental units further limited the availability of rental
units for particular segments of the households in need of housing. Perhaps
the prime example of this problem, was the common practice of restricting
rental units to families without children. He stated that in the City of
San Luis Obispo today, there are more rental restrictions against children
than there were against pets. The effect of these restrictions was to severely
limit housing opportunities for families.
Finally, he stated the need for housing assistance consisted of a mixture
of household types:. housing for the.elderly, handicapped, families, etc.
which required different -types of program response. For example, new con-
struction efforts should emphasize building two and three-bedroom units
because of the lack of these types of rental units in the city. Another
limitation was the availability of water.which would ultimately limit the
city's growth. Additionally, as the city grew to its population capacity
the availability of land, which would support this .added population, would
also be limited. When a commodity such as land became.a limited resource,
its value increased.
Limited availability of land-and increasing land value affected new con-
struction housing assistance efforts in a number of ways: 1) the first
and most obvious way essentially involved the increasing cost of land. Both
publicly and privately sponsored new construction housing assistance programs
had great difficulty in paying high land costs. Increasing land costs could
eventually price land out of the reach of these programs; and 2) a second and
less obvious factor involves the site selection criteria for assisted housing
programs. Site criteria standards were very high for these programs and thus
further limited the number of available sites.
City Council Minutes
May 9, 1978
Page 3
Finally „delays.in government review processes at both the local and the
Federal level had - become a significant ' factor-which added to. the cost.of
housing. New.construction housing assistance..efforts..were subject to.exten-
sive reviews.at.the Federal.level in-addition to the normal local government
review process. .The.potential for delays in a.very lengthy process was great.
The delay potential as well as the.pr(icess itself.had resulted in eroding
..private developer interest and participation in new construction housing
assistance programs.
Lee Balatti, Chairperson..of the Housing Authority, stated.that he felt that
.one of the policy issues involved - was.that the Housing Authority felt the
.city could play a more active role in efforts to address problems.of provid-
ing housing to-meet housing assistance needs. He felt the city's housing
element and its growth management policies of the General Plan should specif-
ically.identify its.role regarding housing assistance in this community. A
number._of techniques that could . be employed by the.city to help.solve some
of the.problems_ identified would be to displacement, rental discrimination,
increasing rents, review process and availability of land.
Rich Chubon,.Executive Director..of.. the .Housing Authority, submitted some
examples-in which the City Council might help the Housing Authority to
accomplish their goals:
1) Adoption.of a displacement. ordinance which protects low income house-
holds, from. displacement_ which. occurs when existing rental units were
converted to.commercial or condominium use. Such -an ordinance might
prohibit such conversions.unless replacement housing was available,
i.e.,.rental.vacancy rate of 4% to 6 %.
2). Adoption of an ordinance which would prohibit discrimination.in rental
housing solely on the basis.of children being members of a household.
' 3). Adoption..of_.an.ordinance which established controls on rent increases
by limiting.increases.to justifiable increases in costs, i.e., tax,
utilities, maintenance, etc.
4) Adopt an accelerated review process for new-construction projects which
provide additional low rent housing.
5) .Adopt an ordinance which-allowed-density bonuses for new housing units
which provided low rent housing... This would help lower the pier -unit
land costs.
6) Adopt an ordinance which required.that any annexation of new land would
require that a portion of the annexed-land was set aside for the develop-
ment of low rent or moderate income.housing..
7) Adopt an.ordinance which required.that new multifamily subdivisions
creating more than a.specified number of lots make available land to
.,be purchased for public housing.
8) Adopt an ordinance establishing the-number of housing units to be built
each year and allocating housing unit.permits by type (single family/
multifamily) and income level (high, middle and low).
9) Adopt an ordinance which based..permit approval of new construction multi-
family.unit projects (10:units or more) on making a.specified number of
these new units available for Section 8 housing assistance.
The Housing-Authority also felt the city should consider developing programs
which leverage available Federal funds. Examples of such programs could
include:
1) Donating.city surplus land for development of Federally funded public
housing.
2) Providing off- site.water and sewer improvements-for Federally funded
low rent housing.
City.Council Minutes
May 9, 1978
Page 4
3) Purchasing land..and.writing down-land-costs-to levels..which improve
the funded_low. rent Housing programs.
4). Providing.. add itiona1 rent supplement funds -to provide. additional housing
assistance (one city had already done this,, Marin,.California).
Finally, the Housing Authority stated that the City Council could establish
a revolving housing development fund which would provide interest -free "seed"
money to private /public nonprofit sponsors_of..low rent.housing. Such money
..could be utilized by.these sponsors,to_pay"the costs of meeting preliminary
requirements prior .to.securiing.Federal..housing funds. This money would,be
returned to the city.for re =use when these sponsors obtain Federal funding.
The City Council and Members .of.the.Housing.Authority present held a lengthy
discussion.on.the various items.brought.forth by.the Housing.Authority in
attempting to carry out.their goal . of_providing. additional housing for low
and moderate income families and also discussed proposals made by the Housing
Authority for city participation in the housing program.
..The City-Council and.Housing Authority.then discussed appointments and con-
siderations for membership on the Housing Authority- Housing Authority
members present felt the City Council should give more credence to recommend-
ations made by-the Housing Authority.as it was a.very technical type of board
and.was . not.one_.that would . readily accept new members.on every two year basis.
They felt that the Housing Authority should make nominations to.the City
Council of members whom they wished to continue as members and then if these
members did.not wish reappointment, allow the City Council to advertise or to
look for members with guidance from the Housing Authority.
Mayor Schwartz suggested that of.all.the advisory boards and commissions of
the city, the Housing Authority was the only one with different dates for
appointment and he: asked the Housing Authority, through .their. Executive
Director, to.check with HUD and_see.if it.could be arranged_ so that as the
terms became due, they would all expire on the 30th day of'June, regardless
of the length of service and that way there would be no way of missing an
appointment...
The Housing Authority-stated they would be most happy to cooperate with
the Council looking. into. changing dates-of .appointments...and.also asked
the Council.to favorably consider their request for membership on the
Commission.
Mayor Schwartz declare d_a recess of 9:40 p.m. At 9:50 p.m..the meeting
reconvened with all Councilmen present.
3. The City Council considered._a..resolution authorizing condemnation
of property_for.expansion of.the police facility.
On motion of Councilman Petterson, seconded by Councilman Jorgensen, the
following resolution was introduced: Resolution No._3565 (1978 Series),
a resolution of the Council of the City of San Luis..Obispo finding and
declaring the necessity for condemnation of private.property for` expansion
of police facility, City of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County, California.
Passed and adopted on the following roll call vote:
AYES: ..Councilmen Dunin, Jorgensen,.Petterson,..Settle and Mayor Schwartz
NOES:. None
ABSENT: None
2. The City Council considered a report by Henry Engen, Community
Development Director, dated March 10, 1978 entitled "Current Major Development
Applications ".
Henry Engen stated that the purpose of the memorandum was.to appraise the
City Council of the general scale, location and status of major development
City Council Minutes
May 9, 1978
Page 5
requests currently being... processed_within.the..City Planning-Department. The
.volume of land. _development:entitlements.being requested..would.bear_directly
on the respective..work_.loads of the Planning,.Engineering.and Building Inspection
...Division of the Community. Development - Department in addition -to other departments.
He said the number of applications also raised basic issues relative to the city's
growth management.processes.
1 He continued.that- there... were.12.major. residential land projects in various
stages of_review = and /or.approval and -had a potential of.2,358 dwelling units
which would represent a potential population increase of 5,900 persons.
.This reflected a 17% increase over the October, 1977 estimated city pop-
ulation of 35,200 persons. He stated that in addition to the dwelling
unit residential land projects, there were three major non - residential
projects which would add 153 new lots for commercial and industrial develop-
ments, together with.the proposed San Luis Mall, which would provide from
300 to 400 full and part -time jobs within its proposed 37 stores.
He stated that the target population capacity of the community general plan
was some 55,000 persons, with present water and sewage capacity allowing
for approximately 42,000 people. Build -out of the residential projects now
being processed would result in ,a population of over.41,100 persons in the
city. The city's General Plan.contained a growth rate goal of 4% through the
70's and 2% through the-80's. Therefore, the population addition noted above
would provide the capacity..to..bring..population growth to a 1983 projected
level and to the threshold of water -and water and sewage treatment limits.
The city's General Plan..initially proposed a staged progression of develop -.
ment;.however, this was changed to reflect a horizon year plan containing
broader policies for.determining- growth areas. The problem with this approach
was that we have, in effect, a.first- come - first -serve policy for processing
developments as opposed to the city indicating where and under what conditions
it wants which developments to occur. He felt that as a professional planner
that the city needed a more precise set.of guidelines reflecting which pro-
' jects and what types of projects the city desires.
He concluded his statements by saying the Community Development Department
would be proposing a growth management plan as part of the 1978 -1979 budget
process.
The City Council, Housing Authority members present, planning staff and
citizens present also discussed the philosophy of establishing a growth
management strategy or plan for the city and whether the proposed strategy
as submitted by the staff was restrictive or an expansive plan. After
lengthy discussion of growth management as supported by the General Plan,
and in view of the recommendations of the Housing Authority's recommendations
submitted to the City Council this evening, the matter was referred to the
planning staff for inclusion in the city's proposed housing element of the
General Plan and also for presentation of the so- called growth management
strategy or plan in the 1978 -1979 budget.
There being no
further business to come
before the City Council, the
Mayor adjourned
the meeting to 7:00 p.m.
Friday, May 12, 1978 at 11:20 p.m.,
Tuesday, May 9,
1978.
APPROVED: June
20, 1978
Fitzpatrick, City Clerk