[00:01:16]
[CALL TO ORDER]
I'D LIKE TO CALL THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING FOR AUGUST 15TH, 2024 TO ORDER FOR THE RECORD.COMMISSIONER LAFARGE IS EXCUSED FROM THE MEETING, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT COMMISSIONER, UH, EDMUND GONZALEZ IS RUNNING A FEW MINUTES LATE.
ANY OBJECTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION ON THE ATTENDANCE SEEN? AND IF WE COULD HAVE THE ROLL CALL PLEASE.
[ROLL CALL]
COMMISSIONER CASTILLO PRESENT.COMMISSIONER CLEMSON, WOULD YOU LIKE
[PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE]
TO LEAD US IN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE THIS EVENING? SURE.STAND MR. HAND OVER YOUR HEART.
READY TO BEGIN PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE.
ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS.
ONE NATION, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER CLEMSON.
[1. 24-54546 Recommendation to receive and file Director’s Report. Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
UH, THE COMMISSION TO HEAR THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT.VICE CHAIR TEMPLIN, I AND COMMISSIONER WARE.
IS THERE A DIRECTOR'S REPORT? YES.
GOOD EVENING CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
UH, JUST A COUPLE OF UPDATES BEFORE WE JUMP INTO OUR MAIN AGENDA.
FIRST, I WANTED TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT, UM, AN ACTION THAT YOU ALL TOOK A FEW YEARS AGO REGARDING, UM, DEDICATING AND CHANGING THE ZONING FOR SEVERAL, UM, PUBLIC PARKS IN LONG BEACH.
UM, UH, YOU HAD RECOMMENDED THE DEDICATION OF WILLOW SPRINGS PARK AND THAT THAT WAS HELD UP AT COUNCIL FOR SOME TIME DUE TO SOME TECHNICAL ANALYSIS THAT HAD TO BE DONE.
UM, BUT THAT EFFORT TO DEDICATE WILLOW SPRINGS PARK DID CULMINATE AT CITY COUNCIL ON TUESDAY WITH, UM, A POSITIVE VOTE TO DEDICATE MOST OF THE PARK TODAY AND TO, UM, AND TO CREATE A LAND BANK, UH, FOR THE, THE NORTHWEST CORNER THAT NEEDS TO BE DEDICATED IN THE FUTURE ONCE SOME ADDITIONAL CLEANUP IS DONE.
UM, SO THIS IS 46 ACRES OF NEW DEDICATED PARK SPACE IN A PARK, POOR PART OF OUR CITY, AND WE'RE REALLY DELIGHTED, UH, AT THE WORK OF THIS COMMISSION AS WELL AS THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION TO HELP MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
SO I WANTED TO PROVIDE YOU THAT EXCITING UPDATE.
UM, AND THEN MY SECOND UPDATE FROM THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT SIDE IS JUST TO REMIND THE COMMISSION AND THE PUBLIC THAT WE ARE HOSTING A SERIES OF HOUSING POLICY FORUMS BEGINNING NEXT SATURDAY.
WE TALKED ABOUT IT IN A BIT MORE DETAIL LAST TIME, BUT, UH, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PUBLIC TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AND WEIGH IN ON VARIOUS HOUSING POLICIES BEING CONSIDERED IN THE CITY, UM, SUCH AS THE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING POLICY EXPANSION, WHICH WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN MUCH MORE DETAIL TONIGHT, BUT ALSO OUR VARIOUS, UH, ZONING CODE UPDATE EFFORTS, UH, CHANGES TO THE, UH, SUBSTANTIAL REMODEL ORDINANCE THAT ARE BEING PROPOSED, UM, AND A RELIGIOUS FACILITIES ORDINANCE THAT WE'LL BE BRINGING FORWARD.
SO THOSE BEGIN NEXT SATURDAY, AUGUST 24TH.
UM, AND OUR HOUSING POLICY FORUM WEBPAGE HAS MORE INFORMATION.
WE HOPE, UH, THE PUBLIC WILL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE.
AND THAT CONCLUDES MY DIRECTOR'S REPORT.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT? NOT I'LL OPEN IT UP TO THE PUBLIC.
IF ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE COMMISSION ON THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT, NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO DO SO.
SEEING THEN, DO WE HAVE ANY VIRTUAL COMMENTS? IF YOU'RE JOINING US VIRTUALLY AND YOU'D LIKE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FUNCTION AT THIS TIME.
AND IF YOU'RE JOINING TELEPHONICALLY, PLEASE PRESS STAR NINE.
[00:05:04]
THERE APPEARS TO BE NO PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT.IF WE COULD HAVE THE VOTE PLEASE.
[2. 24-54547 Recommendation to approve the minutes for the Planning Commission meeting of Thursday, August 1, 2024. Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
IS THE RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF OUR PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING FROM THURSDAY, AUGUST 1ST.YOU CAN HAVE A MOTION FOR THIS ITEM.
COMMISSIONER CLEMSON, ANY QUESTIONS ON THE MINUTES THAT THEY'VE BEEN SUBMITTED? NO.
I'LL OPEN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE MINUTES.
SEEING NONE IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, DO WE HAVE ANY VIRTUAL COMMENTS? IF YOU'RE JOINING US VIRTUALLY AND YOU'D LIKE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE MINUTES, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FUNCTION AT THIS TIME.
AND IF YOU'RE JOINING TELEPHONICALLY, PLEASE PRESS NINE.
THERE APPEARS TO BE NO PUBLIC COMMENT FOR THE MINUTES.
I'LL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT THEN.
MADAM CLERK, IF WE COULD HAVE THE VOTE.
I BELIEVE THAT BRINGS US TO OUR FIRST REGULAR, I SWEAR, ANYBODY IN ACTION ITEM.
BEFORE WE DO THAT THOUGH, I WILL TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SWORN ANYBODY IN THAT'S PLANNING ON GIVING TESTIMONY THIS EVENING.
IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON SPEAKING, PLEASE STAND, RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND.
DO YOU SOLEMNLY SWEAR OR AFFIRM THAT THE EVIDENCE YOU SHALL GIVE IN THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING SHALL BE THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH? THANK YOU.
AND WITH THAT MADAM CLERK, IF WE COULD HAVE THE NEXT ITEM.
[3. 24-54548 Recommendation to accept Categorical Exemption CE-24-101 and approve a Site Plan Review (SPR24-052) and Conditional Use Permit (CUP24-007) and adopt the proposed findings and conditions of approval thereto, to permit the conversion of approximately 2,854 square feet of office space into self-storage and the construction of a new (unattached) approximately 112,978 square feet self-storage building, on a 1.03 acre lot located at 1700 Santa Fe Avenue, in the Industrial General (IG) Zoning District. (District 7) Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
THREE IS RECOMMENDATION TO ACCEPT CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION CE DASH 24 DASH 1 0 1 AND APPROVE THE SITE PLAN REVIEW AND CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT AND ADOPT THE PROPOSED FINDINGS AND CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL THERETO TO SUBMIT THE CONVERSION OF APPROXIMATELY 2,854 SQUARE FEET OF OFFICE SPACE INTO SELF STORAGE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW APPROXIMATELY 112,978 SQUARE FEET STORAGE BUILDING ON A 1.03 ACRE LOT AT 1700 SANTA FE AVENUE IN THE INDUSTRIAL GENERAL ZONING DISTRICT, DISTRICT SEVEN.CAN I HAVE A MOTION FOR THIS ITEM TO HEAR IT? THANK YOU.
VICE CHAIR TEMPLAN AND COMMISSIONER WARE.
WE HAVE A STAFF PRESENTATION THIS EVENING.
WE DO PROJECT PLANNER MONTAGE BATIA WILL PROVIDE THIS PRESENTATION.
GOOD EVENING CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION.
YEAH, GOOD EVENING, CHAIR MEMBERS WITH COMMISSION.
THE ITEM BEFORE YOU TODAY FOR CONSIDERATION IS AN EXPANSION OF AN EXISTING SOUTH STORAGE FACILITY AT 1700 SQUARE, UH, SANTA FE AVENUE.
THE APPLICATION INVOLVED OUR SITE PLAN, UH, REVIEW, AND A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT AND THE APPLICATION NUMBERS ARE LISTED ON THE SCREEN.
THE PROJECT SITE IS LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH IN A PRIMARILY INDUSTRIAL AREA.
THE SITE IS 1.03 ACRES IN SIZE IS ZONED INDUSTRIAL GENERAL INDUSTRIAL WITH AN INDUSTRIAL LAND USE PLACE TYPE AS WELL.
THE ORIGINAL BUILDING THAT IS CURRENTLY EXISTING WAS BUILT IN 1951 AND IS APPROXIMATELY 36,656 SQUARE FEET.
IMPORTANT TO MENTION HERE IS THAT THE PROJECT SITE FALLS WITHIN THE AB 2097 AREA THAT IS AN AREA WITHIN HALF A MILE OFF A PUBLIC TRANSIT STOP.
AND THEREFORE THIS PROJECT IS EXEMPT FROM PROVIDING ADDITIONAL PARKING THE EXISTING CONDITIONS ON THE SITE.
THE SITE IS LOCATED ON THE CORNER OF SANTA FE, UM, AVENUE WEST ESTHER STREET, AND SEVEN WEST 17TH STREET.
AS MENTIONED BEFORE, THE PROJECT SITE CURRENTLY HAS AN APPROXIMATELY 60 36,000, UM, 36,600 SELF STORAGE BUILDING WITH A 4,039 SQUARE FEET OFFICE AREA.
ORIGINALLY, THE PROJECT WAS BUILT FOR OFFICE USE IN 1951.
IN 2013, A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT WAS APPROVED FOR THE CONVERSION OF THIS OFFICE BUILDING INTO A SELF STORAGE FACILITY AND THE ADDITION OF A THIRD FLOOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR IN 2014, THE CUP WAS MODIFIED TO ALLOW THE CONSTRUCTION OF ADDITIONAL 4,000 SQUARE FEET OF SPACE ON THE NORTH END OF THE BUILDING AND TO PERMIT THE UTILIZATION OF EXISTING PARKING LOT FOR RVS, BOATS AND TRUCK STORAGE.
AS OF DATE, THE SITE IS ONLY BEING USED FOR TRUCK CHASIS,
[00:10:01]
UH, STORAGE THAT IS MINUS THEIR TRAILERS AND ONLY ONE RV AND NO BOATS ARE CURRENTLY, UH, PRESENT ON THE SITE.BEFORE I GO INTO THE DETAILS OF THE PROJECT, I DO WANT TO MENTION TO THE COMMISSION THAT BEFORE THAT THIS PROJECT INCLUDES A SITE PLAN REVIEW AND A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION.
BOTH OF THESE APPLICATIONS ESSENTIALLY ARE TRIGGERED BECAUSE OF THE SIZE OF THE PROPOSED BUILDING AND EXPANSION.
UH, I WANT TO ELABORATE ON THE CUP APPLICATION A LITTLE SINCE THIS IS NOT A USUAL OCCURRENCE.
WHILE THE USE WAS PERMITTED IN 2013 BY THE CUP PENSION BEFORE LONG BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE CALLS FOR A NEW CUP WHEN AN EXPANSION OF THE USE IS OVER 50,000 SQUARE FEET, THE NEW CUP WOULD SUPERSEDE THE 2013, UH, ORIGINAL CUP.
HOWEVER, THERE IS NO CHANGE OF THE USE PROPOSED.
UM, GOING BACK TO THE PROPOSED PROJECT, THE CON PROJECT IS PROPOSING TO CONVERT APPROXIMATELY 3,218 SQUARE FEET OF EXISTING OFFICE SPACE INTO SELF STORAGE.
ADDITIONALLY, THE PROJECT IS PROPOSING TO CONSTRUCT A NEW UNATTACHED BUILDING, WHICH IS SIX STORY HIGH OF APPROXIMATELY 113,000 SQUARE FEET.
UH, THE PROJECT IS ALSO PROPOSING, UM, NEW LANDSCAPING ALONG BOTH WESTCHESTER STREET AND WEST 17TH STREET OF 1,428 SQUARE FEET, TAKING A TO TOTAL OF 2,400, UH, FIVE SQUARE FEET WITH THE LANDSCAPING THAT IS EXISTING WITH THE EXISTING BUILDING BEING IN AB 2097 AREA.
THIS SITE DOES NOT REQUIRE TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PARKING USE, UM, PARKING FOR THE USE.
HOWEVER, THE APPLICANT IS PROVIDING 10 PARKING SPACES.
THREE OF THESE ARE THE UNCOVERED PARKING SPACES, AND THE REST OF THE SEVEN ARE COVERED PARKING SPACES FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES AND TENANTS.
THE YELLOW ARROWS ON THE SCREEN SHOW THE INGRESS EGRESS AND THE FLOW OF VEHICLES ON THE SITE.
THE FACILITY WILL OPERATE DAILY BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 7:00 AM TO 7:00 PM ON WEEKDAYS AND 9:00 AM TO 5:00 PM ON WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS.
THIS SITE WILL HAVE THREE TO FOUR EMPLOYEES AT ANY GIVEN TIME AND IN THE INITIAL PHASE, THAT IS UNTIL THE PROJECT REACHES APPROXIMATELY 90 TO 95% TENANCY.
AND THEREAFTER, WE'LL REDUCE IT DOWN TO TWO, TWO EMPLOYEES PER SHIFT TO MANAGE THE SITE.
THE EMPLOYEES ON SITE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING AND ENSURING THAT THE SITE IS, UH, KEPT CLEAN AND ALLOW FOR THE SMOOTH OPERATIONS.
THE DEVELOPER ALSO HAS A SECURITY PLAN WITH HIGHEST TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING MOTION AND VOICE DETECTOR CAMERAS, BOTH ON THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE BUILDING TO ENSURE SAFETY OF THE FACILITY AROUND THE CLOCK, HERE ARE THE NORTH AND EAST ELEVATIONS.
THE NORTH ELEVATION FACES WESTCHESTER STREET AND EAST ELEVATION IS AN INTERIOR ELEVATION.
THE NEW BUILDING WOULD BE 65 FEET HIGH, WHICH IS THE HIGHEST ALLOWED BY THE ZONING WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE PARAPET RAILING, WHICH IS GOING UP TO 67 FEET.
AND THE STAIRWELL AND ELEVATOR TOWERS, WHICH ARE PROJECTING TO 69 FEET LONG WIND MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 21.3 3.130 DOES ALLOW FOR AN ADDITIONAL 10 FEET HIGH FOR ROOFTOP STAIRS, ELEVATOR, PENTHOUSES, ENCLOSURES, AND ROOFTOP SAFETY RAILS.
SO THIS MEETS THE PARAMETERS OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS.
THE APPLICANT IS PROPOSING A MODERN STYLE BUILDING BUILT OF CONCRETE MASONRY UNIT BLOCKS WITH METAL CANOPY STEEL BANDING AND ALUMINUM STOREFRONT SYSTEMS IN COLOR PALLETS OF BLUE AND GRAY.
THE EXISTING BUILDING TO NOTE HERE IS NOT PROPOSING ANY MODIFICATION OF THE BUILDING FACADE, HOWEVER IT WOULD BE PAINTED TO MATCH THE NEW FACILITY.
THE TWO BUILDINGS WOULD OPERATE AND BE MANAGED AT AS ONE SINGULAR ENTITY.
HERE ARE THE OTHER TWO ELEVATIONS FROM SOUTH STREET, UH, FROM, SORRY, THE SOUTH ELEVATION ON 17TH STREET AND WEST ELEVATION, WHICH IS ON SANTA FE AVENUE.
JUST TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEAS, HERE ARE THE COUP COUPLE OF RENDERINGS FOR THE PROJECT FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES.
MOVING ON TO THE FINDINGS, UM, I'LL TALK ABOUT THE SITE PLAN REVIEW FINDINGS.
FIRST, THE PROJECT IS AN EXPANSION OF AN EXISTING INDUSTRIAL USE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD WITH PREDOMINANTLY INDUSTRIAL OR COMMERCIAL USES.
THEREFORE, THE DESIGN CAN BE CONSIDERED HARMONIOUS, CONSISTENT, AND COMPLETE WITHIN ITSELF, SO, AND COMPATIBLE TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
NUMBER TWO, THE PROJECT IS LOCATED IN THE, IN THE IG ZONE AND COMPLIES WITH ALL DESIGN GUIDELINES SPECIFIED BY THE LONG BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE.
NUMBER THREE, THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT MATURE TREES PRESENT ON THE PROJECT SIDE AND THEREFORE NONE WILL BE REMOVED.
UM, NUMBER FOUR, THE DEVELOPER WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR PUBLIC RIGHT OF A IMPROVEMENTS ADJACENT TO THIS PROPERTY, INCLUDING A DA COMPLIANCE SIDEWALKS AND CURBS, WHICH IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE IMPACTS OF THIS PROJECT.
NUMBER FIVE, THE PROJECT WILL MEET ALL TDM REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH IN CHAPTER 21.64 OF THE LONG BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE, WHICH INCLUDES PROVIDING TRANSIT INFORMATION, BICYCLE PARKING AREA CARPOOL, VANPOOL, LOADING ZONES, SAFE BIKE ACCESS, EFFICIENT PARKING ACCESS,
[00:15:01]
ET CETERA.UH, NUMBER SIX, THE PROJECT PROPOSES SEVERAL GREEN BUILDING ELEMENTS AS REQUIRED BY THE, UH, MUNICIPAL CODE.
AND THIS INCLUDES LEAD CERTIFICATION AND THERE'S NO CURRENT HOUSING LOCATED ON THE SITE CURRENTLY, AND SO THEREFORE NONE WOULD BE REMOVED.
GOING ON TO THE CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT TRAININGS, THE PROJECT AS MENTIONED BEFORE, IS LOCATED IN THE IG ZONE, WHICH IS CONSIDERED AN INDUSTRIAL SANCTUARY.
A SELF STORAGE FACILITY IS PERMITTED WITH A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT IN THIS LOAN.
I DO WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LAND USE POLICIES.
UH, THE GENERAL PLAN LAND USE POLICY ONE FIVE ENCOURAGES APPROPRIATE INFILL PROJECTS AND LUE POLICY SEVEN DASH EIGHT CALLS TO ENSURE INFILL DEVELOPMENT.
AND THESE ARE COMPAT WITH SURROUNDING, COMPATIBLE WITH SURROUNDING ESTABLISHED AND PLANNED USERS.
AND THESE ARE BOTH MET IN THIS DEVELOPMENT LUE SIX 10 CALLS TO DISCOURAGE FISCALLY DRAINING LAND USERS SUCH AS PUBLIC STORAGE, VACANT LOTS, AND OUTSIDE STORAGE.
HOWEVER, I DO WANNA MENTION HERE THAT THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS EXPANDING ON THE EXISTING USE, WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED ABOUT 11 YEARS AGO IN 2013, AND HAS BEEN OPERATIONAL EVER SINCE.
GIVEN THE SITE'S PROXIMATE TO RESIDENTIAL USE, WHICH WHICH ARE ABOUT 500 FEET AWAY, THE SITE IS NOT SUITABLE FOR HEAVY INDUSTRIAL USES DESPITE BEING IN AN INDUSTRIALLY ZONE AREA.
WITH THE INCREASED DEMAND FOR SUCH SELF-STORAGE FACILITIES, THE USE IS NOT EXPECTED TO SEIZE OPERATIONS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
AND AS SUCH, THE PROPOSED EXPANSION OF THE EXISTING USE IS THE MOST SUITABLE FOR THE PROJECT SITE.
NUMBER THREE, THE PROJECT PROPOSES TO MAINTAIN AND EXPAND THE EXISTING SELF-STORAGE USE ON THE SITE THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW STORY SELF STORAGE STRUCTURE.
THE PROJECT WILL ALSO INVOLVE THE REMOVAL OF THE EXISTING PERMITTED TRUCK AND BOAT STORAGE USE ON THE SURFACE PARKING LOT WITHIN THE SITE.
AND THIS REMOVAL WOULD RESULT IN THE REDUCTION OF VEHICLE TRAFFIC AROUND THE SITE AND ALSO REDUCE EMISSIONS FROM FROM TRUCK TRAFFIC.
THE PROJECT IS NOT NUMBER THREE, THE PROJECT IS NOT LOCATED WITHIN AN EXISTING BUSINESS OR OFFICE PARK AND IS ONLY EXPANDING UPON THE EXISTING USE OF THE SAME LOT.
AS I'VE ALREADY MENTIONED, THIS WAS APPROVED IN 2013 WITH THE CUP AND IT'S ONLY BEING APPLIED FOR BECAUSE OF THE LARGE EXPANSION.
THE ARCHITECTURE IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE NEIGHBORHOOD, GIVEN THAT IT'S APPROXIMATE.
IT'S AN INDUSTRIAL SETTING AND IS PROVIDING APPROPRIATE SETBACKS AND ADDITIONAL LANDSCAPING.
AND THE PRODUCT PROJECT IS CONDITIONED TO MEET ALL THE LEAD CERTIFICATION LEVELS.
CQA PERSON TOOK CQA SECTION 1 5 3 3 2 INFILL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.
THE PROJECT INVOLVES THE EXPANSION OF THE EXISTING USE ON A FULLY DEVELOPED INDUSTRIALLY ZONE.
PROPERTY STUDIES WERE PREPARED FOR THE PROJECT FOR TRAFFIC, NOISE, AIR QUALITY, AND WATER QUALITY, AND THEY SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS OF THE PROJECT ON THE ENVIRONMENT.
A NOTICING OF THE PROJECT WAS COMPLETED PER THE LONG BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE.
A TOTAL OF 6 76 NOTICES OF PUBLIC HEARING WERE DISTRIBUTED WITHIN A THOUSAND MILE RADIUS, AND NO PUBLIC COMMENTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED AT THIS POINT.
THEREFORE, STAFF RECOMMENDS PLANNING COMMISSION TO ACCEPT CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION 24 DASH 1 0 1 AND APPROVE SITE PLAN, UH, REVIEW AND CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT AS PRESENTED.
I LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ EDMOND HAS JOINED THE MEETING COMMISSIONERS.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THE STAFF REPORT? SEE NONE.
IS THE APPLICANT PRESENT? I'M SORRY, GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER CLEMSON.
I THINK YOU'RE JUST GONNA TRY AND CLARIFY A COUPLE OF THINGS.
THE FIRST ONE IS ON THE ITEM ITSELF, IT DESCRIBES THE LAND USE POLICY SIX DASH 10 AS DISCOURAGING FISCALLY DRAINING LAND USES, AND IT GOES ON TO TALK ABOUT PUBLIC STORAGE AND VACANT LOTS AND OUTDOOR STORAGE.
CAN YOU GO INTO MORE DETAIL ON WHAT WHAT THEY MEAN, WHAT YOU MEAN BY FISCALLY DRAINING? YES, I'D BE HAPPY TO.
UM, BY FISCALLY DRAINING, UM, THAT REFERS TO LAND USES THAT HAVE A, A NET NEGATIVE ON THE CITY'S, UM, FISCAL, UM, OUTLOOK.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, WITH A USE LIKE SELF STORAGE, THERE MAY BE LIMITED NUMBER OF, UH, JOBS OR TAX BENEFITS THAT THE CITY GETS BACK IN EXCHANGE FOR THE AMOUNT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AT THE, AND THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE THAT'S NEEDED.
UM, AND SO THAT WAS ONE THING THAT WE LOOKED AT IN CLOSE CONSULTATION WITH OUR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT WHEN DEVELOPING THE LAND USE SETTLEMENT UPDATE.
UM, AND THAT'S WHERE THAT POLICY DOES COME FROM AS A COLLABORATION WITH OUR BUDGET TEAM AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.
UM, YOU'LL NOTICE IT SAYS DISCOURAGED NOT, NOT ALLOW, AND IN THIS CASE, WHAT WE
[00:20:01]
REALLY TRIED TO LOOK AT WAS, UM, WE KNOW THAT THE NEED FOR SELF-STORAGE AND DEMAND IS CONTINUED TO INCREASE, PARTICULARLY IN THE LAST FIVE OR SO YEARS.UM, AND WE SEE THOSE LAND USES ALMOST NEVER TURNING OVER DUE TO THEIR PROFIT CENTER.
AND SINCE THIS IS AN EXISTING LAND USE, UM, SORT OF IN IN BALANCING ALL THE CONSIDERATIONS, IT WAS STAFF THINKING THAT, UM, TO INTENSIFY THAT USE IN ONE LOCATION AS OPPOSED TO HAVE ANOTHER NEW PIECE OF LAND BE DEVELOPED WITH THIS TYPE OF USE WOULD BE A BETTER OVERALL IMPACT WHEN, UM, TRYING TO BALANCE THOSE POLICIES.
AND DOES THE PROPERTY GET REASSESSED AS PART OF THIS? MM-HMM.
SO IT DOES GET REASSESSED AND THERE'LL ALSO BE CONSTRUCTION JOBS IN, IN DOING THE PROJECT, UM, AS WELL AS DURING LEASE UP.
THERE WILL BE MORE, UM, EMPLOYEES.
SO FOR THE NEXT FIVE OR SO YEARS WE, WE WOULD EXPECT A NET POSITIVE, QUITE A NET POSITIVE.
IT'S JUST IN THOSE LATER YEARS.
STUDIES SHOW THAT, UH, SELF STORAGE, UM, TENDS TO BE, YOU KNOW, A FISCALLY DRAINING OVERALL FOR UH, CITIES.
AND THEN ON THE SITE PLAN REVIEW FINDINGS, THERE'S A TABLE OF REQUIREMENTS AROUND THE TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AND ONE OF THOSE IS EFFICIENT PEDESTRIAN ACCESS.
AND I'M NOT SURE HOW THAT IT DESCRIBES THE, UH, PROJECT AS MEETING ALL THE CONDITIONS.
UM, IS THERE, CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT, WHAT, HOW THIS PROJECT, UH, SATISFIES EFFICIENT PEDESTRIAN ACCESS? THE PROJECT DOES PROVIDE BICYCLE PARKING ON SITE AND THEY ARE GOING TO BE REPLACING AND REVAMPING THE A DA ACCESS ALONG THE STREETS ON THAT SIDE.
SO I, IT IMPROVES THE, UM, PEDESTRIAN ACCESS FROM WHAT IT IS TODAY.
THERE'S ALSO, YOU KNOW, CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE TYPE OF LAND USE AND THE LIKELIHOOD THAT SOMEONE WOULD BE WALKING UP WITH LARGE AMOUNTS OF THINGS TO PUT IN SELF STORAGE THAT WE, UM, CONSIDER IN THAT BALANCE AS WELL.
ALRIGHT, IS THE APPLICANT I HAVE A QUESTION.
AND COMMISSIONER WARE, DOES THE CONDITION OF APPROVAL PACKET IN FRONT OF US DIFFER FROM WHAT WE ALREADY RECEIVED? OH, THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
SO, UM, THERE'S AN ADDED, UM, BASICALLY SUB ATTACHMENT, UM, BECAUSE THE CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL REFER TO COMMENTS FROM THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE, UH, OR THE TAC, WHICH IS HOW WE GET OUR COMMENTS FROM PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES, UM, THROUGH THE SITE PLAN REVIEW PROCESS.
HOWEVER, THERE WAS, UM, A CLERICAL OVERSIGHT IN THAT, UM, UH, ATTACHMENT E ONE I THINK IT WAS, WAS NOT UPLOADED AT THE BEGINNING.
AND SO IT'S BEEN PROVIDED TO THE COMMISSIONERS AND THERE'S SEVERAL COPIES HERE, UM, FOR THE PUBLIC, FOR ANYONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO REVIEW IT, UM, AS AN ADD-ON TO MAKE SURE THAT FULL INFORMATION IS PROVIDED IN THE RECORD.
IT DOESN'T CHANGE THE CONDITIONS, IT JUST ADDS THAT ADDITIONAL CLARIFICATION AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
AND JUST TO ADD ON THESE CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL, THE ATTACK COMMENTS WERE ALREADY PROVIDED TO THE APPLICANT WAY AHEAD OF TIME.
I'M HERE ON BEHALF OF THE APPLICANT.
I'LL JUST HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE IF YOU POTENTIALLY SUPPORT THIS.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE APPLICANT? NO, THANK YOU SIR.
WITH THAT I WILL OPEN IT UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, CHAIR LEWIS, MEMBERS OF THE, THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
UM, I'M ACTUALLY THE APPLICANT, UM, WANTED TO MAKE MYSELF AVAILABLE IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS.
ALSO WANT TO THANK STAFF FOR THE HARD WORK.
SO LEMME KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING.
YEP, GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER, FOR THE LEAD GREEN LEVEL.
MM-HMM,
UM, WE ARE GONNA HAVE SOLAR, THAT'S A MANDATE.
UM, WE HAVE ENERGY EFFICIENT LIGHTING THERE THAT IS MOTION SENSORED ON TIMERS, UM, AND EFFICIENT HVAC SYSTEMS THAT HEAT AT 50 AND COOL AT 85.
SO YOU'RE NOT REALLY RUNNING A LOT, UH, NO GAS, SO NO, NO, NO GREENHOUSE GASES CREATED FROM IT.
SO, YEAH, I MEAN, I'M GUESSING WE'RE GONNA QUALIFY, BUT WE HAVEN'T DONE THE CHECK THIS YET.
MM-HMM,
[00:25:02]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, SIR, FOR YOUR TIME.ANY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE COMMISSION ON THIS, UH, MATTER SEEING N DO WE HAVE ANY VIRTUAL COMMENTS? IF YOU'RE JOINING US VIRTUALLY AND YOU'D LIKE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THIS ITEM, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FUNCTION AT THIS TIME.
AND IF YOU'RE JOINING TELEPHONICALLY, PLEASE PRESS STAR NINE.
THERE APPEARS TO BE NO PUBLIC COMMENT FOR THIS ITEM.
WITH THAT I WILL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT AND BRING IT BACK BEHIND THE RAIL COMMISSIONERS.
ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? SEEING NONE, IF WE COULD HAVE THE VOTE PLEASE.
COMMISSIONER CASTILLO, IF YOU'D LIKE TO GIVE A VOICE VOTE, I CAN TAKE THAT.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PROJECT.
WE HAVE THE NEXT ITEM, PLEASE.
[4. 24-54549 Recommendation to find the projects listed in the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 Capital Improvement Program (FY 2025 CIP) in conformity with the General Plan. (Citywide) Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
IS RECOMMENDATION TO FIND THE PROJECTS LISTED IN THE PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 2025 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM IN CONFORMITY WITH THE GENERAL PLAN CITYWIDE COMMISSIONERS.IF I COULD HAVE A MOTION TO HEAR THIS ITEM PLEASE.
COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ, EDMOND, WE HAVE A STAFF REPORT THIS EVENING.
UM, OUR PROJECT PLANNER CARLENE WILL PROVIDE, UH, THE STAFF PRESENTATION AND WE ALSO HAVE SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WORKS TEAM HERE, UM, TO HELP SUPPORT, UH, THIS YEAR.
I THINK YOU ALL KNOW THIS IS ONE OF THE SIX POWERS DELINEATED IN, UH, THE CITY CHARTER FOR THE PLANNING COMMISSION IS TO ANNUALLY REVIEW THE CIP AND TO PROVIDE THAT CONFORMITY FINDING, UM, SO THAT, UH, THE CIP CAN MOVE FORWARD IN THE BUDGET PROCESS.
UH, SO WE'RE GLAD TO HAVE THIS PRESENTATION, UM, BEFORE YOU THIS EVENING AND I'LL TURN IT OVER NOW TO CARLENE.
GOOD EVENING, CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS BEFORE YOU AS THE ANNUAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM OR CIP FOR SHORT BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025.
THE PURPOSE OF THE CIP IS TO ESTABLISH A SCHEDULE OF EXPENDITURES TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS UPDATES THE CAP AS PART OF THE ANNUAL BUDGET PROCESS.
IT IS A COMPREHENSIVE AND A VERY DIRECT STATEMENT OF HOW THE CITY WILL MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE ITS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE.
IT'S ALSO A FINANCIAL TOOL IDENTIFYING FUNDS FOR THE WIDE VARIETY OF MID AND LONGER TERM CAPITAL PROJECTS.
THE PENN COMMISSION'S ROLE IN THIS PROCESS PURSUANT TO THE LONG BEACH CITY CHARTER IS TO DETERMINE GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY.
WE REVIEW THE CIP TO ENSURE THIS GENERAL PLAN DIRECTS ALL LAND USE DECISIONS AND RESOURCES FOR ANTICIPATED PROJECTS.
THE LONG BEACH CLIMATE ACTION PLAN, WHICH IS A MITIGATION MEASURE OF THE LAND USE ELEMENT, CALLS FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE CITY'S ANNUAL BUDGET, CIP, AND OTHER FUNDING SOURCES TO IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES TO INTEGRATE IMPLEMENTATION OF CLIMATE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION INTO PROJECTS.
THE CI BUDGET ALSO IS CONSISTENT WITH THE ADOPTED ELEVATE ELEVATE 28 INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PLAN THAT PROVIDES A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE OF BUDGET FUNDING AS THE CITY PREPARES FOR THE 2028 OLYMPICS.
THE ELEVATE 28 INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PLAN WAS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL AS PART OF THE FISCAL 23 BUDGET AND ESTABLISHES A FIVE YEAR INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM TOTALING OVER 533 MILLION ACROSS FOUR MAIN CATEGORIES OF PROJECTS.
THAT INCLUDES MOBILITY, PARKING IMPROVEMENTS, PUBLIC FACILITIES, RIGHT OF WAY, WATER QUALITY AND CLIMATE ACTION.
THE CIP IS ALSO ORGANIZED IN SEVEN MAJOR SECTIONS THAT INCLUDES AIRPORT BEACHES, MOBILITY PARKS, PUBLIC FACILITIES, U UTILITIES, AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS FROM WETLAND IMPROVEMENTS TO IMPROVING OUR STREETS.
THE CIP IDENTIFIES AS A DIVERSE RANGE OF PROJECTS FOR FUNDING ALLOCATION.
THE FISCAL 20 FISCAL YEAR 25 CIP PLAN TOTALS 2 2 221 0.8 MILLION AS PRESENTED TO THE AS PRESENTED FOR YOU WITH THE HARBOR AND UTILITIES DEPARTMENT WITH SEPARATE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANS, REPORTING TO THEIR OWN COMMISSIONS WITH THE HARBOR DEPARTMENT INCLUDED THE BUDGET BUDGET TOTALS 592 MILLION IN REVIEWING THE CAP POLICIES, ACTIONS, AND GOAL, THE POLICIES, ACTION GOALS AND THEREFORE THE GENERAL PLAN ELEMENTS ARE, UH, FOUND CONSISTENT.
WE DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH, UH, EVERY SINGLE ELEMENT, BUT HERE ARE A COUPLE OF POLICIES AND GOALS FROM EACH OF THE ELEMENTS WITH THE LAND USE ELEMENT.
GOAL ONE, STRENGTHEN THE CITY'S FISCAL HEALTH BY STIMULATING CONTINUOUS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND JOB GROWTH.
GOAL SEVEN, PROVIDE RELIABLE PUBLIC FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE TO ENCOURAGE, UH, INVESTMENT WITH THE MOBILITY ELEMENT.
GOAL ONE, CREATE A SAFE, EFFICIENT BALANCE IN MULTIMODAL MOBILITY NETWORK.
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AND GOAL TWO, MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE AIR, WATER, AND GROUND TRANSPORTATION CAPACITY WITH THE HISTORIC ELEMENT.GOAL NUMBER TWO, PROTECT HISTORIC RESOURCES FROM DEMOLITION AND INAPPROPRIATE ALTERATIONS WITH THE CONSERVATION ELEMENT.
GO THROUGH GOAL THREE TO ASSURE THAT THE WATER OF SAN PEDRO AND ALAMITOS BAY IN COLORADO LAGOON ARE MAINTAINED WITH THE AIR QUALITY ELEMENT ACTION 2.42.
PROMOTE DOWNONE PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES AND MOVEMENT POLICY 2.6 0.2 FLEET CONVERSION TO CLEAN FUELS AS WELL WITH THE PUBLIC SAFETY ELEMENT MANAGEMENT GOALS.
THREE, CONTINUE TO COORDINATE SAFETY MATTERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
AND INTRODUCE ME METHODS OF ENSURING IMPROVED SAFETY WITH THE NOISE ELEMENT.
POLICY N SEVEN DASH THREE ENCOURAGE THE USE OF ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION MODES INCLUDING WALKING, BIKING, MICRO MOBILITY AND TRANSIT AS STIPULATED IN THE MOBILITY ELEMENT TO MINIMIZE TRAFFIC NOISE IN THE CITY FROM THE URBAN DESIGN ELEMENT.
STRATEGY SIX, IMPROVE PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE TO SERVE NEW DEVELOPMENT, ESTABLISH NEIGHBORHOODS, COMMERCIAL CENTERS AND INDUSTRY AND REGIONAL SERVING FACILITIES WITHIN AREAS OF CHANGE IN FUTURE GROWTH AREAS FROM THE OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION.
MEL ELEMENT, POLICY 1.2 PROTECT AND IMPROVE THE COMMUNITY'S NATURAL RESOURCES, AMENITIES AND SCENIC VALUES INCLUDING NATURE CENTERS, BEACHES, BLUFFS, WETLANDS AND WATER BODIES.
CONSISTENCY WITH THE LONG BEACH CLIMATE ACTION PLAN OR LB CAP FOR SHARP WAS FOUND.
THE LB CAP CALLS UPON THE CITY TO IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES TO INTEGRATE IMPLEMENTATION OF CLIMATE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION INTO PROJECTS.
ALIGNING THE CIP WITH THE LB CAP PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO STRATEGICALLY FUND LB CAP ACTIONS.
FOR EXAMPLE, FY 25 CIP ALLOCATED $4.3 MILLION TO THE OPEN SPACE DEVELOPMENT UNDER PARKS PROGRAMMING, WHICH PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE THE BENEFITS OF OPEN SPACE THAT MITIGATE ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS LIKE EXTREME HEAT AND AIR QUALITY.
ADDITIONALLY, $3 MILLION, UH, WAS ALLOCATED TO WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS.
THAT INCLUDES THE CAPTURE AND CLEANING OF STORM WATER TO HELP INCREASE LOCAL WATER SUPPLY TO ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLEAN WATER ACT, INCLUDING THE MITIGATION OF STORM WATER POLLUTION INTO OUR WATER BODIES.
AND AS DISCUSSED EARLIER, THE ELEVATE 28 INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PLAN PROVIDES A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE OF BUDGET FUNDING THAT INCLUDES MOBILITY AND SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS WITH BIKEWAY AND PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENTS AT A LITTLE OVER $3 MILLION IN FY 25 IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 1506 B THREE OF THE GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACTION.
THIS ACTION IS NOT SUBJECT TO ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AS THERE IS NO POTENTIAL FOR CAUSING A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT TO THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT.
THE ACTION BEFORE THE PLANNING CON COMMISSION IS A CONSISTENCY FINDING ON A BUDGET DOCUMENT, NOT THE DESIGN APPROVAL OR CONSTRUCTION OF ANY OF THESE PROJECTS LISTED WITHIN THE CIP.
HOWEVER, THE POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION OF THESE PROJECTS IN THE FY 2025 CIP WILL BE ASSESSED IN SEPARATE ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS PRE PREPARED FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL PROJECT AT THE TIME OF APPROVAL FOR IMPLEMENTATION AS APPROPRIATE.
NO NOTICING IS REQUIRED PER THE MUNICIPAL CODE, BUT NOTICES THROUGH PRESS, TELEGRAM, AND POSTINGS AT ALL LONG BEACH, UH, BRANCH LIBRARIES WERE CREATED TO FACILITATE TRANSPARENCY FOR THE ITEM COMING BEFORE YOU AND STAFF RECOMMENDS APPROVAL FOR A FINDING OF GENERAL CONFORMITY WITH A GENERAL PLAN FOR THE FY 25 CIP BUDGET.
THIS CONCLUDES STAFF'S REPORT AND PREPARED AND WE'RE PREPARED FOR QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME.
I DO HAVE, UH, OUR BUSINESS OPERATIONS MANAGER, JONATHAN BOWEN HERE, AS WELL AS PUBLIC WORKS STAFF TO, UH, HELP ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THE STAFF PRESENTATION? PLEASE GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER.
I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A MOMENT AND REALLY COMPLIMENT ALL THE WORK THAT GOES INTO PUTTING S-I-C-I-P PROGRAM TOGETHER.
I THINK WHEN WE SEE OTHER CITIES GO THROUGH SITUATIONS WHERE THEY DIDN'T BUDGET FOR LIKE STORMWATER SAN DIEGO IN JANUARY HAD A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.
MY DAD IS ONE OF THE VICTIMS AND WHEN I MET WITH ERIC ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC A FEW WEEKS AFTER, WE TALKED ABOUT THE ALLOCATION OF PUBLIC WORKS TOWARDS STORMWATER PROJECTS IN LONG BEACH IS AHEAD OF THE GAME.
SO I JUST WANNA COMPLIMENT ALL THE WORK THAT IS BEING DONE IN PUBLIC WORKS FOR THAT AND THE ALLOCATIONS TOWARDS THAT PROJECT.
UH, I ACTUALLY JUST HAD MORE OF A QUESTION ON, ON ONE OF THE ITEMS IN THE LIST.
UM, THERE WAS A LINE ITEM UNDER, UM, PUBLIC FACILITIES UNDER ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS AND IT WAS ONLY 125,000, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS FAIRLY SMALL AMOUNT.
UH, IS THAT BECAUSE OTHER, OTHER, UM, FUNDS WERE JUST ALLOCATED IN DIFFERENT PLACES OR IS THAT SPECIFICALLY THE AMOUNT ALLOCATED JUST FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY? THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION.
UM, SO IN THE OVERALL INVESTMENT
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FOR FY 25, THERE'S DEFINITELY MORE THAN THAT AMOUNT.UM, I'M TRYING TO FIND THE SPECIFIC OH YES.
SO THIS IS SPECIFICALLY FOR AB 30, AB 32, WHICH IS A STATE, UM, A STATE FUND TO, TO CLIMATE, UH, TO COMBAT GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
AND UH, THAT IS THE AMOUNT THAT PUBLIC WORKS WAS ALLOCATED IN FY 25 IN YEARS PAST.
OUR INVESTMENT HAS BEEN MUCH HIGHER.
UM, BUT THAT'S THE AMOUNT WE'RE WORKING WITH IN IN FY 25.
HOWEVER, THAT BEING SAID, UM, WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF PUBLIC FACILITY PROJECTS BOTH IN FY 25 AND THE FIVE YEAR ELEVATE 28 PLAN WHERE WE ARE GOING INTO OUR CITY FACILITIES.
WE'RE TAKING OUT OLD INEFFICIENT HVAC LIGHTING ROOFING AND WE ARE REPLACING IT WITH ENERGY EFFICIENCY.
THAT IS ALMOST EVERY SINGLE PUBLIC FACILITY PROJECT WHEN WE'RE IN THERE.
THAT IS ONE OF OUR MAIN GOALS.
SO ESSENTIALLY IT'S ALREADY KIND OF BUILT INTO THOSE OTHER PROJECTS.
THIS IS JUST CALLING OUT SPECIFIC FUNDING SOURCE? CORRECT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE CLARIFICATION.
UM, I HAVE A QUESTION REGARDING THE NEW WATER POLICY.
THE STATE IS GOING TO PUT INTO EFFECT JANUARY 1ST, 25.
AND DO WE KNOW WHAT THOSE ARE? 'CAUSE THEY'RE GOING TO BE INDIVIDUALIZED PER CITY OR AREA AND HOW WE, ARE WE ALREADY IN COMPLIANCE? 'CAUSE WE'VE, WE'VE GOT A GOOD RECORD OF SAVING WATER.
I DON'T HAVE ANY INFO IN FRONT OF ME RIGHT NOW REGARDING THE WATER POLICY.
UM, BUT WE CAN DEFINITELY GET AN ANSWER FROM THE, THE WATER DEPARTMENT OR UTILITIES.
OUR, UM, STORM WATER TEAM, UM, ENSURES COMPLIANCE WITH OUR NATIONAL PERMIT, UM, UH, UH, FOR STORM WATER POLLUTION.
SO EVERY YEAR THEY DO ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS AND SO IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE, UH, FEDERAL POLICIES AS WELL AS STATE POLICIES, UM, IN THE CLEAN WATER ACT, THAT'S, UH, HOW OUR STORM WATER IS ACTING.
STORM WATER TEAM IS ACTING ACCORDINGLY AND WITH CONSISTENCY ACROSS DIFFERENT, UH, DEPARTMENTS.
SO WHEN THOSE PROJECTS COME TO US, UM, YOU'LL, YOU'LL FOR SURE HEAR ABOUT IT.
THANK YOU COMMISSIONER CLEMSON.
UM, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS AROUND THE MOBILITY PLAN.
UM, A LOT OF THESE PROJECTS ARE MEANT TO ADVANCE THE GOALS THAT ARE LAID OUT IN THE CAP AND IN, OR I GUESS LB CAP AND THE SAFE STREETS ACTION PLAN.
AND I SAID THIS LAST YEAR, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT THESE PROJECTS, THE SCOPE OF THESE PROJECTS ARE AT THE SCALE THAT WE NEED TO BE DEALING WITH THESE THINGS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE STILL, I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'RE AT WITH FATALITIES ON THE ROAD RIGHT NOW, BUT WE'RE UP FROM PRE PANDEMIC LEVELS AND WE HAVE, WHAT, TWO YEARS TO GET TO ZERO, UH, ACCORDING TO OUR PLAN.
UM, AS FAR AS THE CAP GOES, UH, I KNOW THAT WE'RE WAY BEHIND ON IT, EVEN PROVIDING THE DATA FOR THE, UH, DASHBOARD, IS THAT CORRECT? SO, UM, RELATED TO DATA AND DASHBOARD, THERE WAS AN INITIAL RELEASE OF DATA, UM, EARLIER THIS YEAR TO GIVE US A SENSE OF WHERE WE ARE, UM, AND, AND HELP INFORM THE NEXT STEPS ON MOVING FORWARD AND, UM, RELATED TO MOBILITY PROJECTS.
WE DO HAVE, UM, BUREAU MANAGER, MUSAN HABIB HERE, WHO CAN PROBABLY HELP WITH SOME MORE OF THOSE SPECIFICS.
UH, IT'S, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, THE THE SCALE OF THIS IS VERY, VERY LARGE AND, UM, I DON'T SEE THAT REFLECTED IN THESE PROJECTS.
X UH, GOOD EVENING CHAIR AND, UH, MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION.
I'M IN CHARGE OF THE TRANSPORTATION AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT BUREAU AND WE WILL IMPLEMENT A LOT OF THOSE STREET PROJECTS RELATED TO ALL THE SAFETY OF BIKES, OPERATIONS, PEDESTRIAN AND MOBILITY PROJECTS.
WE ARE HAVING ALREADY A VISION TO INCLUDE ALL OF THOSE ELEMENTS IN EVERY CORRIDOR THAT WE HAVE.
WE HAD PREVIOUSLY HAD FOUR CORRIDORS IDENTIFIED AND WE ADD IN A LOT MORE THE ONE THAT QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE IN SPECIFIC FOR THE ZERO VISION MAYBE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, WHICH WE ARE HAVING.
THIS IS THE GOAL THAT WE WANT TO, IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE ZERO VISION PLAN.
WE HAVE SEVERAL PROJECTS ON THIS LIST AND WE ARE WORKING ON ADDRESSING THOSE.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, WALL STREET THAT ONLY HAD A SEGMENT OF IT THAT WAS REALLY IN, UH, IN QUESTION.
WE HAVE A LOT OF SAFETY ISSUES, BUT WE ARE IMPLEMENTING THAT FROM, UH, SIGNAL HILL ALL TO THE WEST SIDE.
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UH, GRANTS AND SO FAR WE HAD A COUPLE OF APPLICATION THAT WERE NOT ACCEPTED.WE ARE SHORT A LITTLE BIT OF FUNDING, BUT NONETHELESS WE ARE WORKING ON THE DESIGN FOR THAT TO ADDRESS ALL OF THOSE WITH ALL THE SAFETY ELEMENT INCLUDED TO REALLY BRING THIS UP TO, UH, THE ZERO VISION PLAN.
AND THEN JUST TO, JUST TO ALSO, UM, ADD ONTO THAT WITH FY 25 CIP INVESTMENT, WE ARE INVESTING IN SIXTH STREET PEDESTRIAN AND TRAFFIC SAFETY, SEVENTH STREET PEDESTRIAN AND TRAFFIC SAFETY, UM, VARIOUS BIKEWAY PROJECTS INCLUDING PACIFIC AVENUE AND PINE AVENUE, DOWNTOWN WALKABLE COMMUNITY PROJECTS WHERE WE'RE, UH, BOWLING OUT THE, THE SIDEWALKS SO THEY'RE, IT'S SAFER FOR, UM, RESIDENTS AS THEY'RE CROSSING THE STREETS AND WAITING TO CROSS THE STREETS.
UH, SEVENTH STREET SAFE STREETS INITIATIVE, UM, AND OTHER, OTHER PROJECTS INCLUDING PREVIOUS FUNDING FOR THE CORRIDORS THAT MUSSAN MENTIONED, ANAHEIM AND STUDEBAKER, WHICH WE'RE HOPING TO BRING, UM, TO PUBLIC BID SHORTLY.
UH, AND BOTH OF THOSE PROJECTS ARE VERY LARGE, JUST LIKE ARTESIA AND, UH, AND MARKET STREET, AND THEY HAVE, UM, THEY HAVE ELEMENTS TO ENCOURAGE, UH, MORE SAFE, EFFICIENT BIKEWAY AND PEDESTRIAN TRAVEL, BUT ALSO, UM, MORE, UH, BUS SHELTERS AND SPECIFIC BULB OUTS FOR THE BUS SHELTERS AS WELL.
AND SO, LIKE MUSIN SAID, WHEN WE DO GO AND LOOK AT THESE CORRIDOR PROJECTS, WE ARE COMING FROM IT FROM A VISION ZERO, UH, PERSPECTIVE, AND I CAN DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THAT.
I MEAN, THE, THE, THE THING I WOULD WOULD SAY IS A LOT OF THE PROJECTS YOU JUST LISTED OUT ARE FOCUSED IN DOWNTOWN, UM, YOU KNOW, PINE AVENUE ATLANTIC, UH, AND I KNOW THAT GOES FURTHER UP INTO THE KIND OF CENTRAL CITY AREA, UM, BUT THERE ARE PRETTY, UH, A LOT OF THE SIGNIFICANT, UM, DANGEROUS INTERSECTION IN CORRIDORS THAT THE PROJECTS, I THINK ESPECIALLY AROUND ANAHEIM STREET, DON'T ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS, WHICH IS LIKE SPEEDING, UH, LONG DISTANCE BETWEEN CROSSINGS.
I GUESS THERE ARE A FEW, BUT YOU KNOW, MOST OF THE PROJECTS SEEMS TO BE MEDIANS THAT LEAVES OUT THE WESTERN PART OF THE, OF THE STREET.
THOSE MEDIANS ARE IN VERY FEW PARTS OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE STREET.
SO I MEAN, I I I DON'T WANNA MINIMIZE THE WORK YOU ARE DOING AND, AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT, THAT THESE AREN'T GONNA BE GOOD PROJECTS NECESSARILY.
I'M SAYING THAT THE SCOPE OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS NOT REFLECTED IN THESE IN THE CIP UNDERSTOOD.
AND I YEAH, UH, FOR LOOKING AT THE HOLISTIC PICTURE, THAT'S, THAT IS WHY WE HAVE THE FIVE YEAR ELEVATE 28 PLAN, SO WE CAN PLAN FOR THESE THINGS, RIGHT? SO IF YOU DON'T SEE SOMETHING SPECIFICALLY IN THE 25 FY 25 CIP, IT MAY BE INCLUDED IN THE OVERALL FIVE YEAR PLAN SUCH AS STUDEBAKER, UM, WHICH TECHNICALLY ISN'T FUNDED IN FY 25 BECAUSE IT WAS FUNDED IN PRIOR YEAR CIP, BUT COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND YOUR POINT AND STUDEBAKER LOOKS LIKE A GREAT PROJECT.
I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO GET GETTING THAT, GETTING THAT DONE IN YOUR GROUND.
SO WE ARE, WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO BREAK GROUND ON THAT.
OH, I SORT OF, MY QUESTION WAS, UH, A LITTLE SIMILAR, JUST MAYBE YOU CAN CLARIFY FOR ME IF THERE IS, UM, WHAT IS THE EQUITY IN CONSIDERING WHICH PROJECTS ARE DONE AND MAKING SURE THAT THE RESOURCES THAT WE AREN'T CONCENTRATING JUST ON, YOU KNOW, THE ELEVATE 28 AREAS WHERE PEOPLE WILL BE, BUT WHERE OUR RESIDENTS ARE.
SO JUST CAN YOU SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU GO ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT ALL OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES ARE RECEIVING EQUITABLE, UM, UPGRADES, PROJECTS AND SO FORTH? YES, SO I, I WILL, I'LL DEFER TO MU SANOFI HAS SOME SPECIFICS ON, ON MOBILITY EQUITY, BUT THE ELEVATE 28 PLAN IN AND OF ITSELF, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE MAP AND THE PROJECTS, THEY ARE SPREAD OUT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE, UH, COMMUNITY OF LONG BEACH.
IT'S, UH, CONCENTRATED ON THE WEST SIDE, NORTH LONG BEACH CENTRAL, DOWNTOWN EAST.
UM, AND THAT'S ALSO REFLECTED WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE MAP AND YOU SEE THE, THE PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING DONE ON THE MOBILITY SIDE.
ONE OF THE FOUR MAJOR CORRIDORS IS ARTESIA AND IT'S, IT'S REDOING, IT'S CURRENTLY FINISHING CONSTRUCTION RIGHT NOW, BUT FROM, IT'S THE ENTIRE BOULEVARD OF ARTESIA FROM CITY LIMIT TO CITY LIMIT.
AND THAT'S, YOU KNOW, IN NORTH LONG BEACH, UM, ANAHEIM, CENTRAL LONG BEACH.
UM, WE RECENTLY COMPLETED A SIGNAL SYNC SYNCHRONIZATION PROJECT IN SANTA FE ON THE WEST SIDE, UM, BUT ALSO, YOU KNOW, SCOPING OUT FOR MOBILITY.
UH, WE'RE INVESTING, UM, IN SILVERADO PARK, HUDSON PARK, HOUGHTON PARK, RAMONA PARK, UM, SO THAT, YOU KNOW, THOSE ARE INVESTMENTS THROUGHOUT, UH, AND MUCH MORE THAN THAT, NOT JUST THAT.
SO LB ELEVATE 20 EIGHT.COM, IT'S A GREAT WEBSITE.
UH, AND, AND WE'RE REALLY PROUD OF THE INVESTMENT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CITY.
UH, COMMISSIONER LAFA, I MAY ADD TO YOUR, UM, QUESTION REGARDING EQUITIES AND, UH, IN OUR PERSPECTIVE, WHENEVER WE
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LOOK IN AND PUTTING PRIORITIES ON PROJECT, THIS IS OUR MAIN FOCUS REALLY.AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE MARKET STREET, THE WAY IT STARTED, STARTED JUST LIKE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE JUST A SMALL INVESTMENT AND WE PUT IN ALMOST DOUBLE THAT TO, UH, IN LIGHT OF THIS ONE IS REALLY IN THAT KIND OF, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD ON WILLOW STREET.
IT IS THE SAME THING THAT I MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS QUESTIONS.
IT WAS REALLY, UH, A VISION THAT ONLY TO BE BROUGHT ONLY TO PACIFIC, BUT WE TOOK IT ALL THE WAY TO WEST CITY LIMIT, GIVEN THAT, YOU KNOW, IT IS REALLY SPECIFICALLY TARGETING EQUITY AND DISADVANTAGED NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO EVERY PROJECT THAT WE LOOK AT, WE LOOK AT FROM THAT KIND OF A LENS AND WE PAY VERY MUCH ATTENTION, SIMILAR TO WHAT JONATHAN WAS TALKING ABOUT WITH ALL OF THESE PARK SPACES AND ALL OF THE ELEMENT THAT WE INCLUDE.
GREAT QUESTION, COMMISSIONER WARE, AND THANK YOU FOR THOSE ANSWERS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER CASTILLO, JUST A FOLLOW UP AND, AND, AND COMMISSIONER M AND I THINK WAS ADDRESSING THIS AS WELL, BUT JUST FOR THE PER PERSPECTIVE OF, OF THE COMMUNITY, UM, ALSO, UH, RELATED TO THIS ON THE MOBILITY SIDE, I THINK THERE WAS A, LEMME MAKE SURE I'M READING THIS RIGHT, A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS IN THIS OVERALL BUDGET THAT'S SPECIFICALLY EARMARKED BIKEWAY AND PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENTS.
BUT TO THE CONVERSATION WE HAD EARLIER, UM, AROUND ENERGY EFFICIENCY, THERE IS BUILT IN MOBILITY ASPECTS IN ALL OF THE PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT.
THAT A HUNDRED THOUSAND IS, IS, UM, FOR OUR BIKEWAY AND PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENT MAJOR PROGRAM.
SO THAT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS COULD GO TO PROJECTS THAT NEED THE FUNDING.
BUT WE DO HAVE SPECIFIC EARMARKS FOR PINE AVENUE, PACIFIC AVENUE, UM, ORANGE AVENUE, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
CAN I, SO TO GET INTO KIND OF WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT HERE, THE LAST SESSION, LAST MEETING WE HAD A DISCUSSION ON, OR DANGEROUS STREETS, MAYBE IT WAS ONE BEFORE THAT, AND THERE WERE FOUR CRITERIA THAT WERE LISTED OUT.
FOUR LANE ROADS, FAST SPEED LIMITS, WIDE STREET CROSSINGS, AND LONG DISTANCE BETWEEN CROSSINGS.
A PROJECT LIKE ANAHEIM STREET MAYBE DEALS WITH ONE OF THEM, MAYBE TWO AT MOST, BUT THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT PARTS OF THE, OF THE STREET THAT ARE LISTED IN THE MOST DANGEROUS, UH, UH, LIST OF INTERSECTIONS, UH, THAT THOSE PROJECTS DO NOT DEAL WITH.
AND THAT'S WHAT I'M, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT WITH THE, THE, THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOES NOT REFLECT, UH, THE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THAT I DON'T THINK WE'RE GONNA COME BACK IN FIVE YEARS AND SAY, WELL, LET'S TAKE ANOTHER BITE AT ANAHEIM STREET.
UM, BECAUSE THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LANE MILES IN THE CITY THAT NEED TO BE, YOU KNOW, WORKED ON REDONE, THEY NEED SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS THEMSELVES.
SO I MEAN THAT'S, YOU KNOW, TO GET KIND OF SPECIFIC ABOUT LIKE I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, SAFETY ASPECTS AND YOU KNOW, YOU SAW THAT WITH THE, UH, AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT THAT WAS ON ANAHEIM AT, WHAT IS IT, WALNUT THAT PUT IN THE MEDIAN, UH, AND, AND YOU KNOW, WIDENED THE SIDEWALKS BUT IN NARROW THE ROAD DIDN'T NARROW THE LANES.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, THERE'S STILL STREET THAT ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO SPEED.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF WHAT, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT HERE.
UH, COMMISSIONER, I CAN, UH, SPEAK ABOUT THIS TOPIC IN SPECIFIC, UM, THE CURRENT PLAN THAT WE HAVE FOR ANAHEIM, PROBABLY, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE SEEN THE, THE PLANS AND WE UNVEIL TO THE COMMUNITY.
IT DOESN'T INCLUDE A LOT OF THOSE PROTECTED, UH, LEFT TURNS, UH, YOU KNOW, SIGNALS.
THERE ARE A LOT OF AREAS WHERE YOU HAVE NOW THE EXISTING STRIPE MEDIAN WHERE THERE IS NO REALLY, UH, ANY KIND OF MEDIAN OR ANYTHING AND PEOPLE TURN IT IN LEFT AND RIGHT.
AND THIS IS REALLY VERY, VERY UNSAFE.
AND WE HAD A LOT OF THOSE DETAILS THAT YOU TALKED ABOUT.
SO WHAT WE DOING, WE CLOSING A LOT OF THOSE, SOME OF THOSE STREETS AND WE PUT IN A SIGNALED INTERSECTION AND WE CREATE WITHIN THE MEDIAN A REFUGEE AREA WITH THE PUSH BUTTON AND THE BEACON OR ANY KIND OF LIKE, OR A SIGNAL TO REALLY PROVIDE THAT SAFETY FOR THE PEDESTRIAN TO CROSS AND PROVIDE A SAFE STREET.
THIS IS A VERY, VERY BASIC CORRIDOR AND IT'S REALLY LIMITED RIGHT OF WAY.
I WISH WE HAD A LOT MORE RIGHT OF WAY TO PUT IN THE BIKE FACILITIES OR TO REALLY REDUCE THE SPEED, BUT IT IS REALLY VERY HEAVILY USED.
SO WE ARE LOOKING AND ADDRESSING ALL THOSE SAFETY ELEMENTS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AND THAT'S WHY WE DID HAVE AN A SIP, YOU KNOW, A GRANT FROM, UH,
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CALTRANS TO REALLY PAY FOR SOME OF THOSE AREAS AS WELL.THANK YOU STAFF FOR THE ANSWER TO ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS.
I'D LIKE TO OPEN IT UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS POINT.
IF ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE COMMISSION ON THIS ITEM, NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO DO SO.
SEEING NONE IN THE CHAMBER, DO WE HAVE ANY VIRTUAL COMMENTS THIS EVENING? IF YOU'RE JOINING US VIRTUALLY AND YOU'D LIKE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THIS ITEM, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FUNCTION AT THIS TIME.
AND IF YOU'RE JOINING TELEPHONICALLY, PLEASE PRESS STAR NINE.
THERE APPEARS TO BE NO PUBLIC COMMENT ON THIS ITEM.
WITH THAT, I WILL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT, BRING IT BACK BEHIND THE RAIL COMMISSIONERS, ANY ADDITIONAL OR FURTHER CONVERSATION OR QUESTIONS? SEEING NONE, IF WE COULD HAVE THE VOTE PLEASE.
COMMISSIONER KESSIE, IF YOU'D LIKE TO GIVE A VOICE VOTE, I CAN TAKE THAT.
THANK YOU COMMISSIONER CLEMSON, IF YOU'D LIKE TO MAKE A VERBAL VOTE, I CAN TAKE THAT.
AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL THE INFORMATION.
IT'S A MONUMENTAL TASK THAT YOU GUYS PUT TOGETHER AND WE APPRECIATE, UH, ALL THE WORK.
WE HAVE OUR NEXT ITEM, PLEASE.
[5. 24-54550 Recommendation to receive and file a study session on the implementation of and potential updates to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance (Chapter 21.67) that currently require market rate housing developments to include a proportion of affordable units in the development project. Potential changes include expanding the requirement citywide and changing the affordability level requirements, amongst other changes. (Citywide) Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
NUMBER FIVE IS RECOMMENDATION TO RECEIVE AND FILE A STUDY SESSION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AND POTENTIAL UPDATES TO THE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING ORDINANCE THAT CURRENTLY REQUIRE MARKET RATE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS TO INCLUDE A PORTION OF AFFORDABLE UNITS IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.POTENTIAL CHANGES INCLUDE EXPANDING THE REQUIREMENT CITYWIDE AND CHANGING THE AFFORDABILITY LEVEL REQUIREMENTS AMONGST OTHER CHANGES CITYWIDE.
VICE CHAIR TEMPLIN AND COMMISSIONER CLEMSON, COULD WE HAVE THE STAFF REPORT PLEASE? YES.
UM, SO BEFORE YOU THIS EVENING, UH, WE'RE CONDUCTING A STUDY SESSION, UH, TO PROVIDE YOU AN UPDATE ON STAFF'S EFFORTS TO, UM, EXPLORE EXPANDING OUR INCLUSIONARY HOUSING REQUIREMENTS.
UH, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT ONLY IN OUR HOUSING ELEMENT THAT YOU ALL, UM, RECOMMENDED BACK IN UM, 2021, BUT IT'S ALSO SOMETHING THAT, UH, THE MAYOR HAS ASKED US TO LOOK AT.
UM, AND SO I'M DELIGHTED TO INTRODUCE, UH, STEPHANIE HARPER, WHO WILL PROVIDE, UH, THE STUDY SESSION PRESENTATION THIS EVENING.
GOOD EVENING CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS AND GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TONIGHT.
I'M GONNA START BY GIVING A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF OUR CURRENT POLICY AS WELL AS HOW IT WAS DEVELOPED.
I'M GONNA TOUCH AT A HIGH LEVEL ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY THUS FAR, AND THEN I'M GONNA WALK THROUGH THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE ARE STAFF IS MAKING TO UPDATE THE POLICY.
SO IN 2017, COUNCIL FIRST DIRECTED STAFF TO DEVELOP AN INCLUSIONARY HOUSING POLICY.
IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE ONE OF MANY POLICY TOOLS TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFFORDABLE AND WORKFORCE HOUSING.
THE GOAL OF INCLUSIONARY HOUSING IS TO FACILITATE MIXED INCOME HOUSING, SO RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAVE BOTH MARKET RATE AND AFFORDABLE UNITS.
AND IT DOES THAT BY REQUIRING DEVELOPERS TO INCLUDE OR SET ASIDE A CERTAIN PORTION OF UNITS WITHIN A NEW DEVELOPMENT TO BE AFFORDABLE AS FEDERALLY DEFINED.
UM, ALONGSIDE THOSE MARKET RATE UNITS, WE SPENT SEVERAL YEARS TO DEVELOP THE CURRENT POLICY THAT INCLUDED SIGNIFICANT OUTREACH WITH RESIDENTS, HOUSING ADVOCATES, HOUSING DEVELOPERS.
WE HELD A PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY SESSION AND WE ALSO WORKED WITH A CONSULTANT TO COMPLETE AN ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY.
THAT STUDY IDENTIFIED INCLUSIONARY AFFORDABILITY OPTIONS THAT COULD BE SUPPORTED WITHOUT NEGATIVELY IMPACTING DEVELOPMENT.
WE PRESENTED INCLUSIONARY AFFORDABILITY OPTIONS TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION FOR RENTAL PROJECTS.
ALL OF THEM WERE FOR MIXED INCOME AFFORDABILITY.
THE INCOME LEVELS THAT WE PRESENTED WERE FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, LOW INCOME AND MODERATE INCOME AFFORDABILITIES FOR OWNERSHIP PROJECTS.
THE FEASIBILITY STUDY FOUND THAT INCLUSIONARY COULD ONLY BE SUPPORTED AT 10% OF TOTAL PROJECT UNITS FOR MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN 2020.
THE PLANNING COMMISSION AT THAT TIME RECOMMENDED THAT COUNCIL ADOPT MIXED INCOME AFFORDABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR RENTAL PROJECTS.
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RECOMMENDATION WAS THAT 12% OF TOTAL PROJECT UNITS BE SET ASIDE TO BE AFFORDABLE, AND THEY BROKE IT DOWN AS A QUARTER OF THOSE 3% AFFORDABLE TO VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.A QUARTER OR 3% OF THE UNITS AFFORDABLE FOR LOW INCOME AND HALF OR 6% AFFORDABLE FOR MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
AND AGAIN, OWNERSHIP HOUSING ONLY ONE OPTION, 10% OF PROJECT UNITS AFFORDABLE FOR MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
HOWEVER, OUR COUNCIL AT THAT TIME WANTED TO SET ASIDE INCLUSIONARY HOU UNITS FOR HOUSEHOLDS AT THE LOWEST INCOME LEVEL.
AND SO THEY ADOPTED OUR CURRENT POLICY, WHICH IS 11% OF RENTAL UNITS MUST BE SET ASIDE EXCLUSIVELY FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
THE CURRENT POLICY APPLIES TO NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT WITH 10 OR MORE UNITS ONLY IN DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN AREAS OF LONG BEACH.
THIS IS SHOWN IN RED AND YELLOW ON THE MAP.
AND THIS LIMITED GEOGRAPHIC AREA WAS DESIGNED TO BE THE FIRST PHASE OF THE POLICY.
IT WAS BASED ON THAT ECONOMIC ANALYSIS THAT WAS DONE IN 2019.
AND AT THAT TIME, VERY FEW HOUSING UNITS HAD BEEN BUILT OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN.
AND SO THE ANALYSIS SIMPLY COULD NOT SUPPORT INCLUSIONARY HOUSING GOING CITYWIDE AT THAT TIME.
HOWEVER, WHEN CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED THE POLICY IN 2021, THEY DIRECTED US TO TO EVALUATE THE POLICY AND OVERALL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN LONG BEACH, UM, WITH THE GOAL OF MAKING INCLUSIONARY HOUSING WIDE AS A SECOND PHASE OF THE POLICY IN THE FUTURE.
NOW, SINCE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING WENT INTO EFFECT IN TWENTY TWENTY ONE, ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT AFFORDABLE RENTAL UNITS HAVE BEEN ENTITLED AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE POLICY.
AND ADDITIONAL PROJECTS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF THE DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE.
THE POLICY ALLOWS ALTERNATIVES TO BUILDING THE AFFORDABLE UNITS ON SITE.
THIS IS A REQUIREMENT FROM THE STATE.
WE HAVE TO OFFER THOSE OPTIONS.
SO FOR INSTANCE, THE DEVELOPER MIGHT BE ABLE TO PAY AN IN LIE FEE OR DONATE LAND.
HOWEVER, THESE ALTERNATIVES HAVE NOT YET BEEN USED.
ALL OF THE INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN MET BY BUILDING THE UNITS ON SITE.
WHEN THE POLICY WAS FIRST DEVELOPED, THERE WAS SOME CONCERN EXPRESSED THAT INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS WOULD SUPPRESS OVERALL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT.
BUT FORTUNATELY THAT HAS NOT BEEN THE CASE WHEN WE COMPARE THE NUMBER OF HOUSING UNITS THAT ARE ENTITLED IN DOWNTOWN IN MIDTOWN.
AND WE LOOKED AT THE PAST TWO YEARS, SO 2022 TO 2023, AND WE COMPARED THAT TO THE TWO YEARS BEFORE INCLUSIONARY WENT INTO EFFECT.
SO 2019 TO 2020, WE SAW THAT THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF ENTITLE UNITS ACTUALLY WENT UP MODESTLY.
SO PRIOR TO INCLUSIONARY IT WAS AN AVERAGE OF 847 ENTITLEMENTS VERSUS WITH INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS AN AVERAGE OF 1067.
NOW IN 2022, OUR CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED OUR HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE IN WHICH OUR CITY COMMITTED TO EXPANDING INCLUSIONARY HOUSING CITYWIDE IN AN EFFORT TO HELP MEET OUR CITY'S FAIR HOUSING GOALS.
THIS COMMITMENT AND OUR HOUSING ELEMENT OVERALL WAS BASED ON ADDITIONAL EXTENSIVE OUTREACH WITH, UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND STAKEHOLDERS.
AND THEN IN MAY OF THIS YEAR, OUR MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DIRECTED US TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS EXPANSION OF CITY OF, OF THE POLICY, EXCUSE ME.
AND DURING THAT COUNCIL MEETING, SEVERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN NOT ONLY EXPANDING CITYWIDE BUT ALSO UPDATING THE AFFORDABILITY REQUIREMENTS.
THEY REQUESTED THAT WE PRESENT OPTIONS FOR MIXED INCOME AFFORDABILITY FOR RENTAL PROJECTS.
WE PRESENTED OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UPDATES TO THE CITY COUNCIL IN MAY AND THEN TO THE HOUSING COMMITTEE IN JUNE.
AND I'M NOT GONNA WALK THROUGH THOSE PROPOSED CHANGES.
SO THE FIRST CHANGE THAT WE RECOMMEND FOR THE POLICY IS TO EXPAND INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS CITYWIDE.
AGAIN, THIS IS FOLLOWING THE COMMITMENT THAT WE MADE TO THE STATE AS PART OF OUR HOUSING ELEMENT.
THIS COMMITMENT WAS AMONG, UH, SEVERAL OTHERS THAT WAS REALLY PIVOTAL TO THE STATE'S DECISION TO CERTIFY OUR HOUSING ELEMENT.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING IS A REALLY IMPORTANT TOOL TO HELP ADDRESS FAIR HOUSING ISSUES THAT WE HAVE IN LONG BEACH THAT ARE LONGSTANDING AND WELL-DOCUMENTED.
I'M SURE I DON'T HAVE TO TELL THIS AUDIENCE, BUT WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH HOUSING IN LONG BEACH.
MANY RESIDENTS HAVE A HARD TIME FINDING HOUSING THAT THEY CAN AFFORD THAT LEADS TO ISSUES LIKE A HIGH HOUSING COST BURDEN WHERE PEOPLE PAY MORE THAN THEY SHOULD OF THEIR INCOME ON HOUSING AND THEY HAVE VERY LITTLE LEFTOVER TO COVER OTHER BASIC NEEDS LIKE FOOD OR HEALTHCARE.
IT ALSO LEADS TO HIGH RATES OF OVERCROWDING OR PEOPLE HAVE TO DOUBLE UP OR RENT OUT A ROOM JUST TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD THEIR HOUSING COSTS.
OVERCROWDING HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE, UM, SERIOUS NEGATIVE IMPACTS, ESPECIALLY ON CHILDREN.
AND WE KNOW THAT, UH, THE LACK OF HOUSING, LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTS OUR LOW INCOME RESIDENTS AND OUR PEOPLE OF COLOR.
AND THIS HAS CONTRIBUTED TO MAINTAINING RACIAL AND ECONOMIC SEGREGATION IN OUR CITY.
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INCLUSIONARY HOUSING CITYWIDE IS AN IMPORTANT TOOL BECAUSE IT CAN HELP ENSURE THAT FUTURE MARKET RATE PROJECTS ALSO INCLUDE SOME PROPORTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAT WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO HAVE INCREASED HOUSING ACCESS FOR PEOPLE ACROSS ALL INCOME LEVELS.SINCE THE POLICY WAS INITIALLY DEVELOPED AND ADOPTED, THE HOUSING LANDSCAPE IN LONG BEACH HAS EVOLVED SIGNIFICANTLY.
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT HAS INCREASED OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN.
IN FACT, IN 2023, WE HAD A RECORD YEAR WITH NEARLY 3000 HOUSING UNITS ENTITLED.
THE MAP YOU SEE HERE SHOWS SOME EXAMPLES OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF OUR CURRENT INCLUSIONARY ZONES.
SO THEY'RE THEREFORE THEY'RE NOT SUBJECT TO INCLUSIONARY BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A CITYWIDE POLICY.
SO THIS IS, UH, NEARLY 1300 NEW UNITS IN THE SOUTHEAST AREA OF LONG BEACH THAT WE'RE ENTITLED LAST YEAR.
140 UNITS COMING SOON IN NORTH LONG BEACH, 15 UNITS COMING IN, BIGSBY KNOWLES AND 23 RECENTLY BUILT TOWN HOMES IN OUR ROSE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD.
WE, AS STAFF EXPECT THAT HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IS ONLY GONNA CONTINUE TO INCREASE AS WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF UPDATING OUR ZONING POLICIES IN LINE WITH OUR HOUSING ELEMENT AND WITH STATE LAW.
THIS IS GONNA EXPAND THE OPPORTUNITY FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE CITY.
AND SO AS WE START TO SEE MORE AND MORE HOUSING UNITS COMING ONLINE OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN, THIS IS A REALLY PIVOTAL TIME TO EXPAND INCLUSIONARY CITYWIDE SO THAT AGAIN, THESE NEW FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS INCLUDE AT LEAST SOME PROPORTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND WE CAN HELP MITIGATE DISPLACEMENT OF OUR CURRENT RESIDENTS.
THE SECOND CHANGE THAT WE ARE RECOMMENDING FOR THE POLICY IS TO UPDATE THE AFFORDABILITY REQUIREMENTS.
THIS IS IN LINE WITH, AGAIN, WITH OUR RECENT COUNCIL DIRECTION.
WE REVIEWED DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR RENTAL PROJECTS.
WE PRESENTED THREE TO THE HOUSING COMMITTEE IN JUNE.
I'LL WALK THROUGH THOSE IN JUST A MINUTE.
FOR ALL OF THE AFFORDABILITY OPTIONS FOR THE UPDATES, WE ARE RECOMMENDING A THREE YEAR PHASE IN APPROACH.
THIS WAS USED FOR THE ORIGINAL ROLLOUT OF THE POLICY.
IT ALLOWS TIME FOR US TO EVALUATE IMPACTS TO HOUSING DEVELOPMENT, MAKE CHANGES IF IT'S NECESSARY.
WE'RE RECOMMENDING THE PHASE IN FOR AREAS OF THE CITY OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN BECAUSE DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN ALREADY COMPLETED A THREE YEAR PHASE IN AND THE FULL INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS ARE IN PLACE.
BEFORE I WALK THROUGH THE AFFORDABILITY REQUIREMENTS, I WANNA PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT.
THESE CHARTS SHOW THE CURRENT INCOME AND RENT LIMITS FOR THE DIFFERENT AFFORDABILITY LEVELS.
INCOME LIMITS ARE SET BY THE STATE.
THEY ARE ADJUSTED BY FAMILY SIZE.
THE CHART ON THE LEFT SHOWS THE INCOME LIMITS FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR.
SO WHEN WE SAY AFFORDABLE FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HOUSEHOLDS THAT MAKE UP TO JUST ABOUT $69,000 FOR HOUSEHOLDS THAT ARE CONSIDERED LOW INCOME, THAT'S A FAMILY OF FOUR THAT MAKES JUST OVER 110.
AND FOR MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, THAT'S A FAMILY THAT MAKES JUST OVER 117,000.
AND THEN THE CHART ON YOUR RIGHT SHOWS, UM, THE MAXIMUM RENT LIMITS.
THE STATE MANDATES HOW RENT IS CALCULATED.
AFFORDABLE RENT IS DEFIED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS SPENDING NO MORE THAN 30% OF A HOUSEHOLD'S GROSS INCOME ON RENT.
RENT IS ADJUSTED BASED ON THE NUMBER OF BEDROOMS. THIS CHART SHOWS OUR, THE MAXIMUM GROSS RENT BEFORE ANY DEDUCTIONS FOR UTILITIES THAT MAY BE PAID BY THE TENANT.
SO YOU SEE THAT BROKEN DOWN AGAIN BY THE DIFFERENT AFFORDABILITY LEVELS AS WELL AS BEDROOM SIZE.
SO THE FIRST OPTION FOR INCLUSIONARY RENTAL PROJECTS IS TO SIMPLY EXPAND THE CURRENT REQUIREMENTS CITYWIDE.
AGAIN, THAT WOULD BE SETTING ASIDE 11% OF RENTAL HOUSING UNITS TO BE AFFORDABLE FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
THE SECOND OPTION IS TO UPDATE THE AFFORDABILITY REQUIREMENTS TO INCLUDE A MIX OF INCOME LEVELS AND APPLY THE SAME REQUIREMENTS UNIFORMLY ACROSS THE CITY.
THIS IS THE APPROACH THAT THE PLANNING COMMISSION TOOK IN 2020.
THEIR RECOMMENDATION WAS THAT 12% OF TOTAL RENTAL PROJECT UNITS BE SET ASIDE 3% FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, 3% FOR LOW AND 6% FOR MODERATE.
THE THIRD OPTION IS TO APPLY DIFFERENT AFFORDABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHIC AREAS OF THE CITY BASED ON LONG BEACH OPPORTUNITY AREAS THAT ARE DEFINED BY THE STATE.
THIS IS THE OPTION THAT WE AS STAFF ARE RECOMMENDING BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THIS APPROACH HAS THE STRONGEST EQUITY LENS AND IS THE MOST DRIVEN BY DATA.
SO I'M GONNA WALK THROUGH THE CHART FIRST AND THEN I'M GONNA SHOW IT TO YOU NEXT ON A MAP.
OUR RECOMMENDATION IS THAT RENTAL PROJECTS THAT ARE LOCATED IN HIGHER RESOURCE AREAS OF THE CITY, 11% OF UNITS WOULD BE SET ASIDE FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
FOR RENTAL PROJECTS THAT ARE LOCATED IN MODERATE AREAS
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OF THE CITY, MODERATE RESOURCE AREAS OF THE CITY, WE'RE RECOMMENDING A MIXED INCOME APPROACH OR 12% OF TOTAL PROJECT UNITS WOULD BE SET ASIDE.6% OF THOSE UNITS FOR VERY LOW INCOME, 3% FOR LOW, 3% FOR MODERATE.
THE INCOME AFFORDABILITY MIX HERE REFLECTS ARENA ALLOCATION.
AND THEN FOR RENTAL PROJECTS THAT ARE LOCATED IN LOW RESOURCE AND HIGH SEGREGATION, HIGH POVERTY AREAS, WE ARE RECOMMENDING THAT 19% OF TOTAL RENTAL PROJECT UNITS BE SET ASIDE FOR MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
OPPORTUNITY AREAS ARE IDENTIFIED BY THE STATE FOR EVERY REGION IN CALIFORNIA.
THEY'RE BASED ON NINE FACTORS THAT RESEARCH CORRELATES WITH ECONOMIC EDUCATION AND HEALTH OUTCOMES, ESPECIALLY FOR LOWER INCOME FAMILIES.
THE MAP SHOWS YOU THESE DIFFERENT RESOURCE AREAS BY COLOR.
SO THE HIGHER RESOURCE AREAS ARE BLUE AND PURPLE ON THE MAP.
THESE ARE THE AREAS OF LONG BEACH THAT HAVE THE BEST PARKS, THE BEST SCHOOLS, AND THE UM, THE BEST ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS.
MODERATE RESOURCE AREAS ARE GREEN, LOW RESOURCE AREAS ARE YELLOW, AND THEN HIGH SEGREGATION.
HIGH POVERTY IS ORANGE WITH BLACK STRIPES.
OPPORTUNITY AREAS IS A TOOL THE STATE HAS DESIGNED TO SUPPORT AFFIRMATIVELY FURTHERING FAIR HOUSING.
THIS IS A LEGAL MANDATE THAT WE HAVE AS A CITY TO NOT ONLY COMBAT DISCRIMINATION, BUT TO TAKE MEANINGFUL ACTION TO PROACTIVELY OVERCOME SEGREGATION TO FOSTER NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE ECONOMICALLY AND RACIALLY INCLUSIVE AND TO MAKE SURE THAT LOWER INCOME FAMILIES HAVE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY.
NOW, HISTORICALLY, IN LONG BEACH, VERY LITTLE AFFORDABLE HOUSING HAS BEEN BUILT IN THE HIGH RESOURCE AREAS OF OUR CITY.
INSTEAD, NEARLY ALL AFFORDABLE UNITS ARE CONCENTRATED IN LOW RESOURCE AREAS.
THIS HAS SERVED TO EFFECT EFFECTIVELY EXCLUDE LOWER INCOME FAMILIES FROM OUR HIGH RESOURCE AREAS, AND IT'S HELPED TO MAINTAIN ECONOMIC AND RACIAL SEGREGATION.
AND SO OUR RECOMMENDATION IS TO TIE INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS TO THESE OPPORTUNITY AREAS AND AN EFFORT TO ADDRESS THESE PATTERNS OF SEGREGATION AND FOSTER NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE RACIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE.
SO ONCE AGAIN, I'LL WALK THROUGH THE RECOMMENDATIONS JUST HERE WITH THE MAP.
WE ARE RECOMMENDING THAT PROJECTS LOCATED IN PURPLE OR BLUE.
THE HIGHER RESOURCE AREAS SET ASIDE 11% OF UNITS FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
TO ADDRESS THAT HISTORICAL EXCLUSION PROJECTS THAT ARE LOCATED IN THE GREEN OR MODERATE RESOURCE AREAS, WE ARE RECOMMENDING 12% OF UNITS BE SET ASIDE WITH MIXED INCOME REQUIREMENTS THAT ALIGN WITH OUR ARENA ALLOCATION.
AND THEN PROJECTS LOCATED IN THE YELLOW OR ORANGE ARE LOW RESOURCE OR HIGH SEGREGATION AREAS.
WE'RE RECOMMENDING THAT 19% OF THE UNITS BE SET ASIDE FOR MODERATE INCOME FAMILIES IN AN EFFORT TO HELP BALANCE OUT THE OVER CONCENTRATION OF LOW AND VERY LOW INCOME UNITS THAT ARE IN THESE AREAS.
NOW, TO ALIGN THE POLICY WITH THESE MIXED INCOME AFFORDABILITY REQUIREMENTS, WE ARE ALSO PROPOSING A FEW ADDITIONAL MODIFICATIONS.
FIRST, WHEN IT COMES TO CALCULATING INCLUSIONARY UNIT REQUIREMENTS, WE ARE PROPOSING ADDING A PROVISION THAT'LL ALLOW US TO ROUND FRACTIONAL UNITS ACROSS INCOME LEVELS.
SO EXAMPLE 0.2, VERY LOW INCOME UNIT 0.4, LOW INCOME AND 0.2 MODERATE INCOME UNIT COULD BE DELIVERED AS ONE MODERATE INCOME UNIT.
THE SECOND RECOMMENDATION IS TO REMOVE THE CURRENT REQUIREMENT FOR IN LIEU FEES THAT RESTRICTS IT TO ONLY BEING USED FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
THIS IS A PROVISION THAT THE CITY COUNCIL ADDED WHEN THEY FIRST ADOPTED THE POLICY TO ALIGN WITH FOCUSING INCLUSIONARY UNITS ONLY FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
IF WE WERE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE UM, MIXED INCOME APPROACH, WE WOULD SIMILARLY WANT TO BE ABLE TO ALLOW THE USE OF IN FEES TO BUILD HOUSING FOR VERY LOW, LOW AND MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
NOW WE ARE ALSO RECOMMENDING FIVE ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL CHANGES TO THE POLICY.
THIS IS BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS.
THE FIRST IS IN CALCULATING INCLUSIONARY UNITS.
WE ARE RECOMMENDING THAT THESE FRACTIONAL UNITS BE ROUNDED UP INSTEAD OF ALLOWING THE DEVELOPER AN OPTION TO PAY AN IN LIEU FEE, THIS WOULD ALIGN THE POLICY WITH HOW, UM, AFFORDABLE UNITS ARE CALCULATED UNDER BOTH THE STATE AND THE CITY'S DENSITY BONUS LAWS.
THE NEXT RE RELATES TO OUR ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE OPTIONS.
AGAIN, THIS IS A STATE REQUIREMENT THAT WE OFFER THESE TO DEVELOPERS, AN ALTERNATIVE TO BUILDING THE UNITS ON SITE.
CURRENTLY, SOME OF THESE OPTIONS REQUIRE THAT DEVELOPERS SEEK COUNSEL APPROVAL, FOR EXAMPLE, TO DEDICATE LAND OR TO PAY AN IN LIEU FEE FOR LARGER RENTAL PROJECTS, WE ARE RECOMMENDING SHIFTING THE APPROVAL BODY TO BE THE PLANNING COMMISSION INSTEAD BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT THIS ALIGNS WITH YOUR ROLE AS, UM, THE APPROVAL THAT YOUR ROLE PROVIDING
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DISCRETIONARY APPROVAL FOR PROJECTS THAT DON'T REQUIRE LEGISLATIVE ACTION.NEXT IS RELATING TO LAND DEDICATION.
SO CURRENTLY DEVELOPERS HAVE THE OPTION TO DEDICATE LAND INSTEAD OF BUILDING AFFORDABLE UNITS ON SITE.
RIGHT NOW, THE POLICY SAYS THAT IF THEY'RE TO DEDICATE LAND, IT NEEDS TO BE LOCATED WITHIN ONE MILE OF THE ORIGINAL PROJECT THAT'S SUBJECT TO INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS.
WE WOULD LIKE TO REMOVE THIS REQUIREMENT, AND THAT IS TO ALLOW FLEXIBILITY FOR LAND IN HIGHER RESOURCE AREAS TO BE DEDICATED TO ALIGN WITH OUR FAIR HOUSING GOALS.
NEXT, FOR OWNERSHIP UNITS, WE ARE RECOMMENDING ADDING A REQUIREMENT THAT THESE OWNERSHIP UNITS CAN ONLY BE SOLD TO FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS.
THIS CLOSE A LOOPHOLE THAT ALLOWS HOME BUYERS THAT ALREADY OWN REAL ESTATE TO PURCHASE THESE AFFORDABLE UNITS.
AND THEN LAST, WE ARE RECOMMENDING EXEMPTING DEVELOPMENTS THAT PROVIDE AT LEAST HALF OF THEIR TOTAL UNITS AS AFFORDABLE TO VERY LOW OR LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
THESE ARE PROJECTS THAT PROVIDE A SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER PUBLIC BENEFIT, UM, BECAUSE THEY'RE PROVIDING SO MANY MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS THAN IS REQUIRED UNDER OUR INCLUSIONARY POLICY.
AND AN EXEMPTION WOULD ALLOW THESE AFFORDABLE PROJECTS, THE FLEXIBILITY THEY NEED TO, TO OBTAIN FUNDING TO MAKE THEIR PROJECTS FEASIBLE.
SO THIS CHART HERE SHOWS OUR TIMELINE AND OUR NEXT STEPS FOR UPDATING THE POLICY.
UM, WE'VE JUST STARTED KICKING OFF COMMUNITY OUTREACH.
WE HELD A FOCUS GROUP WITH HOUSING DEVELOPERS LAST WEEK, AND WE HAVE COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSES WITH OUR, UM, HOUSING POLICY FORUMS STARTING A WEEK FROM SATURDAY.
I'LL SHARE MORE IN A SLIDE ON THAT.
NEXT, WE ARE LOOKING TO BRING THIS ITEM BACK TO PLANNING COMMISSION FOR A PUBLIC HEARING.
WE HAVE TENTATIVELY EARMARKED SEPTEMBER 19TH FOR THAT PUBLIC HEARING DATE.
AND THEN WE WOULD BRING FORWARD THE PLANNING COMMISSION'S RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL FOR A VOTE.
WE ARE TENTATIVELY LOOKING AT NOVEMBER 12TH FOR THAT DATE.
AND THE GOAL WITH THIS TIMELINE IS THAT AN UPDATED POLICY WOULD TAKE EFFECT ON JANUARY 1ST, 2025.
SO, UM, ALLISON MENTIONED EARLIER, BUT WE ARE HOSTING NEXT WEEK, UM, A STARTING WITH OUR SERIES OF HOUSING POLICY FORUMS. WE INVITE COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND TENANT ADVOCATES TO JOIN US, UM, TO HELP SHARE YOUR INPUT TO SHAPE THE DEVELOPMENT OF EIGHT HOUSING POLICIES.
ONE OF THOSE IS INCLUSIONARY HOUSING, ALONG WITH OTHER HOUSING POLICIES LIKE OUR JUST CAUSE TENANT PROTECTIONS, UM, ZONING UPDATES, A DU ORDINANCE AND MORE.
SO THERE'S THREE FORUMS. AGAIN, THAT STARTS A WEEK FROM SATURDAY ON THE 24TH.
ALL THREE FORUMS WILL PRESENT THE SAME INFORMATION SO THAT FOLKS CAN CHOOSE THE ONE THAT BEST FITS THEIR SCHEDULE.
UM, AND WE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO VISIT OUR PROJECT WEBSITE.
FOR MORE INFORMATION INTO RSP, YOU CAN REQUEST LANGUAGE TRANSLATION.
AND THAT WEBSITE IS LONG BEACH.GOV/HOUSING POLICIES.
AND WE ALSO HAVE SOME PRINTED FLYERS THAT ARE, UM, LOCATED RIGHT HERE ON THE WALL IF YOU'D LIKE TO TAKE THOSE AS WELL.
SO THIS CONCLUDES OUR PRESENTATION.
WE DO WANT TO, UM, BRING IT BACK TO THE COMMISSIONERS FOR DISCUSSION.
WE'RE AVAILABLE TO HELP ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
WE ALSO ARE VERY EAGER TO HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK ON OUR PROPOSED POLICY UPDATES.
I'VE SUMMARIZED THEM AT A REALLY HIGH LEVEL ON THIS SLIDE JUST FOR EASE.
SO AGAIN, LOOKING AT CITYWIDE EXPANSION, UPDATING THE AFFORDABILITY REQUIREMENTS, AND THEN MAKING, UM, A COUPLE OF TECHNICAL CHANGES TO STREAMLINE AND REFINE THE POLICY.
I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUICK QUESTIONS.
UH, YOU ADDRESSED SOME OF IT WHEN YOU WERE EXPLAINING THE TECHNICAL, UH, CORRECTION OR THE TECHNICAL CHANGE TO COMBINE FRACTIONAL UH, UNITS INTO A SINGLE MODERATE INCOME UNIT.
HOW DO, HOW DO YOU APPROACH IT? IF WE HAVE 11% OR 12% REQUIREMENT AND THERE'S 10 UNITS IN A BUILDING, DOES THAT 11% ROUND UP TO TWO FULL UNITS THEN WHERE IN ESSENCE IT'S 20% OF THE BUILDING IS NOW AFFORDABLE? WOULD WE, WOULD YOU, DO WE ROUND UP NOW? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE ASKING? OR ARE YOU RECOMMENDING THE ROUNDUP? WELL, EITHER, I MEAN, AS OF RIGHT NOW IT'S 11%.
SO IF I WAS BUILDING 10 UNITS, I WOULD HAVE TO DEDICATE TWO UNITS TO BEING CORRECT.
THE POLICY CURRENTLY ALLOWS THE OPTION TO PAY AN IN LIEU FEE FOR THAT FRACTIONAL UNIT THAT HASN'T BEEN USED RIGHT NOW.
BUT WE ARE RECOMMENDING THAT INSTEAD WE DO AWAY WITH THAT OPTION TO PAY THE IN LIE FEE.
YEAH, SO INSTEAD OF 1.1, YOU'D PROVIDE TWO, TWO INCLUSIONARY UNITS IN THAT EXAMPLE OF A 10 UNIT PROJECT.
AND AS STEPHANIE IS SAYING, SO FAR IN PRACTICE WE HAVEN'T RUN INTO THIS ISSUE BECAUSE ALL EVERYONE WE'VE WORKED WITH HAS JUST AGREED TO ROUND UP.
AND THAT IS COMMON PRACTICE IN OTHER PARTS OF OUR CODE.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, IF IT'S A FRACTION, UM, WE ROUND UP, BUT RIGHT NOW, TECHNICALLY THE PROVISION ALLOWS FOR PAYING A SMALL IN LOFI 'CAUSE IT WOULD JUST BE A FRACTION.
UM, AND YOU'RE PROBABLY AWARE IT'S ALREADY
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CHALLENGING SOMETIMES TO USE NITIN LOFI TO ACTUALLY DELIVER A UNIT.SO IT'S STAFF'S PREFERENCE TO, TO BE ABLE TO ROUND UP AND GET THAT ADDITIONAL AFFORDABLE UNIT ON SITE WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
AND CAN YOU GIVE US A LITTLE BIT OF, UH, FLAVOR FOR THE, UH, HOUSING DEVELOPERS FOCUS GROUP THAT YOU HAD LAST WEEK? WHAT SOME OF THE FEEDBACK WAS LIKE? SO, UM, I'LL I'LL START THAT ONE AND UM, STEPHANIE CAN ADD TO IT.
SO WE HAD, UM, 10 ATTENDEES, UH, REPRESENTING, I BELIEVE IT WAS FIVE DIFFERENT FIRMS, UM, MANY OF WHOM HAVE DONE PROJECTS WITH US HERE IN THE CITY.
UM, AND A LOT OF IT WAS INFORMATIONAL AND, AND GETTING SOMETHING SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU SAW HERE TODAY.
I'D SAY THE PRIMARY FEEDBACK WE HEARD WAS RELATED TO THE ROLLOUT FOR, UM, FOR SALE PROJECTS AS OPPOSED TO RENTAL.
UH, WE KNOW THE DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN MARKETS YOU DON'T SEE A LOT OF FOR SALE PROJECTS, SO DEVELOPERS WANTING US TO REALLY THINK THAT ASPECT THROUGH.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, QUESTIONS OF CONSIDERING, UM, HOW DO WE CONTINUE TO MAKE HOW HOUSING THAT'S FOR SALE ACCESSIBLE TO FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS AT ANY INCOME LEVEL, UM, KIND OF WHAT THAT COULD LOOK LIKE.
AND, UM, WHETHER AN INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENT CITYWIDE FOR FOR SALE WOULD FURTHER, UM, UH, CONTRACT THE MARKET OF OF FOR SALE UNITS.
SO THAT WAS SORT OF THE, THE PRIMARY TOPIC, OTHER STAFF THAT WERE THERE.
DO YOU REMEMBER ANY OTHER FEEDBACK? YEAH, I MEAN THERE WAS INTEREST.
WE HAD SOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS THERE AS WELL THAT WERE INTERESTED IN KIND OF BROADER ADVOCACY FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING SUBSIDIES THAT COULD BE AVAILABLE TO MAKE, UM, PROJECTS MORE FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE.
WAS ANOTHER, I THINK, MAJOR FEEDBACK THAT WE HEARD.
AND THOSE AFFORDABLE DEVELOPERS IN PARTICULAR WERE INTERESTED IN POTENTIAL FUNDING SOURCES FOR MIXED INCOME PROJECTS.
SO, UM, A MIX OF INCOMES, EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE, UM, AT VARIOUS AFFORDABILITY LEVELS, UH, THE WAY FUNDING HAPPENS TODAY, IT'S VERY HARD TO GET THAT TYPE OF FUNDING FOR AN AFFORDABLE DEVELOPER.
I REMEMBER OUR DISCUSSIONS FROM A FEW YEARS AGO AND HAVING THAT, THAT MIX OF AFFORDABILITY.
UM, I THINK A BIG PART OF THE DISCUSSION WAS KIND OF THE MISSING MODERATE INCOME HOUSING THAT'S, YOU KNOW, WE FOCUS A LOT OF OUR CONVERSATIONS ON LOW AND LOWER INCOME.
AND, UM, CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT, YOU, YOU PREFACED YOUR SLIDE WITH, UH, DATA-DRIVEN, UH, ANALYSIS TO COME UP WITH THE MIX THAT YOU'RE PROPOSING WHERE WE'RE DOING KIND OF THAT MIX THAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT A FEW YEARS AGO WITH AFFORDABLE LOW AND VERY LOW AND LOOKING ON THE HIGHER RESOURCE AREAS TO JUST GOING TO VERY LOW.
UM, I MEAN, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF, OF OF MID-LEVEL AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THOSE AREAS EITHER.
AND SO I'M JUST CURIOUS IF YOU COULD TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT DROVE THE RECOMMENDATION TO THAT.
UM, SO PART OF IT WAS REFLECTED IN TCXO METHODOLOGY FOR DESIGNATING OPPORTUNITY AREAS AND WHAT THEY REFLECT IN TERMS OF THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE THERE.
UM, THE ASSUMPTION GENERALLY BEING THAT THERE MAY BE POCKETS OF EXISTING RELATIVELY AFFORDABLE TO MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLD HOUSING IN THE HIGHEST OPPORTUNITY AREAS, BUT THERE'S ALMOST NONE IF NONE AT ALL, THAT ARE AVAILABLE AND ACCESSIBLE TO THE LOWEST INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
UM, AND THAT GENERALLY THOSE LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS HAVE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF CHOICE IN TERMS OF WHERE TO LIVE IN.
THEY'RE CLOSEST TO FALLING INTO HOUSING INSECURITY ENTIRELY.
AND SO CONCENTRATING THE MOST AFFORDABLE UNITS IN THE HIGHEST RESOURCE AREAS, IDEALLY WILL LEAD TO THE MOST ED WELCOMES WITH THOSE PEOPLE THAT MOVE INTO THOSE AREAS THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO OTHERWISE, UM, NOT ONLY HAVE STABLE HOUSING, BUT ALSO HAVE ACCESS TO THE AMENITIES AND RESOURCES THAT ARE USUALLY THE MOST OUTTA REACH FOR THEM, UM, UNLESS THEY COMMUTE IN AND OUT.
OFTENTIMES IT'LL ALSO BE THE SAME FOLKS THAT WORK SERVICE SECTOR JOBS THAT ARE LOCATED IN THOSE AREAS AND THAT CURRENTLY USUALLY END UP COMMUTING MULTIPLE HOURS, UM, PEOPLE THAT COMMUTE INTO RETAIL JOBS, FOR EXAMPLE, FROM THE ANTELOPE VALLEY, UM, OR FROM, UM, DEEP EAST IN THE INLAND EMPIRE.
UM, SO THERE'S ALSO THE HOPE THAT THAT'LL PROVIDE A COLD BENEFIT WHEN IT COMES TO CLIMATE ACTION PLAN IMPLICATIONS.
UM, WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING IT SO THAT PEOPLE THAT WOULD BENEFIT THE MOST FROM BEING ABLE TO LIVE IN A PLACE WHERE THEY CAN WALK OR TAKE THE BUS TO WORK WHILE ACTUALLY DO SO, UM, IT'S ASPIRATIONAL, BUT WE'RE HOPING THAT, UM, THE DATA THAT GOES INTO TC UH, METHODOLOGY AND DESIGNATION OF CENSUS TRACKS THROUGHOUT THE STATE CAN BE REFLECTIVE OF, OF WHAT WE'RE PUTTING INTO OUR OWN, UM, KIND OF DISTRIBUTION OF UNITS.
AND I'LL JUST ADD ONE MORE PIECE TO THAT.
UH, THE MAP ON, ON THIS SLIDE, UM, SHOWS YOU WHERE WE'VE SEEN AFFORDABLE RENTAL PROJECTS HAPPENING.
SO IF YOU SEE THE BUBBLES ON THE MAP, THEY'RE MOSTLY IN THOSE YELLOW AND GREEN AREAS.
AND THIS COMES BACK TO THE MANY DISCUSSIONS WE HAD IN DEVELOPING THE HOUSING ELEMENT OVER THE DOCUMENTED FAIR HOUSING ISSUES IN OUR CITY.
SO IF YOU SEE THE SORT OF LARGE BUBBLES, UM, OVER AT KIND OF LONG BEACH BOULEVARD
[01:20:01]
IN ANAHEIM THERE ON THE MAP, YOU CAN SEE THERE IS QUITE A CONCENTRATION OF THOSE, UM, VERY LOW INCOME AFFORDABLE UNITS IN A SMALL PART OF THE CITY.SO AS WE THINK ABOUT WHERE THOSE INVESTMENTS IN NEW UNITS HAPPEN, YOU CAN SEE, UM, BASICALLY NO DOTS KIND OF EAST OF, OF, UM, REDONDO ON, ON THE SLIDE.
SO AS WE THINK ABOUT WHERE THOSE VERY LOW INCOME UNITS GET PRODUCED, THAT'S, UH, PART OF THE THINKING AS WELL.
AND THEN MY FINAL QUESTION THAT THREE YEAR PHASE IN IS THAT, I MEAN WE, WE'VE HAD A PHASE IN AS WE IMPLEMENTED THIS IN DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN TO GIVE US A CHANCE TO KIND OF STUDY THE EFFECTS OF IT.
UM, IT SEEMS LIKE KIND OF A LONG RUNWAY IF, IF YOU BELIEVE IN INCLUSIONARY HOUSING, ANY PARTICULAR REASON, I MEAN THREE YEARS, IS THAT TO ALLOW ANYTHING THAT'S ALREADY IN THE DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE THAT HASN'T ANTICIPATED THIS IN THEIR PROFORMAS A CHANCE TO WORK THEIR WAY THROUGH THE SYSTEM? YEAH, I THINK THAT IS, UH, THE INTENTION.
THAT'S CERTAINLY SOMETHING, UH, WE CAN EXPLORE.
TO BE HONEST, WE JUST SORT OF COPIED
UM, UH, AND WHEN A PROJECT, UM, APPLIES, THAT'S THE TIME AT WHICH WE, UM, WE USE THAT FORMULA.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, IT MAY TAKE MORE THAN A YEAR TO PROCESS AN ENTITLEMENT OR SAY THEY APPLY IN NOVEMBER, BUT WE DON'T APPROVE IT UNTIL, YOU KNOW, FEBRUARY THE NEXT YEAR.
THEY, UM, AN APPLICANT GETS THE BENEFIT OF THE, THE RATE THAT'S REQUIRED AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION.
SO YOU'RE RIGHT, THERE'S BACKGROUND WORK HAPPENING BEFORE THE APPLICATION HAPPENS.
SO IT GIVES SOME AMOUNT OF TIME, BUT WHETHER THREE YEARS IS THE RIGHT NUMBER, I THINK IS AN OPEN QUESTION.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER CASTILLO? UM, YOU KNOW, THIS TOPIC RESONATES FOR ME 'CAUSE IT, IT, I I, I'LL BROACH THIS QUESTION HERE BECAUSE I THINK IT'S PROBABLY MORE APPROPRIATE, BUT WHEN I DID MY, UH, SERVICE ON THE AIRPORT COMMISSION, I RAISED THE QUESTION QUITE A FEW TIMES AROUND THE AVAILABILITY OF LAND, UH, IN AND AROUND THE AIRPORT PR PRIMARILY AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF THE AIRPORT.
THERE'S STILL A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF CITY OWNED LAND THAT'S AVAILABLE.
UM, AND I JUST, IT STILL BOGGLES MY MIND THAT WE DON'T, UM, LEVERAGE THAT MORE.
AND I UNDERSTAND THERE'S A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT REGULATIONS, AND I'M NOT SUGGESTING IT'S EASY, BUT IT IS, THE, THE PROBLEM WE'RE TRYING TO SOLVE IS NOT GOING TO, UH, RESOLVE ITSELF.
IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT'S GONNA TAKE MULTIPLE YEARS TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO REZONE, LOOK AT CREATIVELY ADAPTING REZONING, UM, LEVERAGING THE LAND THAT THE, THE CITY ALREADY OWNS.
BECAUSE ONE OF THE BIGGEST BARRIERS TO ANY, DEFINITELY FOR OWNERSHIP, BUT DEFINITELY ON THE, ON THE AFFORDABILITY SIDE, IS THE ACQUISITION OF LAND.
UM, WHICH THERE IS VERY LITTLE LAND TO BE ACQUIRED IN THE CITY.
AND IT, ANY AND ANY THAT IS ACQUIRED IS THAT A PREMIUM.
AND, UH, GIVEN, UH, SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE DIRECTIVES HERE AND SOME OF THE OBJECTIVES HERE, UH, ESPECIALLY ON THE EAST SIDE OF TOWN, YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET A WHOLE LOT OF PRODUCTION, ESPECIALLY HIGH DENSITY ANYWHERE NEAR THAT AREA ANYTIME SOON.
UH, 'CAUSE IT TAKES A LONG TIME FOR THAT TO CYCLE AROUND.
UM, I'M CU WITH THAT ALL SAID, I'M CURIOUS IF THERE'S BEEN ANY EXPLORATORY CONVERSATIONS AROUND LEVERAGING A LOT OF THE LAND THAT IS ALREADY OWNED BY THE CITY, AGAIN, THROUGH DIFFERENT ENTITIES, BUT ABOUT, UH, AGAIN, ON MY MIND JUST AS THOUGHT STARTERS ON COVER ALONG, ALONG, UH, SPRING.
UH, DEFINITELY, UM, ALONG THE ORANGE CORRIDOR RIGHT THERE ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE AIRPORT, THERE'S LOTS OF LAND THAT, AGAIN, NOT TO SAY IT'S IDEAL, BUT IT'S AVAILABLE, UM, FROM A, FROM A CITY OWNED PROPERTY PERSPECTIVE, YEAH, WE, WE CAN DEFINITELY, UM, REVISIT IT.
SO IT IS ONE OF THE ACTIONS WITHIN OUR HOUSING ELEMENT TO ASSESS OUR INVENTORY OF LAND FOR OPPORTUNITIES, UM, FOR THE AIRPORT SPECIFICALLY, THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT CAME UP DURING THE EMERGENCY DECLARATION PROCESS.
UM, LAST YEAR, UM, THE CITY LOOKED AT ALL ITS AVAILABLE INVENTORY, BUT SPECIFICALLY AROUND THE AIRPORT, PRECISELY BECAUSE OF THE REASONS THAT YOU'RE BRINGING UP.
UM, IT WAS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF NOT JUST PERMANENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING, BUT ALSO SHELTERS AND OTHER FORMS OF INTERIM HOUSING SAFE PARKING SITES.
UM, THE UNFORTUNATE FINDINGS WERE THAT A LOT OF THE RESTRICTIONS, BOTH IN TERMS OF LEASE AGREEMENTS OR EXISTING USAGE FOR UTILITIES OR AIRPORT OR OTHER DEPARTMENTS, OR IN THE CASE OF CERTAIN PROPERTIES, UM, WITHIN, UM, THE FLY FLAT FAA RESTRICTIONS, UM, AROUND INTRODUCING SENSITIVE RECEPTORS, UM, WHITTLED DOWN THE AVAILABLE INVENTORY SIGNIFICANTLY.
UH, THAT BEING SAID, IT'S ALWAYS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVISIT, UM, CONDITIONS HAVE CHANGED BOTH IN TERMS OF THE LOCAL CRISIS AND UM, CITY RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR, UH, HOUSING PRODUCTION.
SO WE CAN DEFINITELY BRING IT UP WITH OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS, UM, AND SEE IF THERE'S ANY NEW SITES THAT MAY BECOME AVAILABLE BOTH WITHIN AND AROUND THE AIRPORT AND ELSEWHERE IN THE CITY.
UM, IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING THAT,
[01:25:01]
THAT IS KIND OF THE LOWEST HANGING FRUIT BECAUSE AS, AS YOU MENTIONED, COMMISSIONER, THE, THE, THE COST OF ACQUIRING LAND IS SOMETHING THAT OVER TIME TENDS TO ONLY GO IN ONE DIRECTION.UM, SO ANYTIME WE CAN MAKE THAT LAND AVAILABLE THAT IS WITHIN THE CITY'S CONTROL, WE DEFINITELY WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.
YEAH, I MEAN, UH, AND, AND JUST TO, AND AGAIN, I'M NOT, I MAYBE PREACHING TO THE CHOIR HERE, BUT, UH, EVEN ALONG, I'M THINKING EVEN SOME OF THE PARKLAND THAT WE OWN, SKY LINKS, FOR EXAMPLE, ON THE PERIPHERY ON LONG CLARK, THERE'S LOTS OF RIGHT AT, RIGHT, UH, SOUTH OF VETS PARK, THERE'S LOTS OF LAND THERE.
UM, AND AGAIN, LITTLE BATTLES AND, AND, AND IF WE OWN THAT, THAT THAT LAND, IT'D BE, IT'D BE PRIME FOR ENTICEMENT OF DEVELOPERS TO COME IN MULTI-YEAR LEASES THAT THE ACQUISITION COSTS ARE, ARE ALREADY KIND OF SUB SUBSIDIZED IN A SENSE.
AND THAT WILL THEN, BY ITS NATURE PROVIDE SOME OF THE AFFORDABILITY.
I HAVE A QUE I HAVE A FOLLOW UP TO A QUESTION THAT, UM, YOU ASKED REGARDING THE STAKEHOLDER MEETING THAT YOU ALL HAD.
WAS IT TWO WEEKS AGO? I CAN'T, UM, THESE ARE A BLUR FOR ME THESE DAYS.
UM, I JUST WAS WONDERING, YOU SAID FIVE PARTIC FIVE DEVELOPERS PARTICIPATED? UH, 10, 10 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED, BUT I BELIEVE THEY REPRESENTED FIVE FIRMS. UM, WE PUT THE INVITE OUT TO, UM, ALL OF THE, UM, DEVELOPERS ON OUR INTERESTED PARTIES LIST, UM, FOR THE HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE, AS WELL AS, UM, WE RECEIVED A LETTER BACK IN MAY, UM, FROM THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND, AND OTHERS, UM, AND PROVIDED A DETAILED RESPONSE TO THAT LETTER LAST MONTH ALONG WITH AN INVITE TO THE FORUM.
SO WE DID OUR BEST TO SORT OF SHARE IT.
UM, I THINK THERE'S OVER 300 EMAILS ON THE INTERESTED PARTIES LIST OF DEVELOPERS THAT HAVE WORKED IN THE CITY RECENTLY.
I JUST HAD TO ASK, BECAUSE HAVING WORKED IN THE CITY BEFORE, WE OFTEN FORGET TO INVITE ALL STAKEHOLDERS TO AN ISSUE THAT COULD BE SO DIVISIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY FOR VARIOUS REASONS.
AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS DIVISIVE, BUT WHAT I'M SAYING IS THAT WE NEED TO INVITE INDUSTRY TO THE TABLE WHEN WE'RE MAKING DECISIONS.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT WHEN THEY'RE MAKING INVESTMENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY, THEY PROVIDE JOBS, THEY PROVIDE A, A COMMUNITY THAT WE WANNA SEE.
AND SO THAT'S WHY I, I WANTED TO GET A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A, A FULL PICTURE OF HOW THAT EN ENGAGEMENT, UM, OUTREACH HAPPENED AND, AND WHY WE WE HAD THOSE FIVE EN UH, FIRMS PARTICIPATE.
YEAH, AND I, I DO REMEMBER WHEN WE HAD THE INITIAL CONVERSATIONS ON THIS, WE HAD ACTUALLY BROUGHT IN A CONSULTANT THAT DID SOME ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF WHAT THESE DECISIONS, HOW THEY WOULD IMPACT DEVELOPMENT AND, AND THAT INFLUENCED A LOT OF WHERE THE POLICY WAS VICE CHAIR.
UM, EXCUSE ME, ON, UM, SLIDE NINE, WHICH SHOWS THE DEVELOPMENTS OUTSIDE OF THE MAIN AREA.
UM, HOW, HOW MANY OF THOSE PROJECTS WERE COVERED BY THE PEOPLE THAT THE CONTRACTOR, THE, UH, UH, DEVELOPERS WHO ATTENDED WERE, WERE ANY OF THOSE DONE BY THOSE PEOPLE THAT HAVE ALREADY LOOKED AT THE EXPANSION OR DO WE KNOW? I'M SORRY.
DO WE KNOW? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW OFF THE TOP.
SO THESE, THESE PROJECTS OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN, OF COURSE WERE NOT SUBJECT TO INCLUSIONARY.
UM, I CAN TELL YOU THE THREE CIP PROJECTS OVER IN THAT SOUTHEAST CORNER, UM, I DON'T BELIEVE WE HAD REPRESENTATION FROM THOSE THREE FIRMS, EVEN THOUGH TWO OUTTA THREE OF THOSE, THEY DIDN'T DO AN INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENT, BUT TWO OF THEM DID USE DENSITY BONUS AND THEREFORE DID PROVIDE A PROPORTION OF VERY LOW INCOME UNITS.
BUT I WOULD, WE WOULD HAVE TO LOOK INTO IT, I THINK, AND GET BACK TO YOU ON THE OTHER ONES LISTED.
THANK YOU COMMISSIONER CLEMSON, FIRST OFF, I WANNA SAY, I THINK THIS IS REALLY GREAT WORK.
I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THIS.
IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT POLICY THAT I THINK IS GONNA HELP TO IMPROVE A LOT OF PEOPLE'S LIVES.
SO THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
UM, I HAVE, I WANT TO ECHO, UH, CHAIR, CHAIR LEWIS'S, UH, QUESTION OR A COMMENT ABOUT NOT BEING SURE ABOUT THE PHASING OF IT.
I DID SEE THAT AND, YOU KNOW, KNOWING AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THE ENTITLEMENT PROCESS WORKS, IT SEEMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, GETTING, UH, GETTING, GETTING REQUIREMENTS SPRUNG ON YOU WITH RIGHT BEFORE YOU, YOU SUBMIT THE ENTITLEMENT APPLICATION IS PART OF THE, PART OF THE JOB HERE WITH, WITH DEVELOPERS.
UM, BUT, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S A REASON TO DO IT, I THINK IT'S FINE.
IF THERE'S NOT, YOU KNOW, THEN, UH, I DON'T WANT TO, UH, HAVE THAT JUST SOME KIND OF ARBITRARY, UH, THING.
AND THEN JUST TO CONFIRM, THIS IS ON BUILDINGS THAT ARE 10 OR MORE.
UM, AND THEN I'M, AS, IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT OTHER ZONING REFORMS WHILE WE DO THIS? UM, BECAUSE,
[01:30:02]
YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING, A LOT OF THE ZONING REQUIREMENTS THAT WE HAVE HAVE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.AND IF WE CAN LOOK AT THOSE, UH, WE MAY BE ABLE TO LOWER THE COST OF BUILDING.
AND THEN CLEARLY YOU HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS.
SO YES, WE'RE DEFINITELY ALWAYS LOOKING TO, UH, GO INTO THE ZONING TOOLBOX AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
UM, ON THE FIRST POINT WITH THE PHASE IN IT, IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL.
SO JUST TO CONTEXTUALIZE IT, AGAIN, WITHIN OUR ARENA ALLOCATION, OUR REGIONAL HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SO USING LAST YEAR'S AN EXAMPLE, IT WAS A LANDMARK YEAR RECORD SETTING IN MANY WAYS, ALMOST 3000 UNITS ENTITLED.
SO ASSUMING THAT THIS POLICY WAS ALREADY IN PLACE WITHOUT A PHASE IN PROCESS, THAT WOULD'VE BEEN 330 UNITS ISH, LET'S SAY 300 UNITS.
UM, IF WE HIT THAT RECORD EVERY YEAR FOR THE REMAINDER OF OUR HOUSING UNMET CYCLE, THAT WOULD GET US MAYBE 10% OF THE WAY TO OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALLOCATION.
SO IT DOES SPEAK TO MAYBE NOT NEEDING A THREE YEAR PHASING PERIOD THE WAY WE DID ORIGINALLY.
UM, IN TERMS OF, UH, ADDITIONAL POLICIES, WE ARE WORKING, AND WE'VE MENTIONED IT, UM, PREVIOUSLY ON A RELIGIOUS FACILITY OVERLAY.
SO THAT WOULD OPEN UP, UM, TO COMMISSIONER CASTILLO'S POINT, ADDITIONAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES, UM, ALONG HIGH OPPORTUNITY AREAS IN EAST LONG BEACH AND ELSEWHERE ON RELIGIOUS AND POSSIBLY OTHER INSTITUTIONAL SITES.
SO THAT COULD WORK IN COMBINATION WITH THIS POLICY WHERE THERE'S MIXED INCOME HOUSING THAT IS EITHER ENTIRELY OR LARGELY AFFORDABLE, UM, THAT COULD BE DEVELOPED ON SITE.
SO RIGHT NOW ARE NOT FEASIBLE AT ALL.
AND HAVING IT BE A BUY RIGHT PROCESS PROVIDES CERTAINTY TO DEVELOPERS.
IT CAN REDUCE COSTS, MAKE IT EASIER AND MORE STREAMLINED, UM, TO GET THOSE PROJECTS OFF THE GROUND.
UH, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT REVISITING OUR ENHANCED DENSITY BONUS POLICY.
WHEN WE ADOPTED IT, IT WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND THE STATE LEVEL.
THEIR STATE HAS SINCE THEN DONE ITS OWN UPDATES AND IN SOME CASES THEIR, UM, THE STATE DENSITY BONUS TO PRECEDES OUR OWN IN TERMS OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE.
SO THIS MIGHT BE AN OPPORTUNITY AND AN INVITATION FOR US TO THEN GO REVISIT THAT AND PROVIDE EVEN MORE, UM, INCENTIVES FOR GREATER HOUSING AT VARIOUS INCOME LEVELS EVERYWHERE IN THE CITY.
UM, SO THOSE ARE A COUPLE EXAMPLES OF THINGS THAT WE'RE EITHER ALREADY WORKING ON OR LOOKING TO REVISIT, UH, TO CONTINUE TO EXPAND WHAT'S AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE THROUGHOUT THE CITY AND MAKING SURE THAT WE DO SO IN A WAY THAT IS EQUITABLE AND ADDRESSES THE HISTORIC INEQUITIES THAT HAVE HAPPENED, UM, GEOGRAPHICALLY HERE IN, IN LONG BEACH.
AND JUST TO UNDERSCORE, I KNOW IT WAS IN THE PRESENTATION AS WELL, BUT, UM, THE ENHANCED DENSITY BONUS DOES STILL APPLY EVEN IF ALL YOU'RE DOING IS MEETING THAT INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENT.
SO IT IS INTENDED TO HELP PARTIALLY OFFSET THE FINANCIAL BURDEN FOR DEVELOPERS OF PROVIDING THOSE AFFORDABLE UNITS.
SO EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE DOING WHAT YOU'RE REQUIRED TO DO, YOU STILL GET ACCESS TO THAT BONUS.
AND WE'VE SEEN THAT USED HERE IN DOWNTOWN SEVERAL TIMES ON RECENT PROJECTS.
UM, UH, AND SO WE ACTUALLY APPLIED FOR SOME FUNDING WITH SCAG TO HELP DO A LITTLE BIT MORE RESEARCH ON DO WE NEED TO TWEAK THOSE INCENTIVES? DO THEY NEED TO LOOK A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT? AND IT, IT DOVETAILS NICELY INTO THIS EXPANSION TO LOOK AT SORT OF A DATA-DRIVEN BRO, UH, APPROACH TO HOW DO WE MAXIMIZE THE AFFORDABLE UNITS THAT WE CAN GET, UM, THROUGH THOSE, UH, COMBINATIONS OF TOOLS.
YEAH, AND I THINK THOSE ARE ALL GREAT, UM, THINGS.
I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT COMES OUT OF THAT.
UM, AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN FIND A WAY TO KIND OF REDUCE SOME OF THE BARRIERS, BECAUSE I THINK THAT'LL HELP WITH FINDING WAYS TO MAKE THOSE SMALLER APARTMENT, THE SMALLER UNIT, UH, BUILDINGS, THE 10 AND LOWER OR NINE AND LOWER, UH, MORE AFFORDABLE, WHICH I THINK IS A REALLY GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR NATURALLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, AND THEN I JUST WANTED TO KIND OF HIT ON THE FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS REQUIREMENTS.
UM, YOU SAID IT WAS TO AVOID HAVING AN INVESTOR COME IN AND THEN AN INVESTOR NEEDS TO BE LOW INCOME.
I'M A LITTLE BIT CON CONFUSED ON, ON, YOU KNOW, HOW THAT EXACTLY WORKS.
IT DEALS WITH HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, UM, DEFINES HOW WE HAVE TO INCOME VERIFY FOLKS AND THE WAY THAT THEY TREAT ASSETS WITHIN THAT INCOME CALCULATION ALLOWS FOR PEOPLE TO OWN A HOME, OWN ANOTHER PROPERTY, BUT STILL MEET THE LOW INCOME REQUIREMENTS, FOR INSTANCE, IF THEY'RE ON A FIXED INCOME.
UM, AND SO IT IS INDUSTRY STANDARD WITHIN THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING WORLD TO RESTRICT AFFORDABLE OWNERSHIP UNITS FOR FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS TO HELP MAKE SURE THAT THESE MORE LIKE SMALL NUMBER OF UNITS REALLY ARE GOING TOWARDS FOLKS WHO THIS IS THEIR FIRST TIME OWNING, WHO ARE GAINING THAT STABILITY FROM OWNING A HOME THAT DON'T OTHERWISE HAVE THAT THROUGH PROPERTY.
SO IT'S A LOOPHOLE AT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL IN TERMS OF HOW INCOME VERIFICATION IS COMPLETED THAT CAN BE CLOSED IF WE ADD IN THIS FIRST TIME HOME BUYER REQUIREMENT.
AND I SKIPPED RIGHT OVER THIS 'CAUSE I WAS SO EXCITED FOR THE STUDY SESSION, BUT STEPHANIE AND MEGAN SORENSON BEHIND ME, UM, MEGAN'S, UH, THE BUREAU MANAGER FOR HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES WHERE
[01:35:01]
STEPHANIE ALSO WORKS, WE WORK HAND IN HAND TOGETHER IN IMPLEMENTING THE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING POLICY AS WELL AS UPDATING IT.SO, SO GLAD TO HAVE THEM HERE THIS EVENING 'CAUSE THEY REALLY ARE EXPERTS IN THAT, UM, AREA.
YEAH, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE'RE DOING THAT, WE'RE NOT GONNA BE EXCLUDING, UH, PEOPLE WHO, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S NOT, IF IT HAPPENS OFTEN WHERE A FAMILY WILL MOVE FROM ONE AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNIT TO A LARGER ONE IF THE, IF THE, UH, FAMILY EXPANDS OR, OR GETS BIGGER.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS OFTEN.
AND THIS IS ONLY FOR OWNERSHIP, RIGHT? SO IT'S ONLY FOR OWNERSHIP PROJECTS.
SO FOR RENTAL PURPOSES THAT WOULDN'T BE AN ISSUE, RIGHT.
BUT IT'S, IT'S REALLY FOR, UM, UH, IF THERE WAS A, A PURCHASE OR A
UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW STORIES WHERE PEOPLE HAVE BOUGHT A HOME, LOST IT IN FORECLOSED, AND I THINK THERE WAS A WAITING PERIOD THAT IF YOU HAVEN'T PURCHASED A HOME IN FIVE YEARS OR SEVEN YEARS, YOU REQUALIFY AS A FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS.
THAT'S UNDER, UM, A FEDERAL DEFINITION.
AND SO IT INCLUDES FIVE OR SIX DIFFERENT PROVISIONS.
THE MOST COMMON AND UM, IS FIRST TIME HOME HOMEWARE IS JUST DEFINED AS SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT OWNED A HOME IN THE LAST THREE YEARS.
AND THEN IT ADDS ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.
SO IF YOU OWNED A HOME AT ONE POINT, BUT IT WAS LOST DUE TO FORECLOSURE OR SHORT SALE, IF YOU OWNED A HOME, UM, ONLY WITH A SPOUSE AND THEN IT WAS SOLD OR YOU LOST IT, THEN YOU ALSO COULD REQUALIFY AS A FIRST TIME HOME BUYER.
SO THESE ARE STANDARD DEFINITIONS THAT ANY LENDER WOULD FOLLOW THAT WOULD ALSO APPLY HERE.
SO THERE'S SOME FLEXIBILITY IN THERE.
SO ALL OF MY QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT, UM, OPTION C, WHICH I AGREE IS THE BEST, UM, OPTION.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH AND WE LEVERAGE THE STATE'S ALREADY RESOURCES ON IDENTIFY, IDENTIFYING FOR US WHAT THOSE AREAS ARE.
UM, THOSE AREAS ADDRESS HISTORICAL, UH, INEQUITIES AND PROMOTE ECONOMIC DIVERSITY.
BUT THEN I, THE OTHER SIDE I START TO GET CONCERNED WITH, UM, ARE THERE THE POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPERS WHO WANT TO DEVELOP HOUSING THAT ARE IN IT FOR PROFIT THAT HAVE A 19% REQUIREMENT.
UM, AND IF I'M READING THAT CORRECTLY ON MODERATE INCOME, I SEE THE BENEFIT, UM, BECAUSE BRINGING IN MODERATE INCOME, ESPECIALLY IN THE LOWER RESOURCE AREA, YOU BRING UP THE AREA AS A WHOLE, UM, AND YOU DON'T RISK DISPLACING, UM, LOW INCOME RESIDENTS.
BUT I'M JUST CONCERNED ABOUT DEVELOPMENT, YOU KNOW, UM, AND MAYBE YOU CAN SPEAK TO, 'CAUSE YOU ALL HAVE TO HAVE THE SAME CONCERN 'CAUSE YOU HAVE TO HAVE PEOPLE THAT WANNA BUILD IT AND YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE TO BE ABLE TO RECRUIT, RECOUP THEIR MONEY FOR THIS TO BE, UM, ADVANTAGEOUS FOR THEM.
AND SO HOW HAVE YOU ADDRESSED, I GUESS, THAT CONCERN, WHICH I'M SURE YOU ALL HAVE TOO? YEAH, SO IN, I I'M SURE, UM, STEPHANIE MAIN CAN ALSO SPEAK TO THEIR EXPERIENCE IN WORKING WITH DEVELOPERS.
I WILL SAY ON THE PLANNING SIDE, UM, UNDER CURRENT INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS, UH, IT'S ONLY FOR VERY LOW WITHIN DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN.
AND WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN AREA IN PARTICULAR, WE GET A LOT OF REQUESTS FROM DEVELOPERS FOR OPTIONS FOR MODERATE INCOME UNITS, UM, TO BE SWAPPED OR IN THE VICINITY OF DOWNTOWN USING ENHANCED DENSITY BONUS.
SO THERE'S INTEREST DEFINITELY IN MODERATE INCOME UNITS.
UM, THERE'S DEVELOPERS, AT LEAST ONE DEVELOPER AS A OPPOSED US THAT HAS EXPERIENCED IN LA DEVELOPING A HUNDRED PERCENT AFFORDABLE PROJECTS THAT ARE ENTIRELY MODERATE INCOME AND, UM, THEY CLAIM WITHOUT ANY SUBSIDIES.
SO THERE IS A CHANGING LANDSCAPE WITHIN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, SPECIFICALLY AROUND MODERATE INCOME HOUSING, UM, GOING BACK TO, UH, FOR SALE AND FOR, FOR FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS.
THERE'S ALSO, UM, UH, STATE BILL 6 84, WHICH WAS, UM, PASSED LAST YEAR AND WANTED TO EFFECT THIS YEAR, WHICH IS, IS SPECIFICALLY INTENDED TO PRO TO PROVIDE STREAMLINING FOR, UM, SMALLER SUBDIVISIONS OF UP TO 10 HOMES, UM, FOR FOUR SALE TARGETED AT THOSE KIND OF MODERATE INCOME FOR TIME HOMEOWNER, UM, HOUSEHOLDS.
UM, THAT PROVIDES, UM, COMPLETE, UM, MINISTERIAL APPROVAL, NO CQL REVIEW REQUIRED.
SO THERE'S ADDITIONAL STATE, UM, LEVERS THAT ARE BEING, UM, AVAILABLE, MADE AVAILABLE TO US NOW THAT PROVIDE GREATER INCENTIVES FOR MODERATE INCOME HOUSING IN BOTH THE RENTER AND THE FOR SALE MARKET.
UM, AND THEN THE OTHER PART THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO CONSIDER AS WELL IS THAT OUR BIGGEST DEFICIENCY IN TERMS OF MEETING ARENA ALLOCATION CURRENTLY IS FOR MODERATE INCOME UNITS.
THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE PRODUCED THE LEAST.
IT IS WHERE THERE'S HARDEST AVAILABILITY OF SUBSIDIES FOR AFFORDABLE DEVELOPERS.
UM, AND SO PART OF THE, THE THINKING WITH THIS KIND OF TIERED REQUIREMENT, UM, IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN START TO KIND OF CATCH UP ON, UH, PRODUCTION OF MODERATE INCOME UNITS.
AND I THINK ALSO TO SPEAK TO YOUR QUESTION, UH, THE 19% MODERATE VERSUS THE 11% VERY LOW COMES FROM THE ECONOMIC STUDY THAT
[01:40:01]
WE, UM, DID FOR THE INCLUSIONARY POLICY WHEN WE DEVELOPED IT BECAUSE THE LEVEL OF SUBSIDY NEEDED IS DIFFERENT FOR A VERY LOW UNIT COMPARED TO A MODERATE UNIT.SO THAT DEVELOPER IS GONNA GET MORE RENT EACH MONTH PER UNIT FOR THE MODERATE UNIT.
SO THAT 19% VERSUS 11% IS FOUND TO BE EQUIVALENT IN TERMS OF THE FINANCIAL, UM, IMPACT ON THAT DEVELOPMENT.
UM, SO THAT'S WHERE THOSE NUMBERS COME FROM AND THAT'S WHY THEY'RE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT IS THE LEVEL OF SUBSIDY NEEDED FOR IT TO PENCIL OUT AND HAVING THAT DATA TO SHOW THAT IT'S STILL FEASIBLE FOR DEVELOPERS.
AND I CAN, UM, SPEAK TO THAT MORE SPECIFICALLY, IF YOU DON'T MIND, ALLISON, LOOKING AT MOVING TO SLIDE 11, THIS SHOWS THE ALLOWED AFFORDABLE RENT.
YOU'LL SEE THAT MODERATE INCOME IS JUST OVER A THOUSAND DOLLARS MORE A MONTH COMPARED TO LOW AND IT'S NEARLY DOUBLE WHAT DEVELOPERS CAN COLLECT FOR VERY LOW INCOME, UM, HOUSEHOLDS.
AND SO FROM AN AN OPERATING BUDGET STANDPOINT, YOU COULD PRODUCE TWO, UM, VERY LOW INCOME UNITS, RIGHT? FOR ONE MODERATE INCOME.
AND SO THAT'S WHY THAT 19% FINANCIAL IMPACT IS SIMILAR WHEN IT COMES TO 11% VERY LOW.
AND IS THERE ANY, I KNOW WE'RE JUST STARTING, UH, DOING THE HEARINGS, BUT WHAT YOU'RE HEARING ANY COMMUNITY PUSHBACK IN THE HIGHER RESOURCE AREAS, WHICH ARE TYPICALLY VERY NIMBY IS OF BRINGING LOWER INCOME OR MIXED USE INTO THOSE AREAS.
WE ARE HOPING TO GET A BETTER SENSE OF THAT THROUGH THE HOUSING POLICY FORUMS THAT WE'VE MENTIONED.
I WILL SAY THROUGH REZONING PROCESSES, THERE HAS BEEN PUSHBACK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF, OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMING INTO HIGHER RESOURCE AREAS AND ALSO THAT THAT PUSHBACK IS SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN WHEN SIMILAR CONVERSATIONS CAME UP DURING THE LAND USE SETTLEMENT ADOPTION PROCESS, UH, EIGHT TO 10 YEARS AGO.
THERE'S MUCH MORE OUTRIGHT SUPPORT, UM, IN CERTAIN HIGH RESOURCE AREAS RECOGNIZING THE NEED, UM, TO ADDRESS THE LOCAL HOUSING CRISIS AND THAT NOT BUILDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS NOT A SOLUTION.
UM, SO IT IS A MORE MIXED CONVERSATION.
UM, AND THERE ARE FOLKS THAT ARE CLAIMING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS IN PLACES THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE HEARD FROM DOING SO 6, 7, 8 YEARS AGO.
I'D LIKE TO OPEN IT UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT NOW, IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE COMMISSION ON THIS ITEM NOW, IT'D BE THE TIME TO COME FORWARD.
PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.
ALRIGHT, GOOD EVENING, UH, PLANNING COMMISSIONERS.
MY NAME'S JAMES ZO, MY PRONOUNS ARE HE AND HIM.
UH, I AM, WHAT AM I, I AM A RENTER IN THE SIXTH DISTRICT.
UH, I'M ALSO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WITH LONG BEACH FORWARD.
OUR ORGANIZATION ORGANIZES LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, UM, AND WE WORK TOWARDS A MORE RACIALLY, UM, AND EQUITABLE AND JUST LONG BEACH FOR ALL.
SO, UM, I APPRECIATE AND AM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR, OUR ORGANIZATION WAS PART OF A NUMBER OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS WHO ADVOCATED FOR AN EQUITABLE, UH, INCLUSIONARY ZONING POLICY BACK IN 2019, PRE PANDEMIC IN THE BEFORE TIMES.
UM, AND IT'S REALLY EXCITING THAT WE'RE HAVING THIS OPPORTUNITY NOW TO REVISIT A VERY DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE.
AND I THINK CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT AND I WANNA LIFT UP SOME POINTS, UM, THAT, UH, WE WOULD LIKE FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN REVISITING THIS POLICY.
FIRST OFF, CONTEXT WISE, YOU KNOW, AS MANY OF FOLKS HAVE MENTIONED, IT IS A VERY DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE POLITICALLY, ECONOMICALLY, SOCIALLY.
AND WHAT WE'RE ALSO SEEING IS THAT EVEN, UH, DESPITE A HUGE NEED, ESPECIALLY FOR A LOW INCOME AND VERY LOW INCOME FOLKS ACROSS NOT JUST LONG BEACH, BUT ALSO THE COUNTRY, THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET HAS DISAPPEARED.
AND THE REALITY IS THAT EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NO LONGER PANDEMIC ERROR PROGRAMS, THE NEED IS GROWN TO BE EVEN GREATER OR, UM, CONTINUES TO EXIST, RIGHT? OUR, OUR LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED.
EVEN FOLKS WHO HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING, THE ECONOMY HAVE STRUGGLED EVEN MORE SO NOW.
AND I SAY THAT BECAUSE IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE WERE A LOT OF COMMUNITY VOICES AND PUSH FOR REALLY PRIORITIZING EXTREMELY LOW INCOME AND VERY LOW INCOME IN THE ORIGINAL, UM, UH, INCLUSIONARY ZONING POLICY.
AND SO FOR US, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT EXPANDING CITYWIDE, THAT WE THINK ABOUT THAT 11% CITYWIDE.
UM, IT'S IMPORTANT ALSO TO THINK ABOUT, AND THIS WAS A DIFFERENT TIME WHEN THE, UH, CITY ADOPTED THE ORIGINAL INCLUSIONARY ZONING POLICY.
WE WEREN'T SURE WHAT THE MARKET COULD BEAR.
WE HEAR THAT A LOT, RIGHT? IT'S CLEAR FROM THE DATA AND LOOKING AT WHAT'S HAPPENED THAT THE MARKET CAN BEAR, RIGHT? AND THAT THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COULD ABSORB THESE NEEDS.
AND SO WHAT WE WANT TO ASK OURSELVES, ESPECIALLY AS THE LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED, IS, IS THE MEDICINE STRONG ENOUGH? AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE REALLY IN SUPPORT OF SEEING THE 11% REQUIREMENTS CITYWIDE FOR, UM, EXTREME, UH, FOR VERY LOW INCOME.
UM, WHAT WE REALLY NEED IS 11% ACROSS THE BOARD.
AND IN REALITY, WE ALSO KNOW THAT OUR COMMUNITIES NEED MORE THAN 11%, BUT WE UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, THE NEEDS OF THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY AND WHAT THE MARKET CAN BEAR.
UM, CURRENTLY WE'RE AT A 6,000 UNIT GAP WITH THE MAJORITY OF THEM BEING IN VERY LOW INCOME.
AND I'LL ALSO POINT OUT THAT EVEN WITHIN OUR HOUSING ELEMENT, WE POINT OUT THAT, UM, WE DON'T EVEN CAPTURE
[01:45:01]
THE FULL AMOUNT NEEDED FOR, UM, EXTREMELY LOW INCOME NUMBERS, RIGHT? BASED OFF OF JUST OUR CALCULATIONS OF WHAT VERY LOW INCOME NUMBERS ARE REQUIRED.AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO LIFT THAT UP AS ONE OF OUR BIG, UM, BIG PIECES.
AND ESPECIALLY AS WE THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE IDEA OF AN EQUITY AND DATA-BASED APPROACH, WE WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS ISN'T HAPPENING IN A VACUUM AND IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE CONSIDERATE OF THE DEF OF THE, UH, IMPACTS IN TERMS OF LOW RESOURCE AREAS WHEN WE HAVE, WE DON'T HAVE AS ROBUST TENANT PROTECTIONS OR OTHER POLICIES THAT CAN HELP PREVENT GENTRIFICATION AND DISPLACEMENT.
DISPLACEMENT IS NOT A SILVER BULLET.
THERE IS NOT ONE POLICY THAT WILL PROTECT US FROM THIS, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF WORK FOR US TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
UM, IF I COULD OUT MAYBE 30 MORE SECONDS.
UM, I ALSO WANNA LIFT UP AND JUST APPRECIATE AND ECHO CHAIR LEWIS AND UM, COMMISSIONER CLEMSON'S, UH, COMMENTS AROUND THE PHASE IN.
UM, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US AS A CITY, AS A COMMUNITY TO LEARN OF LIKE WHAT HAS BEEN EFFECTIVE AND WHAT HAS BEEN, UH, WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING OVER THE PAST YEARS.
AND SO FOR US, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT TIMING.
AND IF WE'RE SAYING A THREE YEAR PHASE AND MAYBE ARBITRARY, THEN LET'S DO THIS NOW.
LET'S DO THIS AS SOON AS WE CAN AND REALLY LOOK ABOUT WHAT THE, HOW WE CAN ADVANCE THIS ACROSS THE CITY.
LET'S NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, COPY, LET'S MOVE ON IT.
AND I ALSO REALLY WANT TO CONTEXTUALIZE THAT TIMEFRAME.
THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE, UM, WE ARE LOSING OUT ON AFFORDABLE UNITS.
WE'VE BEEN IN A HOUSING CRISIS WAY BEFORE, UM, THE COVID PANDEMIC HAD HAPPENED.
AND SO WE'RE REALLY PLAYING THAT CATCH-UP GAME.
AND I ALSO WANT TO POINT OUT THAT WE ARE ON A TIMELINE AS JUST AS MANY OF US WERE GLUED TO OUR TVS OVER THE PAST COUPLE DAYS.
WE HAVE FOUR YEARS UNTIL THE OLYMPICS COMES TO LA AND ALTHOUGH THERE'S A LOT OF EXCITEMENT ABOUT THAT, WE ALSO KNOW THAT THROUGH HISTORY, THROUGH PAST GAMES HERE IN LOS ANGELES AND MANY OTHER URBAN AREAS, THERE IS A HUGE IMPACT AROUND THAT KIND OF ATTENTION AROUND THOSE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THOSE GAMES.
AND SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE CAN'T LOSE SIGHT OF LOW INCOME FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES WHO MAY BE NEGATIVELY IMPACTED IN THAT AND THAT WE'RE PROVIDING THE HOUSING NEEDED AT THOSE DEEP AFFORDABLE AFFORDABILITY LEVELS.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY IS FOR US TO BE ABLE TO STEP IN WHEN SAY THE MARKET OR DEVELOPMENT C WON'T AND PROTECT LOW INCOME FAMILIES AT THOSE VARYING LEVELS.
WE UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR THE IDEA OF THE MISSING MIDDLE AND MODERATE INCOME, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT THE MARKET WILL STEP IN AND PROVIDE THAT AS WELL.
SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO LIFT THAT UP.
UM, AND WE ALSO WANT TO, AND LASTLY, LIFT UP THAT WE WANT TO KEEP THE POLICY MANDATORY, UM, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN, UM, PROVIDE THAT AFFORDABILITY FROM, UM, ALL OF THOSE IN OUR DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY.
SO I THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR DUE DILIGENCE ON THIS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS THIS EVENING, SIR.
ANYBODY ELSE IN THE AUDIENCE LIKE TO COME FORWARD AND SPEAK? ALL RIGHT.
DO WE HAVE ANY VIRTUAL COMMENTS? YES, WE DO HAVE A FEW PEOPLE WITH THEIR HAND RAISED.
YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT.
GOOD EVENING CHAIR, VICE CHAIR AND FELLOW COMMISSIONERS.
MY NAME IS SUE HAHN AND I'M A SECOND YEAR LAW STUDENT AND GATES PUBLIC SERVICE LAW SCHOLAR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF LAW.
AND I'M ALSO THE LEGAL AID ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA'S 2024 DAN BRADLEY FELLOW, WHICH WAS AWARDED TO ME FOR SPENDING MY SUMMER WORKING ON RACIAL JUSTICE ISSUES.
I'M CURRENTLY CLERKING FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST LAW PROJECT, A STATEWIDE NONPROFIT SPECIALIZED IN EQUITABLE LAND USE AND FAIR HOUSING LAWS.
OUR RESEARCH ON LAND USE REVEALS THAT CALIFORNIA HAS A SHORTFALL OF MORE THAN 3 MILLION AFFORDABLE UNITS FOR LOWER INCOME RESIDENTS, BUT A 50% SURPLUS FOR 300,000 UNITS FOR ABOVE MODERATE INCOME RESIDENTS.
LONG BEACH IS NOT AN EXCEPTION TO THIS HORRIFIC STATEWIDE NUMBER IN LONG BEACH.
THERE IS CURRENTLY A LARGE GAP IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR VERY LOW AND LOW INCOME FAMILIES.
THE CURRENT CYCLE OF THE REGIONAL HOUSING NEEDS ASSESSMENT REQUIRED LONG BEACH TO PLAN FOR A 7,122 UNIT DEFICIENCY AND VERY LOW INCOME UNITS ACCORDING TO THE CITY'S REPORTED NUMBERS TO THE STATE.
HOWEVER, ONLY 228 UNITS HAVE BEEN BUILT FOR VERY LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, WHICH ONLY MEETS 0.03% OF THE NEED SO FAR.
MEANWHILE, THE CITY HAS ALREADY COMPLETED 30% OF THEIR ABOVE MODERATE HOUSING UNIT NEEDS.
THERE'S AN URGENT EMPIRICAL NEED FOR MORE LOW, VERY LOW AND EXTREMELY LOW INCOME HOUSING STATEWIDE IN CALIFORNIA AND IN LONG BEACH.
IN THIS TIME OF HIGH HOUSING NEED, ALL EYES ARE ON LONG BEACH TO STEP FORWARD AS A LEADING EXAMPLE OF PROGRESSIVE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING, I IN SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY, ASK YOU TO NOT GO BACKWARDS ON WHAT THE COMMUNITY ASKED FOR IN THE FIRST INCLUSIONARY ZONING ORDINANCE.
AND THESE ARE OUR SPEC SPECIFIC REQUESTS.
ONE, WE ASK YOU TO KEEP THE 11% FOR VERY LOW INCOME REQUIREMENTS FOR THE WHOLE WHOLE CITY TWO AND INCREASE IT TO ACTUALLY MEET THE D UH, NEED FOR COMMUNITY THREE, WE ASK THAT YOU KEEP THE PERCENTAGE POLICY.
MANDATORY STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT INCLUSIONARY ZONING IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS THAT VERY LOW INCOME
[01:50:01]
UNITS GET BUILT.FOUR, REMOVE THE PHASE IN OF THE PERCENTAGES.
FIVE, KEEP THE UNITS AFFORDABLE IN PERPETUITY.
SIX, WE ASK THAT YOU KEEP COUNCIL APPROVAL.
AND SEVEN, WE FINALLY ASK THAT IF YOU'RE GOING TO CHANGE THE ONE MILE RADIUS FOR THE LAND DEDICATION, THAT THE ALTERNATIVE B, THAT THE LAND DEDICATION MUST BE IN A HIGH RESOURCE AREA.
THE COMMUNITY'S DEMANDS ARE CLEAR, EQUITABLE, AND MOSTLY PROGRAMMATIC AND CLARIFYING IN NATURE.
I URGE THE PLANNING COMMISSION TO LISTEN TO THE COMMUNITY'S NEEDS OVER DEVELOPERS' PROFITS.
THE NEXT PERSON WITH THEIR HAND RAISED IS MELODY.
MELODY, YOU HAVE BEEN UNMUTED.
YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT.
I AM A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT EIGHT.
I'M ALSO AN ATTORNEY WITH THE PUBLIC INTEREST LAW PROJECT.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO ECHO EVERYTHING THAT JAMES AND SUE HAVE STATED ON, ON BEHALF OF COMMUNITY.
UM, INCLUSIONARY ZONING IS AN EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET AFFORDABLE UNITS BUILT, AND WE ARE VERY MUCH IN SUPPORT OF EXPANDING THIS POLICY, UM, CITYWIDE.
UM, I JUST HAD ONE THING I WANTED TO TOUCH ON.
IN ADDITION TO ECHOING THEIR COMMENTS, I UNDERSTAND THE GOOD INTENTIONS OF THE STAFF WITH WANTING TO FURTHER FAIR HOUSING.
AND ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF AFFIRMATIVELY FURTHERING FAIR HOUSING IS PREVENTING DISPLACEMENT OF CURRENT COMMUNITIES.
I'M CONCERNED WITH HAVING DIFFERENT AFFORDABILITY PERCENTAGES BASED ON THE LEVEL, UM, BASED ON THE, UM, DIFFERENT, UH, AFFORDABILITY PERCENTAGES BASED OFF OF, UM, WHERE THE, THE, THE RESOURCES ARE, THE HIGH RESOURCES ARE LOW RESOURCES.
I'M CONCERNED THAT DEVELOPERS ARE GONNA CAPITALIZE ON ONLY THE AREAS THAT'S GONNA GIVE THEM, REQUIRE THEM TO NOT BUILD AS MANY AFFORDABLE AFFORDABILITY UNITS.
UM, SO POTENTIALLY WE COULD BE STILL CONCENTRATING ALL OF THESE MIXED INCOME UNITS IN THE LOW RESOURCE AREAS AND THUS WE WOULD BE PER PERPETUATING AFFORDABLE AND MODERATE INCOME HOUSING.
ONCE AGAIN, ONLY IN THE LOW RESOURCE AREAS.
THIS WOULD CAUSE GENTRIFICATION AND DISPLACEMENT OF THE CURRENT COMMUNITIES THAT ARE THERE.
UM, SO WE ASK THAT YOU KEEP THE SAME AFFORDABILITY PERCENTAGES ACROSS THE SAME ACROSS THE CITY.
OUR NEXT PERSON WITH THEIR HAND RAISED IS COLIN, LISTENER WITH AREA CODE 3 1 0.
PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD.
YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT.
I AM A, UM, THE FOUNDING PRINCIPLE OF INDEPENDENT CONSULTANCY, KEY IMPACT, UH, FOCUSED ON URBAN PLANNING AND RACIAL JUSTICE.
UH, I ALL, I SAW YOU ALL AT THE PLANNING COMMISSION A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, UM, DURING THE ZONE IN CITY CORE, UH, ADOPTION.
UH, I'M HERE AGAIN, ACTUALLY, SURPRISINGLY WITHOUT PREPARED REMARKS.
I DECIDED TO JUST LISTEN IN TO THAT TONIGHT.
UM, BUT I DO ECHO SOME OF THE, FIRST OF ALL, I, I AM EXTREMELY ENCOURAGED BY BOTH, UM, COUNCIL'S INTEREST, THE MAYOR'S INTEREST AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION'S INTEREST IN EXP EXPAND THE STAFF, OF COURSE, IN EXPANDING, UH, INCLUSIONARY HOUSING CITYWIDE.
I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS POLICY SINCE 2018.
THERE WERE COMMUNITY MEETINGS IN 2018 THAT I WENT TO.
AND THEN OF COURSE, UH, PREVIOUSLY AS A, UH, UH, A NONPROFIT PROFESSIONAL.
UM, I DEFINITELY, UH, APPRECIATE THE CONVERSATION ABOUT REDUCING OR EVEN ELIMINATING THE PHASE IN PERIOD.
THIS HAS BEEN A POLICY IN EXISTENCE FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW.
UH, SO I DO THINK, UM, TO SEVERAL OF THE COMMISSIONER'S POINTS, UH, TO REDUCE THE PHASE IN IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA.
UM, I AM, I HAVEN'T QUITE DIGESTED EVERYTHING REGARDING OPTION C, THE, UM, THE OPPORTUNITY AREA DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH.
UH, I DO ECHO THE CONCERN THAT PARTICULARLY IF WE ARE, LIKE I SEE, I SEE THE INTENTIONS OF, UH, REALLY TRYING TO REVERSE THE CONCENTRATION OF, UH, CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH AND CONCENTRATION OF POVERTY, UM, AND TO PUT, UH, VERY LOW INCOME UNITS IN THE HIGHEST RESOURCE AREAS.
MY CONCERN IS THAT WE WILL NOT THEN BE PRODUCING NEARLY ENOUGH VERY LOW INCOME
[01:55:01]
UNITS BECAUSE THOSE PROJECTS IN HIGH AND A HIGH RE IN THE, IN THE HIGHEST RESOURCE AREAS ARE LESS LIKELY TO HAPPEN BOTH FROM A LAND AVAILABILITY STANDPOINT.THOUGH I DO APPRECIATE THE COMMISSIONERS, UM, BRINGING UP A LOT OF THE, UH, CITY OWNED LAND AROUND THE AIRPORT.
BUT FROM, FROM I THINK A MYRIAD OF REASONS, UH, PROJECTS IN NEW HOUSING, PROJECTS IN HIGH RESOURCE AREAS ARE LESS LIKELY.
UH, OBVIOUSLY I WANT THEM TO HAPPEN, BUT I JUST THINK REALISTICALLY, I THINK THEY'RE LESS LIKELY.
SO I THINK, UH, WE ARE NOT GOING TO GET THE AMOUNT OF VERY LOW INCOME UNITS THAT WE REALLY, TRULY NEED, UH, BECAUSE THE PROJECTS JUST AREN'T GOING TO HAPPEN OR AREN'T GOING TO BE PROPOSED.
UM, THAT IS MY SORT OF OFF THE CUFF CONCERN.
UH, I DON'T HAVE, UM, FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS HERE, BUT, UH, APPRECIATE ALL OF THE, UH, COMMISSIONERS, UH, COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS AND ALSO THE PUBLIC COMMENTS.
OUR NEXT PERSON WITH THEIR HAND RAISED IS KURT.
YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, THANKS FOR THIS, UH, UPDATE.
UH, I GUESS THE MAIN CONCERN I HAVE IS THAT, UH, IF WE INCREASE, IF WE, IF WE APPLY THESE, UM, ZONING CHARACTERISTICS, UH, CITYWIDE, I MEAN, I'M JUST LOOKING AT ZONING DISTRICT MAP RIGHT NOW AND YOU KNOW, LIKE I KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT SOLVING THE LAND USE ISSUE, BUT UH, THIS ONLY APPLIES TO BUILDINGS WITH 10 OR MORE UNITS, WHICH I GET IS, YOU KNOW, LIKE WE WANNA HAVE PERCENTAGES THAT KIND OF, YOU KNOW, DIVIDE BY 10 IN ROUND OR WHATEVER.
BUT, UH, I, IT'S JUST A LOT OF THINGS AREN'T GOING TO BE CONSTRUCTED EXCEPT IN PLACES THAT ARE ALREADY PRETTY WELL BUILT OUT THAT ALLOW FOR RI MEAN, EVEN JUST R TWO.
UM, I THINK THE ONLY ONES THAT I'M SEEING RIGHT NOW IN DISTRICT FOUR WHERE YOU COULD BUILD A BUILDING THAT SIZE IS JUST AROUND THE TRAFFIC CIRCLE.
UM, SO I, I DON'T SEE, I MEAN, I GUESS, YEAH, THERE'S, THERE, THERE'S SOME PDS AND, AND MAYBE SOME OTHER PLACES THAT I'M NOT LOOKING AT EXACTLY.
UH, BUT I JUST WORRY THAT THERE'S NOT REALISTICALLY THAT THERE'S NOT GONNA BE MUCH CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE WAY THAT OUR LAND USE IS SET UP.
UH, MOST OF THIS IS GOING TO REMAIN, UH, AN ENCLAVE, UH, FOR VERY WEALTHY INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE PROPERTY.
I, I LIKE THE IDEA OF HAVING INCLUSIONARY ZONING.
I WORRY THAT IT WILL STILL HAVE A CHILLING EFFECT ON THE AMOUNT OF DEVELOPMENT AND THE AMOUNT OF UNITS THAT OVERALL GETS CONSTRUCTED.
I, I, I WONDER WHY, UM, NONE OF THE SIMULATIONS AND THE, THE PROJECTIONS WERE SHOWN AS TO HOW MANY UNITS, UH, WERE GOING TO LOSE BY GOING CITYWIDE WITH THIS INCLUSIONARY ZONING POLICY.
JUST UNITS THAT WILL NEVER GET CONSTRUCTED AT ALL.
UM, 'CAUSE I'M SURE WE'LL GAIN SOME AMOUNT OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERALL.
UM, BUT I THINK WE'RE STILL GONNA LOSE QUITE A BIT.
UM, I, AND I KNOW THAT THERE WAS MENTION OF THE 2019 TO 2020 AND THEN THAT, I BELIEVE IT WAS LIKE 2022 TO 2023, UH, AS FAR AS NUMBER OF ENTITLEMENTS I BELIEVE, OR WAS IT PERMITS? I CAN'T REMEMBER.
UM, BUT AGAIN, THAT WAS JUST, THAT WAS JUST IN DOWNTOWN.
SO I DON'T KNOW, I THINK THESE ARE A LOT OF QUESTIONS THAT I COULD PROBABLY ASK AT THE, UH, AT THE COMMUNITY FORUMS AND I LOOK FORWARD TO ATTENDING THOSE.
I GUESS THE LAST THING I WANT TO THINK ABOUT IS, UH, PARKING AND HOW WE'RE GOING TO TREAT PARKING REQUIREMENTS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THESE APPLY TO THE REGULAR DENSITY BONUSES THAT WE ALREADY HAVE IN EFFECT, UH, OR, OR WHAT.
SO, UM, HOPEFULLY, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S AT ALL ON THE TABLE IS TALKING ABOUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO NOT REQUIRE OR REQUIRE PARKING, UH, FOR THESE BUILDINGS.
OUR LAST PERSON WITH THEIR HAND RAISED IS LEANNA NOBLE.
LEANNA, YOU HAVE BEEN UNMUTED.
YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT.
I'M LIV IN NORTH PINE NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND ECHO WHAT SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT THE IDEA OF MAKING THIS INCLUSIVE ZONING CITYWIDE IS EXCITING AND THAT INDEED THIS POTENTIALLY IS A GREAT TOOL TO OVERCOME THE DECADES OF RACIST SEGREGATION AND DISCRIMINATION
[02:00:01]
IN OUR HOUSING HERE IN LONG BEACH.AS SOMEBODY THAT LIVES IN A LOW RESOURCE NEIGHBORHOOD, I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO PLEASE CONSIDER BOTH STAFF AND THE COMMISSION MEMBERS ON HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT AS THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF RENTAL UNITS ARE BUILT AND DEVELOPED IN HIGH RESOURCE AREAS, THAT IT IS THE CURRENT RESIDENTS OF LONG BEACH THAT WILL BE ABLE TO BENEFIT FROM THIS.
BECAUSE OTHERWISE WHAT WE ARE DOING IS FORCING FOLKS WHO LIVE HERE RIGHT NOW AND CONTRIBUTE TO OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR ECONOMY, WE'RE GONNA BE FORCING THEM OUT OF TOWN.
AND I KNOW THAT'S NOT AT ALL WHAT ANYBODY INTENDS, SO I'M VERY INTERESTED TO KNOW WHAT KINDS OF PROTECTIONS COULD BE PROVIDED SO THAT THERE THESE HIGH RESOURCE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVE MULTIPLE LEVELS OF, UH, SUBSIDIZED RENTAL HOUSING THAT THOSE ARE AVAILABLE TO THE FOLKS WHO CURRENTLY LIVE IN OUR LOW RESOURCE AREAS.
MY SECOND CONCERN THAT I WOULD LOVE ALSO TO BE CONSIDERED IS THAT WHEN YOU START TO BUILD MODERATE INCOME HOUSING, FOR EXAMPLE IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, WHICH IS WHAT'S HAPPENING ON A RAMPANT SCALE, THE IMPACT IS INCREDIBLE RENT INCREASES BECAUSE EVEN IF RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO A DEVELOPMENT THERE IS A NINE UNIT OLD APARTMENT BUILDING, UH, THEY RAISE THE RENTS BECAUSE THEY SEE THAT NEXT DOOR.
SOMEBODY, UH, IS GETTING MUCH HIGHER RENT OR A STUDIO OR A ONE BEDROOM OR A TWO BEDROOM.
SO I'M INTERESTED IN WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ADD TO OUR INCLUSIONARY ZONING ORDINANCE OR OTHER ORDINANCES THAT NEED TO BE PASSED ALONG WITH THIS SO THAT WE ALSO AVOID THE DISPLACEMENT BECAUSE OF RAMPANT RENT INCREASES IN OUR LOW RESOURCE OPPORTUNITY NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WE'LL NOW BE SEEING A LOT OF HIGHER INCOME, HIGHER RENT CONSTRUCTION.
AND AGAIN, I, ALL I CAN SHARE IS WHAT OUR EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN DOWNTOWN AND IN NORTH PINE, AND IT IS THAT THE FOLKS THAT HAVE LIVED HERE FOR DECADES ARE BEING FORCED OUT BECAUSE OF THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF HIGHER PRICED NEWER RENTAL UNITS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS THIS EVENING.
ALL ATTENDEES ON ZOOM HAVE PROVIDED PUBLIC COMMENT.
THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL COMMENTS.
WITH THAT, I'LL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT AND BRING IT BACK BEHIND THE RAIL.
UH, I JUST HAD A COUPLE OF QUICK QUESTIONS.
UM, ONE, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THERE WERE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THE DISINCENTIVE OF THIS POLICY, BUT I THINK YOU'D MENTIONED EARLIER WE HAVE FOR WHERE MOST OF THIS OWNING IS ENVISIONED, WE HAVE DENSITY BONUSES THAT WOULD BE TRIGGERED BY THEM.
IN THE PAST WE WERE KIND OF USING THAT AS A CARROT.
NOW REALLY IF THEY'RE FOLLOWING WHAT WOULD, WHAT WOULD BECOME OUR MANDATORY POLICY, THEY WOULD AUTOMATICALLY QUALIFY FOR SOME ADDITIONAL BONUSES IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.
SO THERE'S SORT OF TWO PIECES.
ONE IS THAT WE DO HAVE THAT ECONOMIC STUDY, UM, THAT WAS NEEDED TO JUSTIFY THE ORIGINAL POLICY THAT SHOWS US THAT, UM, FINANCIALLY PROJECTS DO STILL PENCIL OUT WITH THIS REQUIREMENT IN PLACE.
UM, AND THEN SECONDLY, UM, THE ENHANCED DENSITY BONUS HA HAS BASICALLY A CROSSWALK TABLE.
SO YOUR INCENTIVES ARE NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS IF YOU JUST VOLUNTARILY GAVE A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE, BUT YOU STILL GET QUITE A BIT, UM, OF INCENTIVE AND THE SAME AMOUNT OF ACTUAL BONUS AS IF YOU WERE JUST VOLUNTARILY PROVIDING THOSE, UM, AFFORDABLE UNITS.
SO THAT DOES, UM, PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT OFFSET OF THE COST.
UM, AND THEN AS I MENTIONED, UH, WE ARE LOOKING TO DO A STUDY TO LOOK AT ARE THERE TWEAKS OR, OR WAYS WE COULD CHANGE OR UPDATE THE ENHANCED DENSITY BONUS THAT WOULD HELP US EVEN BETTER ACHIEVE OUR GOALS AND MAXIMIZE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT.
AND THEN COULD YOU ANSWER, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WAS ON THE, UH, DEED RESTRICTIONS FOR THESE PROJECTS, IS THIS A, A 20 YEAR, 25 YEAR RESTRICTION THAT GETS RECORDED ON THE PROPERTIES? SURE.
SO, UM, CURRENTLY THE POLICY, AND WE ARE NOT MAKING CHANGE OR RECOMMENDING CHANGES TO THIS, IS THAT UM, THEY UNITS NEED TO BE AFFORDABLE FOR 55 YEARS OR AS LONG AS THE PROJECT IS DEVELOPED FOR RESIDENTIAL USE, WHICHEVER IS LONGER.
[02:05:01]
HOUSING IS THERE, IT NEEDS TO STAY AFFORDABLE.SO IT IS IN, IN PERPETUITY THEN.
COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER.
GLISSON, ONE OF THE COMMENTS ON THE, UH, CALLS WERE, UH, ABOUT REMOVING THE RESTRICTION ON HOUSING, UM, BEING WITHIN A MILE OF OTHER HOUSING.
AND I GUESS ONE IS IF YOU COULD GO INTO KIND OF WHY WE'RE REMOVING THAT AND THEN TWO, AT LEAST FROM WHAT I CAN TELL, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF PLACES IN THIS CITY THAT ARE WITHIN OR ARE NOT WITHIN ONE MILE OF OTHER HOUSING EXCEPT FOR LIKE THE CENTER OF THE AIRPORT AND THE DEEPEST PART OF THE PORT.
UM, BUT SO THIS MAY BE AN ESOTERIC PART OF THE CODE.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING WE'VE USED YET IN THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF IMPLEMENTATION.
THIS JUST RELATES TO THE OPTION TO, INSTEAD OF PROVIDING THE AFFORDABLE UNITS ON SITE, BE ABLE TO PROVIDE, UH, REPLACEMENT LAND WHERE THOSE AFFORDABLE UNITS COULD BE DEVELOPED, UM, I BELIEVE THAT'S A REQUIREMENT UNDER STATE LAW THAT WE HAVE TO PROVIDE THAT OPTION.
BUT GIVEN THE MARKET HERE, IT'S HIGHLY UNLIKELY TO SEE THAT.
UM, STAFF'S THINKING THOUGH WAS IF WE WERE GONNA OPEN THIS UP AND TRY TO TAKE OUR SORT OF, UM, AFFIRMATIVELY FURTHERING FAIR HOUSING LENS, UM, THE REQUIREMENT INTENT IS THAT THE WAY IT'S WRITTEN TODAY, IF YOU'RE GONNA PROVIDE A REPLACEMENT SITE, IT HAS TO BE WITHIN ONE MILE OF THE DEVELOPMENT SITE.
BUT STAFF FELT IF, FOR EXAMPLE, THE DEVELOPMENT SITE WE'RE IN A LOW RESOURCE AREA WHERE LOTS OF HOUSING GETS DEVELOPED AND FOR SOME REASON SOMEBODY OWNED PROPERTY IN A HIGH RESOURCE AREA MORE THAN A MILE AWAY.
AGAIN, THIS MAY BE ESOTERIC, BUT IF THAT EVER CAME UP, WE DIDN'T WANNA BE RESTRICTED IN BEING ABLE TO, UM, CONSIDER THAT ALTERNATIVE.
IT COULD GO THE OTHER WAY THOUGH, RIGHT? WE'RE A HIGH RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IS OFFSETTING THAT BY DONATING LOW RESOURCED LAND, WHICH WOULD STILL UNDER THIS POLICY BE AN ADVANTAGE.
'CAUSE NOW WE'D HAVE MODERATE INCOME HOUSING ON IT.
I CAN SAY THAT THE LAND DEDICATION OPTION REQUIRES APPROVAL.
IT'S NOT A BUY RIGHT ALTERNATIVE OPTION.
SO CERTAINLY THE LOCATION OF THE LAND, THE APPROPRIATENESS OF IT FOR DEVELOPMENT, IT WOULD HAVE TO DEMONSTRATE A SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER PUBLIC BENEFIT THAN PROVIDING THE AFFORDABLE UNITS ONSITE WITHIN THE DEVELOPMENT.
SO LAND DEDICATION IS SUBJECT TO REVIEW UNDER THE POLICY.
SO IF SOMEONE TRIED TO DONATE LAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AIRPORT, WE WOULD STILL BE ABLE TO DENY IT.
I, I JUST WANNA COMMEND EVERYBODY I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT.
IT'S ON A MORE FAST TRACK AND THE THINGS, THE NEW THINGS IT'S COVERING AND THAT WE'RE REALLY WHAT WE'RE REALLY ADDRESSING.
SO I JUST WANNA THANK Y'ALL AND THE COMMUNITY FOR BEING INVOLVED.
ANY OTHER, I GUESS MY ONLY, MY LAST COMMENT IS JUST ON THE GETTING RID OF THE, BEING ABLE TO DO THE IN LIEU OF FOR, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE 1% OVER, I MEAN THE 11% NUMBER THAT WE'VE USED WELL UP TO A HUNDRED UNITS WILL ALWAYS RE RESULT IN ROUNDING UP A UNIT.
UM, BUT IF I WAS DEVELOPING A 10 UNIT, A SMALLER BUILDING, UH, AND I'M LOOKING AT HAVING TO DO VERY LOW INCOME ON IT, IT MAY MAKE THAT SMALL OF A PROJECT INFEASIBLE.
UM, AND SO I MIGHT WANNA DO JUST THE ONE UNIT AND THEN PAY THE 1%.
AND SO THAT OPTION, I KNOW IT HASN'T BEEN EXERCISED YET, BUT UP UNTIL NOW WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN UP ZONED DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN.
WE'VE HAD LARGER DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS WHERE IT'S MAYBE EASIER TO ABSORB THAT IF WE'RE GOING CITYWIDE, WE MAY WANT TO HAVE JUST THAT ADDITIONAL OPTION IN OUR TOOL BELT, BUT JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
I'LL ECHO THE VICE CHAIR'S COMMENTS.
THIS WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION, UM, VERY GOOD STUFF, VERY WELL PRESENTED COMMISSIONERS, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR THOUGHTFUL COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS AND THANK YOU TO THE PUBLIC FOR SITTING THROUGH THIS AND, AND ENCOURAGING THIS PROCESS ON.
UM, I THINK WE ARE READY FOR A VOTE OR DO WE HAVE I GUESS A VOTE TO FILE AND RECEIVE, RIGHT? YEAH.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO HOPEFULLY SEEING YOU BACK HERE IN SEPTEMBER.
I BELIEVE THAT FINISHES OUR REGULAR BUSINESS.
[PUBLIC COMMENT Opportunity to address the Planning Commission on non-agenda items. Each speaker is limited to three minutes to make their comments unless extended by the Chair.]
FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY NON AGENDIZED ITEMS, ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE COMMISSION ON ITEMS THAT WERE NOT ON THE AGENDA NOW WOULD BE THE TIME SEEING NONE IN THE CHAMBER.DO WE HAVE ANY VIRTUAL COMMENTS? IF YOU'RE JOINING US VIRTUALLY AND YOU'D LIKE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON AGENDIZED ITEMS, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FUNCTION AT THIS TIME.
[02:10:02]
THERE APPEARS TO BE NO FURTHER PUBLIC COMMENT.UH, I WILL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT, BRING IT BACK BEHIND THE RAIL.
[ANNOUNCEMENTS]
ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS, COMMENTS? NO.