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The San Ramon City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a resolution that would seek to reduce costs for developers proposing housing projects that would aim to address the state and local affordable housing shortfall.
The ordinance on the table at the council’s upcoming meeting would mean adopting a new policy aimed at providing guidance on waiving some city impact and service fees for projects that would produce affordable housing for low- and very-low incomes.
The new policy is aimed at providing additional incentives for developers to produce affordable housing, in order to help meet the city’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers and address the local shortage of affordable housing.
“While existing inclusionary standards go a long way in meeting RHNA targets, it is generally recognized that there is a need for additional tools, such as fiscal incentives, to support increased production, particularly for low- and very-low-income units,” division manager Lauren Barr said in a staff report.
Barr added that this policy in particular would target rental housing, due to the potential of high-density rental projects to address economic gaps compared with additional for-sale units.
The proposed policy comes following the council’s vote last October to adopt an affordable housing trust fund policy.
“While the adoption of the affordable housing trust fund policy helps to clarify the use of housing fees for affordable projects, there is a need to provide additional tools to promote affordable housing productions intended to provide additional financial incentives for the production of low income and very low income rental housing, associated with all affordable projects, through various city fee waiver options,” Barr said.
Requirements for projects granted fee waivers under the new policy would include submitting a formal request, valid city approvals, as well as producing all units below 80% of the median income for the area and complying with policy objectives.
The San Ramon City Council is set to meet Tuesday (Oct. 11) at 7 p.m. The agenda is available here.
In other business
* The council will consider a $65,000 reimbursement agreement with the San Ramon Valley Historic Foundation for the renovation of the organic garden at Forest Home Farms.
* The council will vote on a resolution that would repeal references to outdated state codes related to planning and construction with references to existing codes.
