PURPOSE:

This report is intended to inform the City Council about the mandatory update of the General Plan Housing Element.  This report highlights the schedule and deadlines for this project and the critical issues that must be addressed as part of this General Plan update.

BACKGROUND:

Planning staff is beginning the state mandated update of the General Plan Housing Element.  State planning law carefully regulates the content of the element and the timing of the updates.  The current update must be adopted by June 30, 2008.

Both the federal and state governments consider the availability of housing and the provision of a suitable living environment to be priority issues.

State housing law and its policies make local jurisdictions the primary implementers of state housing policy and provide a detailed outline for directing these efforts. The problems which most seriously threaten the attainment of the state�s housing goal are the increasing cost of housing and the imbalance between the location of jobs and available housing. 

Burbank�s Housing Element is required to identify existing and projected housing needs and to establish goals, policies, objectives and programs for the preservation, improvement and development of housing to meet the needs of all economic sectors of the community.  The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) considers the Housing Element to be one of the most important tools for addressing the housing needs in California.

Housing element law requires a quantification of each jurisdiction�s existing and projected housing needs and requires that jurisdictions provide their fair share of regional housing needs.  This is accomplished, in part, through the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process (Government Code Section 65584).  The RHNA defines each city�s exiting and future housing needs in a regional context.  A city�s share of the RHNA, as determined by their Council of Governments (which for Burbank is the Southern California Association of Governments or SCAG), is the projected housing need that must be addressed in the Housing Element. Each city�s RHNA is distributed among four income categories (very low, low, moderate, and above moderate) to enable cities to address the requirement to provide for the housing needs of all income levels.

State housing element law requires every city to provide a site inventory and analysis in its Housing Element.    The purpose of this inventory is to identify specific sites suitable for residential development that will enable the city to compare its RHNA new construction need with its residential development capacity.  Since the last Housing Element update in 2001, the rules for preparing this site inventory and analysis have become much more specific and stringent.  The site inventory and analysis helps determine if additional governmental actions are needed to provide enough sites with appropriate zoning and development standards to accommodate the amount of new construction identified in the RHNA.  The site inventory requires a detailed parcel-specific listing of all available sites.  The analysis of the sites inventory must demonstrate that the sites have sufficient realistic capacity at appropriate densities and development standards to permit development of a range of housing types and prices to accommodate the community�s share of the regional housing need by income level.  The State HCD carefully reviews each housing element sites inventory to make sure that the sites identified in the inventory provide the necessary capacity to accommodate the new housing need and are zoned appropriately to provide for a range of housing types and affordability.  Special attention is paid to the provision of adequate sites for meeting the RHNA allotment of very-low and low-income households.

In order for a housing element to be found in compliance with state law it has to meet the detailed and increasingly onerous mandates of state planning law and be consistent with the other elements of the General Plan.  Burbank�s current Housing Element was adopted by City Council in 2001 and found by the State HCD to be in full compliance with State Housing Element Law.

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS:

The Housing Element�s ability to meet the City�s identified housing needs, and in particular the City�s RHNA allocation, is based on the General Plan Land Use Element capacity and on current zoning capacity.  The Land Use Plan and zoning have to show enough residentially zoned land, at appropriate densities, to accommodate, by right, the number of RHNA units allocated to the City.  In addition, the zoned densities have to reasonably allow for the construction of the allocated amount of lower income housing.

City Council is aware that staff is also in the process of updating the Land Use and Mobility Elements of the General Plan.  This process began several years ago and it was anticipated that the elements would be adopted in 2006 prior to starting the mandatory update of the Housing Element.  However, the adoption of the Land Use Element has been delayed due to the need to undertake additional traffic analysis and economic analysis and review the element in light of the findings of those analyses.  Due to this delay, the Housing Element update is preceding that of the Land Use Element and this presents certain challenges in creating a housing element that is in compliance with state law.

In conjunction with the Land Use Element update process, City Council studied and subsequently reduced the densities of all of Burbank�s multiple family residential zones in 2005.  This down-zoning had the effect of reducing the residential capacity of the City � the total number of housing units that can be built.  It was intended that this down-zoning would be followed within a short period of time � as part of the Land Use Element update � with a reallocation of residential units in other places throughout the City in order to compensate for the units lost by down-zoning and to maintain the City�s residential capacity.  The intent was to add more housing capacity downtown, to add new small lot single family homes and add housing on traditionally commercial corridors.  With the delay in the completion of the Land Use Element, the City finds itself in the position of having to complete a housing element update with lowered multiple family residential densities and without the addition of replacement housing in other areas of the City to augment the capacity.

Based upon preliminary calculations, staff believes that the current residential capacity of the City is insufficient to meet the RHNA allocation for this Housing Element.  Staff believes that the City will be unable to show enough sites with sufficient capacity to provide the amount of new housing needed to meet the RHNA allotment. Burbank�s RHNA allocation for the current (2006 � 2014) Housing Element cycle is 3,786 units. Staff has analyzed the remaining capacity of the land zoned for residential use and found that the remaining capacity for new residential units in the City�s multiple family residential areas may be as low as approximately 1,700 units.  This analysis looked at all residential parcels currently built at 50% or less of their allowed maximum density and calculated how many more units could be built, by right, on each parcel.  It was assumed that residential parcels that were 50% underdeveloped or more would be likely candidates for new infill development.  This analysis looked at individual parcels, which due to their small size are not eligible to build out to the highest multiple family residential density.  When parcels are assembled into larger lot sizes, the allowed density increases; this increased density allowance is an incentive to lot assembly and would increase the remaining residential capacity of the under-built parcels. Whereas some assemblage of residential parcels is likely to occur thereby increasing the remaining residential capacity, it is impossible to know the extent to which this assemblage will occur - how many parcels will actually be assembled and what size the new parcels will be.  It is therefore difficult to calculate the exact remaining residential capacity in the City.  In order to give a realistic estimate of the remaining residential capacity, staff has made assumptions about future land assembly based on past residential development patterns and the availability and location of underdeveloped land.  Based on these assumptions, staff will be able to increase the estimated remaining residential capacity in multiple family areas, although still not to the level required to satisfy the RHNA.  More detailed calculations and an explanation of the assumptions behind them will be provided to the City Council at a future date.

The proposed draft Land Use Element released for public review in April 2006 included capacity for approximately 4,000 residential units in commercial areas � about 3,000 on the commercial corridors and another 1,000 in the Media District, Downtown and in mixed commercial/industrial areas.  This added capacity in the commercial areas would have compensated for the capacity loss resulting from the lowering of permitted densities in the multiple family residential areas.  Since the land use changes proposed in the draft Land Use Element were not adopted, this additional capacity is not available for use to meet Burbank�s RHNA allocation.

This shortfall in residential capacity for meeting our RHNA allocation must be addressed in the Housing Element.  Inasmuch as the solution will likely entail land use and density changes in the Land Use Element and subsequent implementation by means of zone changes, staff will be seeking input and direction from the City Council as to how to remedy this shortfall.  To this end, staff proposes to schedule a joint City Council/Planning Board study session on October 2, 2007 in lieu of the regularly scheduled Council meeting in order to discuss the various components of the residential capacity issue and options for providing the necessary additional capacity. 

In order to meet the mandated June 30, 2008 adoption deadline for the Housing Element update, staff proposes the following schedule (all dates are approximate):

2007                Oct 2               Joint City Council/Planning Board Study Session on Residential

                                                 Capacity and Density

                        Oct/Nov            Public Participation � outreach meetings, focus neighborhood

                                                  meetings, community workshop

2008                Jan                   Public input

                        Jan 15              City Council Study Session on the draft Housing Element that

                                                  will be sent to HCD for mandatory 60 day review

                        Feb 1               Send Draft Housing Element to HCD for review

                        March 17         Draft Housing Elements and Negative Declaration made

                                                 available for public review and comment

                        April 21            Planning Board Public Hearing on Housing Element

                        June 17           City Council Public Hearing on Housing Element and adoption

                                                 of Element

This is a rigorous schedule with little flexibility if the deadline is to be met.  A joint study session meets the demands of the compact schedule and enables the City Council to benefit from Planning Board input during their deliberations.  In order to meet the above schedule and the Housing Element completion deadline, it will be critical for the Council to provide staff with direction at the October study session as to how to provide additional housing capacity in Burbank.  Staff will strive to provide the Planning Board and City Council with as much information as possible prior to and during the study session to enable the Council to give direction on this challenging issue.

State law requires that every City have a legally compliant General Plan Housing Element.  If the City�s Housing Element is found not to be in compliance with the law then the City�s General Plan is not legally adequate and any party could bring a lawsuit against the City, pursuant to Government Code Section 65755.  A lawsuit of this type could result in the courts suspending the City�s authority to issue almost all development and use related permits (such as zone changes, CUPS, variances and subdivision maps).  A legally compliant Housing Element is also a prerequisite for a host of state funding programs such as BEGIN, Workforce Housing Reward Program and CalHOME.  With the availability of new State bond monies there likely will be numerous new grants and funding programs that the City may be interested in pursuing. If found to have an inadequate Housing Element, those authorities that are currently providing grant monies to the City may come back against the City seeking reimbursement of the grant fund since the City may not be in compliance with the terms of the grant agreements. These repercussions of not having a legally adequate Housing Element may be just the tip of the iceberg; there may be many more instances where a legally adequate General Plan is a prerequisite for some City Council decision.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The City Council approved funding as part of this year�s budget for the Housing Element update.  Due to the technical nature of the Housing Element and the scrutiny that the document will receive from HCD, staff is in the process of hiring a consultant to assist with the preparation of the element.

CONCLUSION:

Staff will work with the City Council and the community to analyze Burbank�s housing needs and the resources for meeting these needs in keeping with the rigorous state housing element mandates.   The decisions that the City Council makes regarding the Housing Element will tie directly into the ongoing update to the Land Use and Mobility Elements.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends that the City Council note and file this report.  Unless otherwise directed by City Council, staff will proceed in the direction outlined in this report.