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Planning Commission Special Meeting Minutes <br />Agenda No. 10-03 <br />Mnrch 25, 2010 <br />Pnge I S of 20 <br />land available through zoning and other development regulations that would enable the private <br />and non-profit sectors to build the number of units specified. In other words, he explained, it is <br />San Leandro ensuring that it has created the opportunity to accommodate the number of units <br />designated as our fair share. <br />In analyzing San Leandro's housing needs, Mr. Miller described what he considered significant <br />findings. One, a considerable amount of affordable new housing has been built in the City since <br />1990, but it primarily has targeted seniors, small households (such as Casa Verde on East 14th <br />Street) and people with disabilities (such as Fuller Gardens and Fuller Lodge). Two, no <br />substantial amount of market rate rental housing has come to San Leandro for 20 years, and <br />condominium development/conversion has been limited for the past ]0 years. This has created an <br />unmet need for affordable family housing (such as the recently approved San Leandro Crossings <br />development). In addition, Mr. Miller said that demand for senior housing is projected to rise, <br />especially after 2015 (as more and more Baby Boomers retire). While San Leandro has about the <br />same number of jobs as it has employed residents, our jobs-to-housing balance is not as good as it <br />looks because people who live here don't necessarily work here. In fact, some people who work <br />here commute long distances due to lack of suitable housing options. <br />The analysis of available sites indicates that <br />San Leandro has sufficient land that is <br />appropriately .zoned to accommodate the <br />1,630 mandated housing units. Some 90 <br />opportunity sites have been identified, <br />including 25 high-density sites (30 or more <br />units per acre). In fact, San Leandro is rare in <br />that it has a surplus of such capacity. This <br />map segment (keyed to a table in the <br />Housing Element Update Appendix) shows <br />where the approximately two-thirds of the <br />sites are located. (The large triangular. dark <br />area is in the vicinity of Davis and Alvarado <br />Streets, in the heart of the downtown TOD <br />area.) Many of these sites were rezoned in <br />2004, thus removing a number of constraints <br />present when the Housing Element was <br />updated in 2003. <br />In addition to zoning changes, the constraints analysis also revealed that San Leandro fees are <br />competitive with other cities and the planning and development process is efficient. Additional <br />areas rezoned to mixed use might be beneficial. The biggest hurdle is the condition of the real <br />estate market and the realities of financing. Another issue is limited school capacity. <br />A new item has been added to the list of Housing Element goals, objectives and policies -green <br />and sustainable neighborhoods, which wraps in some of the Climate Action Plan (CAP) <br />initiatives going on in the City and looks at the opportunities to reduce home energy costs, water <br />bills and so on. The other eight items, Mr. Miller noted, also appear in the 2003 Housing <br />Element: <br />• New housing opportunities <br />• Affordable housing development <br />• Administration of housing programs <br />• Home ownership <br />