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File Number: 15-001 <br />Environmental Review <br />Adoption of the Housing Element is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act <br />(CEQA). The City completed an Initial Study on the Housing Element update and determined <br />that no significant impacts would result from adoption of the update. The Housing Element is <br />a policy document. Its adoption will not authorize the development of a particular project or <br />directly result in housing construction --- such projects would be subject to their own <br />subsequent environmental review processes. Moreover, the Housing Element does not <br />propose any General Plan Map changes or Zoning Map changes. The other elements of the <br />San Leandro General Plan include policies to self -mitigate impacts associated with the <br />development facilitated by the Housing Element. <br />A Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration was filed with the State Clearinghouse on <br />November 17, 2014. This initiated a 30 -day review period which closed on December 17. <br />Copies of the IS/ND were distributed to various state agencies and interested parties, and an <br />electronic copy of the document was posted on the City's website. The only comment <br />received was from East Bay Municipal Utility District. EBMUD's letter simply notes that future <br />developers should coordinate with EBMUD to determine water service requirements, and that <br />EBMUD does not provide service to contaminated sites. It also encourages the City to adopt <br />water -efficient landscaping standards. <br />Board/Commission Review and Actions <br />The San Leandro Planning Commission convened a public hearing on the Housing Element <br />on December 18, 2014. There was one speaker. Attachment 5 contains the draft minutes to <br />the December 18 Planning Commission meeting discussion on the Working Draft. The <br />Commission voted 5-0 (with two commissioners absent) on two resolutions -one <br />recommending Council adoption of the Initial Study/Negative Declaration and a second <br />recommending Council adoption of the Housing Element. <br />While the Planning Commission was generally supportive of the Housing Element, several <br />members expressed interest in including an action program to study the feasibility of a rental <br />housing inspection program (RHIP). The Commission had previously endorsed such a <br />program in September and it appeared in an earlier version of the Working Draft. However, <br />the program was removed by the City Council in its October 6 public hearing, prior to submittal <br />of the document to HCD. Although the Planning Commission did not formally vote to add the <br />RHIP back into the document, they did request that the Council be apprised of their support <br />for such a program. <br />Summary of Public Outreach Efforts <br />State law requires cities to implement public outreach programs as part of their Housing <br />Element updates. As noted earlier in this report, public outreach for this process included <br />Planning Commission Study Sessions, City Council Study Sessions, Planning Commission <br />and City Council public hearings, briefings to several City boards and commissions, a <br />Community Meeting, several neighborhood meetings, interviews with stakeholders and <br />service providers, a Housing Roundtable, a Cherry Festival exhibit, an interested parties email <br />distribution list (for meeting notification) with over 320 subscribers, and a project website with <br />an interactive feedback link. <br />City of San Leandro Page 6 Printed on 1113/2015 <br />