Ord 2022-001 ZONING CODE SECTION 4.04.336, MULTI-FAMILY AND MIXED-USE RESIDENTIAL DEV

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IN THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LEANDRO ORDINANCE NO.2022-001 ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL ADOPTING ZONING CODE SECTION 4.04.336, MULTI -FAMILY AND MIXED -USE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, AND MISCELLANEOUS ZONING CODE AMENDMENTS RELATED TO OBJECTIVE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS FOR MULTI -FAMILY AND MIXED -USE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT CITYWIDE WHEREAS, the State of California and the City of San Leandro face an unprecedented housing shortage and affordability crisis. In 2019, the Legislature concluded that "California has a housing supply and affordability crisis of historic proportions"; and WHEREAS, the Housing Accountability Act, Government Code section 65589.5, restricts the City of San Leandro's ability to deny or reduce the density of all housing development projects (including residential development, transitional and supportive housing, and residential mixed use development) that are consistent with objective development standards; and WHEREAS, per Senate Bill 35 ("SB 35") (2017), Government Code section 65913.4 establishes a developer -initiated process to streamline the review and approval of housing developments (i.e., those proposing two or more multifamily units) meeting specific criteria, including affordable housing requirements and labor requirements. Such housing projects will be eligible for ministerial approval, which means the project is exempt from environmental review under CEQA and will only be subject to "objective" development standards; and WHEREAS, the City seeks to adopt measurable and clear objective development standards applicable to multi -family and mixed -use developments ("Objective Standards"), in accordance with State law; and WHEREAS, such Objective Standards will be applicable to multi -family and mixed -use housing development projects, as defined by the Housing Accountability Act, and as mandatory standards for all qualifying projects seeking streamlined, ministerial review under SB 35; and WHEREAS, the State provided grant funding to the City of San Leandro to develop Objective Standards through the S132 Planning Grants Program; and WHEREAS, the City solicited input from community members throughout the multi- year process to create Objective Standards, including stakeholder interviews, a community design preference survey, two online workshops, an online survey tool, releasing a public review draft, and holding virtual office hours; and WHEREAS, the proposed Zoning Code amendments would establish objective development and design standards to achieve high -quality multi -family and residential mixed-