MO 2002-041 to 2002-045 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW DRAFT The City does not have illustrated residential design guidelines. Rather, the BZA or SDSC must find that the architecture is appropriate and consistently applied, that the visual mass is de-emphasized, that the neighborhood's existing visual character is valued, and that the physical impacts to neighbors are minimized. The above procedures apply to single family homes only. The City also requires Site Plan Review for all new multi -family housing. This process includes a public hearing by the Site Development Subcommission (SDSC) and a finding that the design of the project is consistent with the purposes of the Zoning Code. The SDSC hearing requirement is not a constraint and has helped rally public support behind affordable housing projects by ensuring that neighborhood concerns are addressed. Conclusions. The City's design review program has been in effect for less than two years. To date, the program's effect on the quality of new. residential construction has been positive. Design review has addressed public concerns over "teardowns" and "monster homes," and may be helping to conserve moderately sized homes in the City. The new General Plan recommends that residential design guidelines be prepared to clarify the City's expectations for residential projects, and address potential neighborhood concerns as higher density housing is proposed. Design review has not been a constraint to multi -family housing development. In fact, the process has helped a number of affordable projects gain greater public acceptance by engaging the community in a dialogue about project design, parking reductions, and other issues. The new design review requirements have added to the processing time required for very large homes and multi -story additions. This has primarily impacted the "executive" housing market and has not affected affordable housing or basic home improvement projects. The impact of design review requirements on the Planning Department workload should be monitored in the future, to ensure that staffing remains adequate to handle the extra work associated with the new procedures. Affordable Housing Incentive Programs Analysis. San Leandro has had an Affordable Housing Incentive (or "inclusionary housing") Program since the early 1980s. The program requires at least 10 percent of the housing in projects of 20 units or more to be affordable to lower income (80 percent of areawide median) households. The requirement affects developments located outside of Redevelopment Project Areas. For projects within redevelopment areas, the standard is effectively superseded by a state law that requires 15 percent of the new housing units to be similarly affordable. The City also has adopted density bonus provisions, in accordance with state law. These provisions allow a developer to build more units than what is permitted by zoning if a certain percentage of these units are reserved for lower income or senior households. For projects of five units or more, a 25 percent bonus is granted if the developer reserves 10 percent of the units for very low income households, 20 percent of the units for low income households, or 50 percent of the units for senior households. Conclusions. The City is in compliance with State density bonus requirements. The inclusionary housing requirement had an impact on rental housing during the 1980s when several large apartment projects were constructed. It had minimal effects during the last decade due to the sluggish rental construction market. HOUSING ELEMENT 5-13 SAN LEANDRO GENERAL PLAN A411