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26 (3) Susana Barrios From:Amanda Soto <amandas@kennedycommission.org> Sent:Tuesday, June 27, 2023 11:50 AM To:City Clerk Cc:Cesar C Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] Kennedy Commission Public Comment on Item #26 Attachments:anahiem city council public comment #26.pdf Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message. Good morning-- Here is enclosed the Kennedy Commission public comment on Item #26 "UPDATE FROM THE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY AD HOC COMMITTEE" Thank you, Amanda Soto -- Amanda Soto (she/her) Community Organizer 1 June 27,2023 Mayor Ashleigh Aitken Anaheim City Council Members City of Anaheim 200 S Anaheim Blvd Anaheim,CA 92805 RE:Item 26 City of Anaheim Council Meeting (June 27,2023) Dear Mayor Aitken and City Council: The Kennedy Commission (the Commission)is a broad-based coalition of residents and community organizations that advocates for the production of homes affordable for extremely low income families earning less than $30,000 annually in Orange County.Formed in 2001,the Commission has been successful in partnering and working with Orange County jurisdictions to create effective housing and land-use policies that have led to the construction of homes affordable to lower-income working families. We are writing today to request that the City of Anaheim move forward with evaluating policies and programs that would increase affordable housing options in Anaheim. An inclusionary housing program,city owned sites,opportunity sites and other affordable housing programs will ensure that the City will effectively produce affordable housing at the extremely low,very low-,and low-income level. We want to ensure that the city includes an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance as part of their housing programs and priorities to support extremely and very low income families in Anaheim. While market rate housing production is clearly happening in Anaheim as a result of incentives and concessions to developers,it is occurring in an unbalanced way that is not producing affordable housing for lower income families. The housing production trends are illustrated by the city’s performance in the 2014-2021 Housing Element planning period.The city had a RHNA of 1,256 very low-and 907 low-income households.During this 5th cycle,the city built 298 or 24%of the 1,256 very low income units and 71 or 8%of the 907 low-income units.However,for the above moderate-income units,the city outperformed and exceeded the RHNA by constructing 8,266 or 331%of the original 2,501 above moderate-income RHNA.The housing imbalance is due to the fact that the city does not have an effective affordable housing policy. In the current 6th cycle planning period,the city has a RHNA of 6,164 units for lower income households.To-date,the city has approved 155 deed-restricted units for lower income units. While the city has approved some lower income developments,the city’s plans and programs are falling behind on facilitating the necessary affordable units to meet the needs of the housing crisis to support low and very low-income residents in Anaheim.This comes in comparison to the approved 211 moderate and above-moderate income units,and over 6,106 above market level housing units in the city’s development pipeline.As described in the draft Housing Element, the majority of the City’s RHNA for above moderate housing needs will be met with these pipeline projects.The deficit of affordable housing in the city is unfortunate given that Anaheim residents are in urgent need for housing at the lower income levels and are looking to the city to construct more affordable housing developments. As Anaheim considers the recommended policies and programs that could increase affordable housing,the Commission recommends that the City adopt new affordable housing priorities and policies that will help develop affordable housing for lower income levels and create balanced housing opportunities in Anaheim.To effectively produce housing at the extremely low,very low-,and low-income level,the Commission recommends that the city adopt the following strategies: 1.Inclusionary Housing Ordinance:To ensure housing is produced equitably and meets the current and future needs of Anaheim residents,the Commission strongly recommends the city adopt an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance that requires 20%of units of all citywide residential projects be set at the extremely low (7.5%),very low (7.5%),and low-income levels (5%). This ordinance will help the city create balanced housing development along with market rate housing.This policy will help create affordable housing that is not created in the Anaheim housing market.The Inclusionary Housing Ordinance should be implemented within the next six months to ensure that affordable housing is created in the city. 2.Affordable Housing Fee:The Commission recommends that if the city elects an affordable housing fee program it considers the following: -The policy should be part of a comprehensive approach to address the production of affordable housing on sites identified to create affordable housing,such as implementing an Inclusionary Housing program as outlined above and having an in lieu fee option. -An in-lieu fee instead of affordable housing should help the city achieve the affordable housing opportunity not realized on the sites.The fee needs to be calculated based on the true cost to develop affordable housing units and other financial and market factors.Given the high cost of land,market rate housing competing for the same sites,construction cost,and the land use and zoning limitations on where affordable housing can realistically be developed,funding generated from this fee would likely have limited success if set to low.The proposed program should evaluate the lost opportunity to create affordable housing on these opportunity sites and actual cost to develop affordable housing elsewhere. -The fee should be in the range of $15,000 -$30,000 per unit to allow the city to leverage state,federal and other affordable housing funds and be able to develop affordable housing developments that will serve lower income families making $30,000-$80,000. We recommend that the fee be utilized specifically for the creation of new affordable housing units for low,very-low,extremely low,and acutely low-income families.An in-lieu fee should be studied and implemented within the next six months. The implementation of the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and in-lieu fee will continue to offer development incentives and concessions for market rate development and implement a policy to create affordable housing along with market rate housing.Moreover,it will encourage the City to prioritize housing for residents living below the poverty line and facing housing and economic uncertainty. The Commission looks forward to partnering with the City of Anaheim to create opportunities to increase affordable homes for lower income households in the city.If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (949)250-0909 or cesarc@kennedycommission.org. Sincerely, Cesar Covarrubias Executive Director