Housing and Human Services Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Housing and Human Services Commission Wednesday, May 20, 2015 7:00 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Special Meeting CALL TO ORDER Chair Gilbert called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Gilbert led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 7 - Chair Diana Gilbert Vice Chair Younil Jeong Commissioner Dennis Chiu Commissioner Patti Evans Commissioner Chrichelle McCloud Commissioner Barbara Schmidt Commissioner Navpreet (Ruby) Sidhu Council Liaison Jim Davis (absent) Commissioner Chrichelle McCloud arrived at 7:08 p.m. Commissioner Navpreet (Ruby) Sidhu arrived at 7:10 p.m. PRESENTATION Chair Gilbert introduced Mayor Jim Griffith who presented Commissioner Patti Evans with a certificate of recognition for her service on the Housing and Human Services Commission. He also announced that she was reappointed by the Council to serve for a four-year term. Mayor Griffith also thanked the rest of the Commissioners for their service. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS None. CONSENT CALENDAR City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final May 20, 2015 Commission 1.A 15-0473 Draft Minutes of the Housing and Human Services Commission Meeting of April 22, 2015 Chair Gilbert asked if anyone wanted to pull an item from the consent calendar for discussion. No one did. Chair Gilbert asked for a motion to approve the consent calendar. Commissioner Chiu moved and Commissioner McCloud seconded the motion to approve the consent calendar which is comprised of the Draft Minutes of the Housing and Human Services Commission Meeting of April 22, 2015. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 5 - Chair Gilbert Commissioner Chiu Commissioner Evans Commissioner McCloud Commissioner Schmidt No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Sidhu Abstain: 1 - Vice Chair Jeong Vice Chair Jeong abstained because she was not present at the April 22 meeting. Commissioner Sidhu had not arrived yet at the time of this vote. PUBLIC COMMENTS Yvonne Salazar, Sunnvyale resident, spoke about the growing need for affordable housing, and the significant impact of rising rents on seniors and lower-income individuals. She expressed concern about seniors and families being displaced, and about landords requiring prospective tenants to earn three times' the rent in order to qualify to rent a unit. PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 15-0205 Introduce an Ordinance and Two Resolutions to Approve Two New Affordable Housing Impact Fees: Housing Impact Fee for Nonresidential Development and Housing Impact Fee for Rental Housing Housing Officer Suzanne Isé introduced Affordable Housing Manager Ernie City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final May 20, 2015 Commission DeFrenchi who provided a brief slide presentation on this item. Mr. DeFrenchi gave a quick review of the project background and a brief summary of the draft ordinance and draft resolutions attached to the report. He noted that the new fee for non-residential development was proposed to be $15 per net new square foot for all office, R&D, and industrial projects ($7.50 for the first 25,000 square feet), and $7.50 per net new square foot for all retail and lodging projects. He added that the new rental housing impact fee is proposed to be $17 per habitable square foot for all new market-rate rental developments. He also noted that the revenue from these fees will be used to address the City's affordable housing needs and goals, and that the fees would be adjusted for inflation annually. Chair Gilbert opened the public hearing at 7:48 p.m. Helen Tong-Ishikawa, Senior Associate Project Manager with MidPen Housing Corp., spoke in support of the proposed fees. MidPen is a nonprofit developer of affordable housing that currently owns 8 sites in Sunnyvale with over 700 affordable housing units, and a new project under construction. She noted that the need for affordable housing options is continually increasing, and that MidPen has approximately 2,000 people on its combined waiting lists just for its Sunnyvale properties. She also spoke in support of the fllexibility of alternative options offered in the proposed ordinance. In addition, she requested that the City consider encouraging developers that opt to provide affordable units on site to connect tenants of those units to local agencies that provide supportive services because these services are very important. Chair Gilbert closed the public hearing at 8:02 p.m. Commissioner Chiu moved and Commissioner McCloud seconded the motion to recommend to Council Alternative 1: Approve the Draft Ordinance and Fee Resolutions establishing the Housing Impact Fees for Nonresidential Development and Housing Impact Fee for Rental Housing, as provided in Attachments 1, 2, and 3. The motion carried by the following vote: City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final May 20, 2015 Commission Yes: 7 - Chair Gilbert Vice Chair Jeong Commissioner Chiu Commissioner Evans Commissioner McCloud Commissioner Schmidt Commissioner Sidhu No: 0 3 15-0482 Review of Fiscal Year 2015/16 Recommended Budget Housing Officer Isé summarized the Housing budget materials provided in the packet for review, such as the pages related to the various Housing funds, the Housing capital projects, and the operating budget for the Housing Division. She indicated that if the Commissioners wanted to comment on the Budget, they could either make a formal motion or make individual comments which would be captured in the minutes, and included in the Annual Budget Review Report to Council. Chair Gilbert opened and closed the public hearing at 8:22 p.m. No members of the public were present at that time. After some discussion, the Commissioners opted to make a formal motion regarding the General Fund supplement for human services. Commissioner Chiu moved and Commissioner Evans seconded the motion to recommend that Council consider adjusting the General Fund supplement in the long-range plan annually for inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), but not to reduce it if the CPI goes negative. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7 - Chair Gilbert Vice Chair Jeong Commissioner Chiu Commissioner Evans Commissioner McCloud Commissioner Schmidt Commissioner Sidhu No: 0 4 15-0524 Nominate a Housing and Human Services Commissioner to the El Camino Real Specific Plan Advisory Committee City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final May 20, 2015 Commission Ms. Isé provided a brief background on this planning effort, and noted the map of the study area in the packet. Chair Gilbert asked around if any of the commissioners were interested in volunteering to serve on the Committee, and if so, to please state the reason they wanted to participate. Commissioner Evans stated that she lives near El Camino Real and owns a business in Mountain View on El Camino. She noted that she is concerned about increasing congestion related to the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. Commissioner McCloud stated that her primary interest in serving was that she was very supportive of public transit to ease congestion. Ms.Isé asked the Chair if she could provide some clarification about the project and the Committee's role. She then explained that the City does not control transit services, that is the role of the transit agency (VTA); and this project primarily involves City land use planning and policies affecting potential development of the properties along the El Camino Corridor, not primarily transit service issues. The Chair asked Commissioner Jeong, who served on a similar committee recently (the Lawrence Station Area Plan committee), to speak briefly about what it was like to serve on that committee, the time required, etc. Commissioner Jeong explained that the LSAP committee service was very interesting and that the time committement required was significant, and that they had to read a large volume of material before the meetings. After further consideration, Commissioner Evans retracted her interest, noting that the time committment required was more than she could absorb. Chair Gilbert asked for a motion. Commissioner Schmidt moved and Commissioner Evans seconded the motion to nominate Commissioner McCloud to participate in the El Camino Real Corridor Plan Advisory Committee. The motion carried by the following vote: City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final May 20, 2015 Commission Yes: 7 - Chair Gilbert Vice Chair Jeong Commissioner Chiu Commissioner Evans Commissioner McCloud Commissioner Schmidt Commissioner Sidhu No: 0 NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Sidhu asked if the meetings always had to be held on Wednesdays. Staff responded that, occassionally, special meetings may happen on a different day of the week. However, the Boards and Commissions Council Policy states that the Housing and Human Services commission is designated to meet on the fourth Wednesday of every month, and that is partly to ensure that meeting rooms are available for each Board and Commission when they meet. In addition, the regular meeting nights are disclosed in advance to those who apply to serve on a particular commission, so by submitting an application they acknowledge they are available to serve at the Commission's regular meeting time and day of the month, as noted in the Council Policy. Commissioner Evans noted that she had difficulty especially with the budget materials bacause the pages were not numbered. Staff explained that pagination varies based on how meeting materials are accessed online, but would look into alleviating the issue. -Staff Comments None. ADJOURNMENT Chair Gilbert adjourned the meeting at 8:55 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 6