Housing and Human Services Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Housing and Human Services Commission Wednesday, July 27, 2016 7:00 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Evans called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Evans led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Patti Evans Commissioner Diana Gilbert Commissioner Joshua Grossman Commissioner Minjung Kwok Commissioner Narendra Pathak Commissioner Elinor Stetson Absent: 1 - Commissioner Dennis Chiu Commissioner Dennis Chiu (excused absence) Council Liaison Jim Griffith (present) Chair Evans noted two new commissioners, she welcomed them, and asked staff and other commissioners to introduce themselves. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 1.A 16-0710 Approve the Housing and Human Services Commission Minutes of May 18, 2016 Chair Evans asked if anyone wanted to discuss the item on the consent calendar. No one did. Chair Evans asked for a motion. Commissioner Gilbert moved and Commissioner Kwok seconded the motion to City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final July 27, 2016 Commission approve the Housing and Human Services Commission Minutes of May 18, 2016 as submitted. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Evans Commissioner Gilbert Commissioner Grossman Commissioner Kwok Commissioner Pathak Commissioner Stetson No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Chiu Chair Evans noted that agenda item 3 would be heard before agenda item 2 to accommodate the members of the public present. PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 3 16-0574 Consider Charities Housing Development Corporation Proposal for $403,000 in BMR In-Lieu Fee (BIF) Funds for Rehabilitation of Stoney Pine Villa Apartments at 267 W. California Ave. Assistant Planner Shila Behzadiaria gave a brief report on the Charities Housing proposal to rehabilitate Stoney Pine Villa Apartments, a 23-unit affordable rental property for tenants with developmental desabilities, located at 267 W. California Avenue. She noted that Charities had originally applied for and been awarded $201,000 in CDBG Revolving Loan funds for this project, but the project was not initiated as scheduled due to workload issues. Charities Housing has now resubmitted and slightly expanded the scope of work for the project, and is requesting $403,000 in BIF funds instead of the CDBG funds. If this request is successful, the CDBG award would be rescinded and those funds would become available for reallocation to other projects in the next fiscal year. Commissioners asked what changed in the scope of work to justify the increase in funds requested and why had the project been delayed. Staff explained that the scope of work was expanded slightly to include a more comprehensive rehabilitation of the property's interior and exterior, including the parking area. Staff also noted that the cost of construction has also gone up significantly since 2014 when they originally applied for CDBG funds, and that the amount of funding available at that time had forced Charities Housing to limit the City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final July 27, 2016 Commission scope of work to the most urgently needed work items. Staff added that the other two projects that Charities Housing had in Sunnyvale, Parkside Studios and two senior group homes, had taken priority over the Stoney Pine project. In addition, the Housing staff also had significant workload issues with a number of urgent projects such as the winter shelter relocation and other capital projects. Charities Housing staff Maureen Wormley described the services provided to residents of Stoney Pine Villa. Chair Evans opened the public hearing at 7:32 p.m. Sue Serrone, member of the public, spoke in favor of the project and inquired about the property's waiting list. Charities staff noted that they had just closed their waiting list and noted that there is very little turnover in these units so they don't keep a large waiting list. Chair Evans closed the public hearing at 7:40 p.m. Chair Evans asked for a motion. Commissioner Pathak moved to approve Alternative 1; Commissioner Gilbert offered a friendly amendment to restate the motion as "recommend to approve." Commissioner Pathak accepted the friendly amendment, and Commissioner Gilbert seconded the motion to Recommend to Council Alternative 1: Award a one-year conditional commitment of BIF in the amount of $403,000 to Charities for rehabilitation of Stoney Pine consistent with the terms described in Attachment 4. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Evans Commissioner Gilbert Commissioner Grossman Commissioner Kwok Commissioner Pathak Commissioner Stetson No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Chiu 2 16-0712 Overview of the Lawrence Station Area Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final July 27, 2016 Commission Planning Officer Andrew Miner gave an overview of the Lawrence Station Area Plan (LSAP) and draft EIR. Planning Officer Miner noted that, although no formal action on the LSAP was requested from the commission at this time, he wanted to provide an update on the LSAP because he had come to this commission for input earlier in the process, and commissioner Jeong, whose term ended in June 2016, had served on the LSAP citizen's advisory committee as the commission's representative. Mr. Miner explained that the LSAP effort began a few years back, when the Planning Commission sponsored a study issue to explore options for increasing ridership and improving circulation at the Lawrence Caltrain Station. The Lawrence Station is located at 137 San Zeno Way, right under the Lawrence Expressway overpass that connects Reed Avenue to Kifer Road, next to Costco. It is one of the few Caltrain stations that does not have bus service, and during the LSAP community outreach phase, it became evident that some residents were not aware of the train station at all. Those riders who do know it is there do not feel safe traveling to and from the station in the evenings, due to poor lighting and inadequate sidewalks. The LSAP citizens advisory commitee came up with the concept of flexible mixed-use zoning around the station to allow the area to develop organically. The vision is to create a transit village that thrives with activity during the day and evening, and can be a live-work area. In order to not let any one type of development dominate the area, some interim caps would be put in place and checked every couple of years to assess if the limits need to be adjusted. The LSAP includes an affordable housing and anti-displacement strategy which is intended to provide opportunities to develop affordable housing with minimal impact on current residents. The EIR included mitigating policies which have been included in the plan: 1) No increased development capacity on existing residential areas, to avoid displacement of residents; 2) create incentives and local bonuses to encourage production of affordable housing units; 3) reduce parking requirements for projects with access to transit; 4) provide financial assistance for affordable housing development; and 5) make affordable housing a priority. Planning Officer Andrew reviewed the interim zoning provisions and incentives that are in the draft LSAP. He added that the draft LSAP will be considered by the Planning Commission in City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final July 27, 2016 Commission September, and by the City Council in October. Chair Evans opened the public hearing at 8:13 p.m. Don Tran, representing the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, spoke in support of the plan, but suggested starting with a higher minimum density of 40 units per acre in areas within 1/2 mile of the station. He also suggested maintaining a balanced ratio of market-rate to affordable housing to reflect the range of needs. And lastly, he asked that the jobs-to-housing balance assumptions be revisited in order to avoid an imbalanced jobs-to-housing ratio. Sue Serrone, member of the public, spoke in favor of the plan and had some questions about the affordable housing caps in mixed used projects. Chair Evans closed the public hearing at 8:25 p.m. Chair Evans thanked staff for the presentation, and the hard work by the LSAP committee and staff. 4 16-0711 Election of Officers for FY 2016-2017 Chair Evans asked if anyone was interested in serving as Chair and opened the floor for nominations. Commissioner Pathak nominated Chair Evans for the office of Chair. Chair Evans accepted the nomination and asked if anyone else was interested in serving. No one did. Chair Evans closed the floor for nominations and opened the floor for discussion. Commissioner Evans was elected to the Office of Chair for FY 2016-17 by acclamation. Chair Evans asked if anyone was interested in serving as Vice Chair and opened the floor for nominations. Chair Evans nominated Commissioner Kwok for the office of Vice Chair and Commissioner Kwok accepted the nomination. Chair Evans closed the floor for nominations and opened the floor for discussion. Commissioner Kwok was elected to the Office of Vice Chair for FY 2016-17 by City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final July 27, 2016 Commission acclamation. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES Chair Evans asked if there were any new potential study issues that they would like to discuss at this time. There were no new items. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Gilbert requested some educational materials for new commissioners at the next meeting related to meeting protocol, parliamentary procedures, etc. Commissioner Grossman commented that he was used to meetings that were more structured and formal and suggested adhering to parliamentary procedures more closely during public hearing discussions. Councilmember Griffith explained that following parliamentary procedures helps prevent any perception of disparity in how members of the public are allowed to interact with staff or commissioners during the hearing. He added that starting to enforce protocol in the middle of a meeting is very difficult, and that only by being impartial and consistent all the time can one be fair to everyone. -Staff Comments None. ADJOURNMENT Chair Evans adjourned the meeting at 8:41 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 6