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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem No. 1MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE 183 NORTH MAIN STREET LAKE ELSINORE, CALIFORNIA TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2010 .............................................................................. ............................... CALL TO ORDER Mayor Melendez called the Meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. ROLL CALL PRESENT: MAYOR MELENDEZ MAYOR PRO TEM BHUTTA COUNCIL MEMBER BUCKLEY COUNCIL MEMBER HICKMAN COUNCIL MEMBER MAGEE CHAIRMAN GONZALES VICE -CHAIR MENDOZA COMMISSIONER JORDAN COMMISSIONER MORSCH COMMISSIONER O'NEAL ABSENT: NONE Also present: City Manager Brady, City Attorney Leibold, Senior Planner Harris, Planning Consultant Donahoe and City Clerk Cowley. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Melendez invited Brian Tisdale to lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC COMMENTS — NON -AGENDIZED ITEMS — 1 MINUTE There were none. PC January 18, 2011 No. 1 Page 1 of 6 Regular City Council Meeting Page 2 of 6 November 16, 2010 BUSINESS ITEM(S) (5) Housing Element Update Recommendation Receive and file Council Member Magee advised the Council Members and Planning Commission that he would need to leave the meeting before 6:00 p.m. due to a prior commitment. Lori Charpentier and Nelson E. Miller with Hogle- Ireland provided an overview of the City's Draft Housing Element to the City Council and Planning Commission. She stated the Housing Element is one of seven requirements of the City's General Plan. Upon review and approval by City Council, the Housing Element would be submitted to Housing and Community Development. Council Member Magee commented on the following: • He mentioned that Nelson Miller of Hogle- Ireland was the City of Lake Elsinore's Community Development Director from 1985 to 1989 and was very familiar with the City and surrounding areas. • He pointed out that the area will have double the amount of housing units within the next twenty -five years. • He showed recognition to the major employers in the City and asked if the number of employees shown working for Lake Elsinore Storm was seasonal or year- round. Nelson Miller stated the information used was taken from the City's statistics and he did not know. • He advised the County's Fair Market Rents verses the City's and indicated that the figures used for this study appear to be from 2007 when the rental rates were at their highest. He suggested researching what the rates were for 2010 as he feels they would be significantly lower. • He brought attention to a grammatical error on page 44, second bullet the word form should be from. • He asked City Attorney Leibold how the State can not allow the City to enforce overcrowded conditions. City Attorney Leibold stated the City can not regulate overcrowding beyond the Uniform Housing Code which is based on the square footage of the unit and the State Law can not be changed. • He requested the consultant verify the Entitlement Application Fees as some of them seem to be inaccurate. • He addressed the housing unit types which are outlined in Table 14 and pointed out the City lacks executive -type housing. He stated it is important to take a look at the City's housing stock. He felt the City needed more estate -level housing so the City can attract CEO's, their businesses and employees to live and work in this Valley. Nelson Miller responded by saying the housing analysis is divided by four income categories. He stated moderate is 120% of the median income and anything over that is included within that range, which includes estate -type housing. He noted the Housing Element was linked very closely with the land use zoning and the type of PC January 18, 2011 No. 1 Page 2 of 6 Regular City Council Meeting Page 3 of 6 November 16, 2010 analysis such as pricing or size. He stated it is not a requirement from the State's perspective; however, if it is a local concern they could take a look into that area. • He addressed the Eligible Activities under the Lake Elsinore Redevelopment Agency. He requested additional funding for the City's Code Enforcement Department when the City's rainy -day funds become more lucrative. • He requested the funds under the Redevelopment Set Aside Allocations be updated as the figures are not current. • He addressed the Housing Elements Goals, Policies and Programs and again addressed the fact that the City needs estate size homes. • He pointed out a typo on page 152 under 1G; the word should read "work" and not "word ". Chairman Gonzales commented on the following: • He asked if there was any type of analysis conducted to determine the amount of residents that have lost their homes and are now living with other families. He pointed out that the numbers in the report are not accurate as the 2010 Census Report has not come out yet. • He addressed the zoning information which needed to be completed by December 31 st • He pointed out the number of Code Enforcement Officers needs to be brought up to the current amount which is two and suggested the City look into having emergency shelters. Vice - Chairman Mendoza commented on the following: • He stated most of his topics were covered and agreed with Council Member Magee's suggestion of having more estate size homes in the community. Commissioner O'Neal commented on the following: • He questioned why it took so much time for the Draft Housing Element to be brought before the City Council and Planning Commission for review. • He stated he felt the entire document is incomplete, has spelling errors, makes faulty assumptions and contains mathematical errors. • Commissioner O'Neal also expressed his concerns that the Housing Element did not address the requirements of SIB 2 which is an unfunded mandate that local government assess its housing needs inventory to determine how it intends to undertake actions to implement the goals and objectives of meeting the emergency shelter requirements under the Act. He read portions of the SIB 2 requirements and stated the Housing Element lacked specifics in this area including funding sources and projected timelines. • Mayor Melendez requested Commissioner O'Neal provide the consultants and City Manager with a copy of the points which he addressed. PC January 18, 2011 No. 1 Page 3 of 6 Regular City Council Meeting Page 4 of 6 November 16, 2010 Commissioner Jordan commented on the following: • She pointed out a typographical error on page 130 where it should read Table 47d. • She asked why high -rise buildings were not mentioned in the report. Nelson Miller stated that high -rise buildings are determined by the City's Zoning Code. • Commissioner Jordan suggested mixed uses be added. She asked about the density bonus of 35 %. City Attorney Leibold stated the Housing Element does not allow the City to presume a density bonus would be granted. • She asked if there is a requirement with HCD for the City to build a certain amount of low /extremely low density housing every year or every five years. City Attorney Leibold stated HCD requires the Housing Element to show the capacity to build the housing; however you don't have to demonstrate that you actually constructed the house. Commissioner Morsch commented on the following: • He asked about the difference between families and families with children. Nelson Miller stated under state law you cannot restrict families as "only people that are related ". City Attorney Leibold suggested using the word household rather than families. • He addressed the increase in unemployment and how unemployment has an affect on the issue of overpayment. He stated many homes are not worth the amount of money that is owed and he felt there was a large percentage of people in Lake Elsinore that don't have the flexibility to move. He felt this information should be included in the report. • He addressed the vacant residential land sales and suggested adding a disclosure statement stating why it was not included in the report. • He addressed the housing market downturn and stated he did not feel the information contained in the Housing Element was accurate as the economy has not yet turned around. Mayor Pro Tern Bhutta commented on the following: • She stated in the initial presentation mentioned that the City needed to contact some type of affordable housing developer regarding the 24 acreage density and asked if staff has accomplished that. City Attorney Leibold stated that staff has received a letter from the developer Bridge Housing which addressed that issue. • She noted that many of the tables are out of date and suggested updating the data. • She agreed with Council Member Magee on the lack of estate /executive housing which needs to be addressed. Council Member Hickman commented on the following: • He asked about the procedures of submitting the document to the State. Nelson Miller stated their firm looks at a "snapshot of time" which would cover 2008 through 2014. He indicated their original plan was to have the Housing Element submitted at PC January 18, 2011 No. 1 Page 4 of 6 Regular City Council Meeting November 16, 2010 Page 5 of 6 the same time as the General Plan Update. City Manager Brady added that the Housing Element is not approved until the City Council approves it. • He asked when the 2010 Census information would be available. Nelson Miller stated some of the data should be available by the end of 2010; however, most of the data won't be available for a couple of years. • He asked if the report addressed the affordable housing which Council has already approved and funded. City Attorney Leibold stated the units have been recognized as having been approved but needs to be updated in the funding chart. Council Member Buckley commented on the following: • He addressed the comments made by Council Member Magee and Bhutta of the need to address estate homes. He noted when Jerry Brown was Mayor of Oakland, he made it possible to bring in estate homes to his community and now that he has been elected Governor, he hoped that he would stay consistent. • He requested Hogle — Ireland address SB 2. Lori Charpentier replied by saying it is a lengthy Bill. She stated portions of the Bill are covered in the first part of the Element. She stated there is a program included in the Housing Element that addresses some of HDC's concerns. Mayor Melendez commented on the following: • She asked whether legal residency was considered in the Table 4 charts where race and ethnicities are addressed. Mr. Nelson responded by saying indicated legal residency was not considered. • She addressed the percentage of homeless outlined in the report, stating she felt the number was high considering a report which was recently given from Ron Hewison who estimated the homeless at a lower number. She stated she had concerns with the total number of homeless in the City and the quest for a homeless shelter. • She expressed concern with the table provided for the resources available for housing activities and asked where the funds would come from and the timeline. She indicated the funds listed under CDBG would not cover all of the programs listed in the table. She stated many programs listed in the table that would cause a financial burden to the City and questioned the City's capability of being able to live up to the language in the document. She stated there are many goals and policies that are specifically stated in the report of when the city will implement them and how the City would do it along with a cost associated with it. Nelson Miller stated the Agency looks for the City to provide capacity for the items listed. Mayor Melendez addressed the need for emergency shelters and suggested the use of schools. • She addressed the assisted housing which was described in Table 52 which documented the goals, policies and programs and felt that the section that discusses Section 8 rent subsidies was handled by a Federal program. Mr. Miller stated the State requires all agencies to provide information for assistance to the public such as renter's rights and accessible assistance to residents which could be available at City Hall or the public library. PC January 18, 2011 No. 1 Page 5 of 6 Regular City Council Meeting November 16, 2010 Page 6 of 6 • She requested clarification regarding the recommendation that the City acquired foreclosed homes and offer them to households with incomes below 80 %. City Attorney Leibold stated that was a Riverside Housing Development Corporation proposal which was approved by City Council. Mayor Melendez pointed out that there are so many programs that are recommended in the document and asked if it could be reduced somewhat. Mr. Miller stated it was not mandated by state law; however, it is included within the extremely lengthy guidelines the state comments on. He stated these programs are very specific and are worded so the City shall consider the programs as part of the budget. • She expressed her concerns with the document going to HCD twice before it was reviewed by the Planning Commission or City Council. She stated she understood the time constraints but any changes to the document could be costly. City Manager Brady indicated the process that staff took was not unusual. He stated there are specific requirements that HCD looks to determine if the City is in compliance. He stated the document is not final until the City Council approves it. Mayor Melendez indicated that the consensus of the City Council and Planning Commission is that the Housing Element needs to reduce some of the funding obligations; to update the tables with current data, and not to add anything related to Senate Bill 2. City Attorney Leibold added the idea of affordable housing is identified by statutory calculation and the median income that is applicable is Riverside County Median Income as recorded by HCD. She stated the City's zoning code states for medium density /high density residential has the maximum height of 30 feet and for high density residential, a CUP could be requested to exceed 30 feet. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Melendez adjourned the meeting at 6:38 p.m. JOHN GONZALES, CHAIRMAN PLANNING COMMISSION CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE ATTEST: CAROL COWLEY, INTERIM CITY CLERK CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE PC January 18, 2011 No. 1 Page 6 of 6