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COUNTY OF SAN MATEO
Inter-Departmental Correspondence
Planning and Building Department
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DATE:
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November 18, 2010
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BOARD MEETING DATE:
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December 7, 2010
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SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:
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10-Day Notice
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VOTE REQUIRED:
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Majority
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TO:
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Honorable Board of Supervisors
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FROM:
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Jim Eggemeyer, Community Development Director
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SUBJECT:
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Public hearing to consider a Resolution certifying a Negative Declaration for a revision to the County Housing Element, and directing staff to submit the revised Housing Element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development for review.
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RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a Resolution:
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1.
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Certifying the Negative Declaration as complete, correct and adequate, and prepared in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act and applicable State and County Guidelines, and
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2.
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Directing staff to submit the updated General Plan Housing Element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for review and certification.
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BACKGROUND:
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On November 2, 2010, the Board of Supervisors considered the actions described above. Prior to and at the public hearing on November 2, Planning and Building Department staff and the Board of Supervisors received significant amounts of public comment on the updated Housing Element. The majority of public comment expressed opposition to Policy HE 2.5, which proposed a potential time-of-sale code inspection program for multi-family rental units, and to Policies HE 6.2 and HE 10.2, which referenced the potential program described in Policy HE 2.5. There was also some opposition to Policies 6.1 and 10.1, which proposed exploration of methods to prohibit or discourage demolition and/or conversion of residential properties to other uses. A small subset of public comment also expressed specific opposition to the inclusion of a reference to design review in Policy HE 3, which focuses on ways to preserve the character of existing residential neighborhoods. After comment and discussion, the Board continued this item until the December 7 hearing, and directed staff to make modifications to the Housing Element to address public concerns, and to explore alternative methods to achieve the goals of the policies in question.
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Staff has assessed public comment, met with members of the public and stakeholders, including the San Mateo County Association of Realtors and Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, and has modified the relevant policies. Staff believes these modifications still effectively address the needs and goals of the policies in question, while also fully addressing the concerns expressed by the public. The proposed modifications do not impact the Initial Study and Negative Declaration for the updated Housing Element.
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Environmental Review
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County staff has completed an Initial Study of the project, indicating that adoption of the updated Housing Element will not have any significant environmental impacts. The Initial Study and Negative Declaration for the project are included at the end of this report. The Initial Study and Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration were circulated for public review between August 6, 2010 and September 7, 2010. No comments on the Negative Declaration were received during this time period, and no subsequent comments were received.
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County Counsel has reviewed and approved the Resolution as to form and content.
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Submittal of the updated General Plan Housing Element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and eventual adoption of the revised Housing Element, contributes to the 2025 Shared Vision outcome of a Livable Community by promoting affordable housing for San Mateo County residents.
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FISCAL IMPACT:
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The updated Housing Element, once adopted, will commit County staff to a number of programmatic actions. However, these actions are within the scope of normal work by Planning and Building Department staff, Housing Department staff, and other County staff. Submittal of the updated General Plan Housing Element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and eventual adoption of the revised Housing Element, will not have any fiscal impact to the County.
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