Good afternoon folks and welcome to today's City Council meeting. Madam Deputy City Clerk, can you please call the roll? Thank you mayor Councilmember Schwedhelm here councilmember Sawyer councilmember Natalie Rogers Councilmember McDonald here councilmember Fleming Councilmember or vice mayor Alvarez president and mayor Rogers here Has councilmember Fleming joined Let the record show that all councilmembers are present with the exception of councilmembers Fleming and Sawyer All right We'll start our day in closed session with item 2.1 If you would like to provide public comment on 2.1 going to hit the raise hand feature on your zoom And I'm going to kick it over to our team to handle public comment Mayor I see nobody Present in the chamber and no raised hands and we have no voicemail public comment on closed session All right, we'll go ahead and recess into closed session Hi, Pup. No, can we do a mic check, please? One second here. Let me connect my actual mic that I'll be using. Thank you Yes, I can hear you. Thank you Fantastic. All right. Thank you so much For those just joining the meeting live translation in Spanish is available and members of the public or staff wishing to listen in Spanish Can can join the Spanish channel by clicking on the interpretation icon in the zoom toolbar? It looks like a globe once you join the Spanish channel. We recommend you shut off the main audio So you only hear the Spanish translation Pablo can you please interpret and then I'll put you in the Spanish channel Thank you Thank you. I'll promote you now. All right, everybody. Let's resume our meeting madam deputy city clerk Can you please call the roll? Thank you, mayor councilmember Schwedhelm here councilmember Sawyer councilmember Natalie Rogers Councilmember McDonald here councilmember Fleming Vice mayor Alvarez President and Mayor Rogers here Let the record show all council members are present with the exception of councilmember Sawyer and Fleming All right, madam city manager, let's move on to item 3.1. Thank you. Good afternoon item 3.1 is the draft 2023 to 2031 housing element review Amy Lau supervising planner will present the report. Thank you Good afternoon apologies. I was just getting promoted Good afternoon mayor Rogers and members of the council this afternoon We will be talking about our draft housing element and thank you for pulling up the presentation Is it Dina or Sandy advancing slides today? It's Sandy doing the slides. Thank you so much Sandy So I'll be running through this presentation, but Sandy. I'll have you go back to a couple points When we get to the end, so I'll let you know what slide numbers those are. So I really appreciate your help tonight Thanks this afternoon. I should say So presenting today With myself will also be Cynthia Walsh with place works who is our consultant who helped us draft our housing element So with that, let's go on to the next slide So this is our draft housing element And this is part of our general plan update or Santa Rosa forward This particular element has different requirements, which we'll talk about But we are taking this on a little bit of a faster schedule than the rest of the general plan itself So today we will be talking about the housing element requirements The outreach that we've done specific to this effort And some of the other components about our regional housing needs allocation and the requirements for site inventory And then also our housing element policies and programs And then finally I'll I'll end with our schedule Next slide, please And I'm going to do my best to talk slowly because I know we've got interpretation for this meeting um, so we have um, a little bit of a heightened schedule Review for this housing element I just wanted to note that our general plan In process is looking at a horizon Europe 2050 Where our housing elements are on an eight year cycle So what's before you today is really looking at just an eight year time period From 2023 to 2031 So it's a little bit different and a little bit of a smaller chunk And this is one of the elements that is actually required to be certified by the state So it is somewhat unique and much of what's in our housing element is Regulated by state law and required by state law This is one of two times you'll be seeing this housing element Because we are going to be submitting this draft to housing community development And they will have 90 days to review it provide us comments And hopefully we will only have one round with review with them And then we will Go through and finalized our housing element and bring it back to you for final adoption As well as planning commission review this winter So we are required to adopt our housing element by january 31st of 2023 And we'll talk a little more about the schedule at the end of the presentation But one of the things we want you to know right now is so far we are on time We are on budget And we are out in front of a lot of the other jurisdictions at this moment Because of the way the cycle has gone and a lot of the new housing legislation It's been very challenging and we were fortunate enough to have already been in A comprehensive general plan update And we have great consultants on board. So we have Good circumstances to really make sure that we get this done on time All right next slide please So the the housing element components This is a very Big element very big document. We do have paper copies. I know a few members of the public have requested them We have those available to all our decision makers as well But it is a very hefty document. So state law requires a variety of different components And one of which is somewhat unique is that it requires us to look at Our our previous housing element and previous programs to see how effective they were and were there any constraints Are there any program needs that go beyond what we previously had? And then it also looks at a housing needs assessment, which is um our a normal requirement But recent state law actually requires us to go further and do a fair housing assessment So we're doing what's called affirmatively furthering fair housing. So we have an additional component that really looks at Our vulnerable populations Racial segregation and all those things that have gone into why our community is The way it is and what constraints and barriers have there been to housing The other component is our site inventory and we'll get into depth on that But really we have to show the state that we have adequate capacity to accommodate the allocation that we've been assigned And then as any other element of the general plan does include policies and programs Next slide, please So we've done quite a bit of public outreach for not just the housing element, but our general plan in total So specific to our housing element. We have done We have done interviews with specific service providers in our community Um, we have been doing workshops with the community. So we did do a joint study session Last fall, as you may remember with the planning commission and your council We've done a community workshop in march of this year We also did an online survey and those results of the survey are in your staff report package tonight And we have also been working with other jurisdictions. So we did receive a grant from the regional government To work collaboratively with Sonoma and Napa county jurisdictions So there has been a working group and we've been Diving into a variety of different things But part of that working group included At a focal point on equity And so we did have an equity working group that was supporting Sonoma and Napa jurisdictions and providing us feedbacks on the barriers of to housing And all, you know, all those things that touch housing Well, it was really great feedback to have from them And then of course we have been engaged in our general plan comprehensive update and we have been engaged with the community And doing outreach over the last Almost two years now And so that also has touched on housing quite a bit as housing is one of the focal points of our community And um one of the needs we have Next slide, please So one of the major components of this heli housing element work is The regional housing needs allocation or assessment. And so we call this just Rina and um, so you've probably heard this term thrown around and it's um It's a little bit of a different concept to understand because it is one of those areas where as local government Um, the state does take a lead role in telling us how much housing we need to plan for So the state determines what the regional need is and they provide that to our regional government Which is a bag association of bay area governments And a bag was charged with creating a methodology to distribute this allocation amongst all of our nine county bay area and all the cities And so that helped happened over the last year and a half Our since santa rosa team was involved with that And so what they've come back with is how much each jurisdiction needs to produce At various affordability levels next slide, please and So the rina As I mentioned, we're only looking at an eight-year period of time And this particular cycle has been challenging because there's been a lot of changes to state law And the amounts of that we need to produce have gotten higher Ours is stay relatively consistent But the amount of lower income units has increased 20% So now we are being asked to create and plan for an additional amount of lower income units Then we have produced previously Hcd also requires that we have a buffer So we're not just planning for this number, but we also have to have a buffer beyond that for all the various income levels and The site inventory Needs to have met state requirements. So there's a lot of requirements around Which properties can be in our inventory and If they were in our previous inventory, we have to tell The state why they weren't developed or why it is still considered feasible And as we go through this next eight years, there are also regulations about not having Any of those sites removed. So we need to have a no net loss situation So there's enough buffer that one of our sites is not developed into housing We have other sites in the wings that will show that we have sufficient capacity Next slide, please So this next slide shows the breakdown for the Sonoma county jurisdictions And where we fall in this So we did receive the largest allocation And then of course the county Petaluma and runner park as having those larger allocations And this is the breakdown that shows how the state is asking us to plan for these units As I said, we have quite a marked increase in what we're being asked to produce for the very low income and low income amounts Next slide, please So the next thing we want to talk about is How we have been doing on our last cycles with rena this last cycle that will end shortly is up here on the screen for you and This shows the The numbers that we've been asked to plan for and then our total production So year by year you can see how we have done this last year. We did very well Um, we've actually produced 211 very low income units and 190 Low income units and a lot of that was due to the tax credits related to disaster recovery But in general, it is very challenging to meet our allocation And we have not been successful in meeting this for a number of reasons First and foremost, we do not control the market We are doing our very best to Remove barriers to development To make sure we have adequate sites zones and streamlined in a way where The development can happen And that's done through a variety of ways through our specific plans On the streamlining opportunity we offer through that And I think the other the other piece of the pie to this Is our the fire recovery that we have gone through in 2017 and 2020 A lot of our Construction industry has been focused on rebuilding and not on building new units So that has been another reason why this cycle has been very challenging Next slide, please So looking back even further on the previous two cycles You'll see we also did not meet those rena goals in previous cycles Although we have met the above moderate income Number of units those very low and low income units have been very challenging because those Units require An additional financing to our development community to be able to create and as I noted this last year We've had a lot of benefits from those Disaster recovery tax credits But of course we hope we don't have to be in a situation to be eligible for those The other part of the story for these last few cycles Is the work that we've done that you've directed us to do on housing policy You may be familiar with our housing action plan That was really looking at not just planning a regulation But all aspects of the development pipeline to make sure that we had Streamlined as much as possible And reviewed our fees Really everything every touch point we have At the city to be able to produce housing. We wanted to make sure to facilitate And so that has been very successful During this time period. We were also Going through a recession for part of that time We've also done quite a bit of work on accessory dwelling units And not just doing the minimum that state law has required But really going the extra step to incentivize and to be out front and When we look at our planning for this next cycle, you'll see that that's actually been very beneficial And we are hoping that more people will will build those units All right next slide, please So moving forward with our our next cycle on what's in this draft housing element today So we start with the sites that we had last round And we really want to look at those sites and determine why weren't they developed? Are they still feasible? Are those property owners still interested? And so we have actually submitted some of those sites to a developer panel through our sonoma nappa collaborative to get Refined comments as to why they don't work or what programs are necessary or funding to be able to facilitate development So that'll be part of our package to hcd for some of those existing sites And we have actually removed quite a few of those sites Knowing there's environmental constraints or other feasibility issues The other thing we do is we look to see how what is our pending development list look like We have a lot of projects that have been entitled but have not developed yet So we do look at that pending list and consider that in our pipeline For this next housing element We also look at vacant sites. So we do Do a deep dive on those sites and we're really focused on properties that are at least a half acre smaller than 10 acres So really looking at that sweet spot of properties that may be ripe for multifamily housing or Low very low income And then we also look at our our adu production Next slide, please So if you put all of this on a map, we're looking at our proposed inventory And this component is really looking at approved and pending project capacity So as you can see, we have quite a few units that are pending Um, and this is really looking at And you can see the the light yellow is our priority development areas So most of those areas have specific plans in place that help to streamline that development This map also has the wild land urban interface in pink for your awareness Next slide, please And as we look at our vacant site capacity We are breaking this out Between what's in the downtown stationary specific plan and what is outside the downtown stationary specific plan So this is the outside And i'll tell you why we're differentiating the two shortly But so all these purple dots are the above moderate And blue dots are moderate And green are our lower income So these sites are what we've identified as potential sites that we have vacant within the capacity now To be able to accomplish the allocation that we have before us next slide, please So this next slide is looking at specifically our downtown And i want to describe why we are differentiating This specific plan from others and that's because we have removed density from our downtown As you remember back in 2020 when we adopted this plan We created ultimate flexibility in The type of Of development that can occur So we do not dictate that it's housing. We do not dictate the number of Units per property per acreage We're using floor area ratio And that's a hard case to make to the state that these sites will develop into housing If we are not requiring them to be housing So we are taking a conservative approach to what's vacant downtown and what can we make the case for? to be able to Show that we have adequate capacity All right next slide please So one of the other points that We want to talk with you today about is the discussion around Identifying potential sites within the wildland urban interface So we do have quite a few sites identified in the wooey and that is because Hcd has provided this direction that we can identify Rebuild sites within this inventory. So Some of these sites are Have not had rebuilds yet So we can identify them We are not proposing to rezone any sites. We're just recognizing existing development opportunity So there's no intensification within these Wooey areas. It's really just recognizing. What is there now? and so We Also will be coming back to this the end of the presentation because this is a discussion point that we want Your feedback on Before we submit our draft housing element to hcd Next slide please now the other piece of this Is our accessory dwelling units As i've mentioned, we've done quite a bit of policy work over the years and state legislation has Occurred as well. So there's been a lot of emphasis on increasing adoos and jurisdictions across california We've been very successful and And this shows just over the years how many adoos we've had in production and so We are taking a conservative approach in projecting how many more we can expect in this next housing cycle So we are projecting about 577 adoos to occur Next slide, please Amy, I'm sorry to interrupt your flow. Can I put this on hold for one minute while I promote our other interpreter? Absolutely. No, thank you Thank you. Um, and you said next slide Yes, please. Thank you so much. Okay, please go ahead so this slide is uh, really looking at what our Request is for rena. What are we planning for in the far left and then what our capacity is For all the things that we've just gone through. So those pending developments The vacant sites the vacant sites within the downtown That projected a number of adoos And so in the light pink, this is what we have in total capacity This looks like a big number, but it actually isn't Because we do need to have a buffer So our inventory work that we've done so far has identified the the dots on the map that you've seen But we need to identify beyond that to be able to tell the case to the hcd That if some of those sites do not result in housing, we have sufficient Buffer beyond that And so that is a state law requirement approach to the downtown stationary specific plan capacity So you'll see that we are projecting 1,362 sites or units within that downtown As you may remember our What we assessed for that specific plan was around 7 000 units But because we do provide that maximum flexibility to the development community and the shift from density to floor area ratio We are Making the case to hcd That we can create at least 1300 units In our downtown area But this is an unknown and we are hoping that hcd will Agree with us that we trust that there will be a good amount going to housing And of that amount you'll see that we have projected about a thousand units of very low and low income within the downtown plan area And that is simply because then the sites themselves Are large enough to be able to accommodate that type of multifamily housing So it's a little bit of a Of a numbers game to make sure we have the capacity, but also to make sure we're adhering to the guidance by the state So we can't promise that there would be a multifamily low income Opportunity on a very small site. We need to have those larger sites to show that capacity Next slide please So another discussion point that we want to talk to you all about today Is a request that we've received from the county of sonoma There are two letters within the staff report package before you this afternoon and So really what their request is is asking us to absorb some of their allocation that they've been assigned and this type of Of swap or rena exchange Is uh, very limited So under state law it can only happen in two different ways First it can happen during this window between getting our allocation from a bag And adoption of our housing element. So we are within that window Where jurisdictions You know within the cycle can entertain such a request The other option is during annexation So at the time of an annexation there can be an agreement between A city and a county as to the number of units that can be exchanged during that time So previous cycles there could have been additional horse trading But state law has really tightened that that process significantly And so the county is also working on their housing elements They have also been engaged in a project to rezone sites to increase densities And that's been a process for a couple years in anticipation of this housing element And they Did see an increase in their allocation And did file an appeal with a bag for their allocation Windsor also appealed. Those were the only two jurisdictions in Sonoma county that made an appeal to the rena allocation Neither one were successful So the county has made a request of us to absorb 1800 units We've extrapolated the breakdown of income on the screen here to show What how that 1800 units would fall as far as the different income categories that we would need to plan for And Of course this cycle there is a greater percentage For very low income and low income. So you'll see those numbers there And then I just wanted to read a little bit from their letter about their reasoning We received a letter on april 18th and then a follow-up letter May 20th and their reasoning for making the request relates to the urban growth boundaries And directing future growth inside the cities and the city's urban growth boundaries Laugh goes prohibition of urban services outside of those urban growth boundaries community separators and And then also they note our Our downtown station area plan with the 7 000 units of housing being planned And then the city and county's recognition Of planning efforts that need to take place in south santa rosa And then also the commitment of the 10 million to the renewal enterprise district from the board of supervisors So along with that request on the second letter, they do have a An attachment with additional information And from a bag as to how that allocation has come forward so We will be coming back to this to really talk about What's What's next and to get your Feedback on how to move forward But I will say for the process if we were to entertain this request the county would have to create an analysis and Ask a bag the regional government to approve the request So we need to show that this exchange meets the methodology and the state law And after a bag Makes their approval then housing and community development would also need to approve So there is a fair amount of process involved in this And so we will come back to this At the end of the presentation Next slide, please And in anticipation of this discussion We've put together kind of a what if Looking at our inventory and our buffer calculations So this slide is a little busy. It's got a lot of color and a lot of numbers, but basically And we can come back to this later as well But if we're going to be asking the question about Are we comfortable with the units being identified within the wooey within the wildland urban interface? and Most of those units identified are Are above moderate units mainly because of the parcel size And so we do Show on this what would happen if we moved sites from the that wooey area into the rest of the city for our inventory And and then what would that do to our buffer? And then on top of that Looking at the county's request and that income breakdown What would that do to our buffer? So you can see on the far right That our buffer for very low and low income would go down to four percent For moderate it would be less than a percent. So This would cause us to go back and do additional inventory work And so we can walk through that and the implications of that When we get to those points in time Next slide, please And then at this point, um if she's been promoted I'd like to turn this over to Cynthia with our place works team Yes, I have been promoted. Good afternoon. Cynthia Walsh with place works Now that you've kind of walked through an overview of the housing element all the different pieces of it The one remaining section is the housing programs And as a part of this process, we first do A review of the sixth cycle housing element and we look at the programs that have been completed What we could carry forward. Um, what should be slightly modified? We also identify new programs to address comments that we've received on the draft Input that we've received during our outreach and then to address any new state law requirements So as a part of this program process We have a total of 25 programs identified for the next eight year timeframe from the 2023 to 2031 timeframe There are seven programs that we've identified to continue without modifications Um, we have 18 programs that have been slightly modified and modified can mean that the programs were combined to strengthen them Or to make them more streamlined Or just to add additional text to that We also have eight new programs and as I mentioned that is mainly to address comments that we've received new state law And things to strengthen our analysis in the housing element Um proposed changes were made. Um, as I mentioned as a result of comments and of new state law Next slide So i'm going to walk through a few of the different programs that have been included to address some of the new state law SB 166. This is ensuring that the city consistently maintains an adequate sites inventory As amy was just mentioning a buffer So you want to identify a decent buffer so that you're not in what's called a no net loss situation SB 166 is tied to the no net loss requirement And this means as projects come in and they develop maybe at a different income category or a different unit count But you still have surplus to maintain The income categories throughout the entire eight year planning period. So we've included program h1 to address that AB 686 This is the brand new section of the housing element regarding affirmatively furthering fair housing And you'll kind of see this sprinkled throughout all of the programs But we do have these specific programs tied to fair housing, which are 23 24 25 and 26 AB 1397 This is looking at your sites inventory specifically looking at sites that have been included in previous housing element cycles So in order to continue to count those sites towards your lower income arena, there are now requirements that must be placed on the site Specifically if a project comes in with a 20 affordable component It must be permitted by right if it's been included in the last two cycles And it was vacant or if it was an underutilized site just included in the last cycle Next slide. Sorry We also have included program h32 and this is looking at different zoning code amendments Mainly to comply with state law. So reviewing the city's Definition of family looking at how residential care facilities are allowed The state no longer wants you to classify these by By size They just want you to look at it as a typical use and how you would treat any other families So that's a really a big fair housing concern there Low barrier navigation centers. This is allowing these in mixed use and non residential zones Employee farm worker housing and this is to just ensure compliance with state law So this is reviewing and amending the zoning code as needed And there is a timeline associated with each of these programs in the housing element Next slide This is a continuing from the previous slide a few additional items for zoning code amendments looking at emergency shelters specifically parking transitional and supportive housing ensuring compliance with state law And reasonable accommodations and this is just reviewing and revising the current findings that the city has to ensure They don't pose any barriers to persons with disabilities Next slide So this is a list of all the different programs that we are continuing So these most likely just had a modified date. Otherwise, they were sufficient just to carry forward Adequate sites opportunities for development areas the housing trust fund opportunities for large households Building community acceptance real property tax transfer tax and to continue participation in the mortgage credit certificate program Next slide These are a few of the programs. Well, these are the list of programs that have been modified So most likely these were combined to make the more streamlined with other programs In the document There is also a large table in the housing element and the far right column of that It's the review of previous and the far right column will tell you which programs were combined Which were modified so you can see. Oh, you know four and seven were combined and now they make the new program seven So you can see how those were revised So this is just the list here um encouraging mixed-use projects because we are relying on the downtown specific plan We are wanting to encourage mixed-use projects there code enforcement activities housing rehab preserving mobile home parks Preserving at-risk units at-risk units are units that are at-risk of converting from affordable to market rate within the next 10 years Inclusionary housing supporting affordable housing development and funding for affordable housing development Next slide This is our modified programs continued. Um, this is looking at special needs groups programs for special needs groups So persons with disabilities farm workers people experiencing homelessness Extremely low-income households senior households Also looking at fair housing services section 8 housing choice voucher program And applications streamlining compliance with sp35 and energy efficiency in residential development Next slide And now we get to our new programs. So as I mentioned the majority of these are Looking at strengthening the analysis that we have so for a lot consolidation looking at if we have smaller Sites included in the inventory. We want to make sure that we are The city is assisting in any way to develop those so lot consolidation Small site development and these are still developer driven. This is not something that the city is going to do just on your own If someone approaches you then you would work with them. That's what program h2 would be about h6 This is looking at different housing options. Um, h10 is mobile home park rent control Also affordable housing tracking I might have it memorized but Okay, um, and then as I mentioned the affirmatively furthering fair housing so program 25 and 26 These are going to be the really big programs for the housing element this round So we have one aimed at anti displacement strategies and one at place-based revitalization strategies We also have a program for community land trust program And then as I mentioned previously the zoning code amendment program, which is h32 I'm going to pass this back over to Amy Great. Thank you so much So as I mentioned, this will not be the last time you see the housing element um, so we are before you today and um, the housing element is out for public review And we will keep that public review period open until July 3rd and um Just also to note that we have a couple different ways to provide comments Um, we do have hard copies. I will say that we printed a bunch Um, but we do have our general plan website santa rosa forward where community members can Email through that website or use our santa rosa forward dot com email address to provide comments Um, we've also launched a santa rosa. Let's connect web page Thanks to our community engagement and communications team And we're using a new tool where you can actually scroll through the document and add comments within the document as you review it So a couple different ways to review And we hope that people take advantage We do have quite a few comments in your package today and I'll talk about that shortly So after today's review and direction We will um also incorporate all the comments that we've heard from the community and then we submit it to hcd And they have 90 days for their initial review And they will provide us comments, and then we will go back and revise accordingly and um submit for a um Second round If necessary, so there have been some jurisdictions that have submitted multiple times There have been some jurisdictions that got comments once and then they don't need to do anything else um, so that that is um kind of up to the process and We are budgeting time to have two reviews with with the state And then we will come back for formal adoption through planning commission and city council in january and then Submit our final housing element as I noted We are required to have a certified housing element by january 31st of next year We do have a little bit of a grace period um, and we may have to go into that grace period, but So far we're optimistic that um, we can remain remain on time Next slide please So our recommendation this afternoon is really to provide us input On the housing element in general, but also a couple different points of discussion, which we'll go back to But I did want to acknowledge the late correspondence that we've received We have received quite a bit of correspondence through those Website options that I noted and they're included in your package and also additionally emailed this morning And a couple different points that the community has been focused on one is drought and Just long-term water supplies and concerns related to that And so I did just want to note that we do work closely with our water department in planning On all levels of policy um, but we do rely on our urban water management plan, which is updated every um Collin may have to correct me, but I think it's five or ten years And that really does look at the long-term supply of water and it does actually assess how Drought years are incorporated and how we have sufficient water Collin corrected me. It's five years. So every five years we update that urban water management plan And we work closely with them to make sure that it does assess the level of growth anticipated through our our long-range documents such as the housing element such as the general plan And uniquely this housing element does not Propose any new growth or any intensification of housing. It's really just recognizing our current capacity And and and moving forward for that for the next eight years We will get into more of a discussion of growth looking out to 2050 when we get into the general plan discussions later this fall And so there is more information on our website related to drought and water If if folks wants to Go there and then we there are there are additional questions We also have Collin close and Jennifer Burke from our water department on the call today as well The other issues that have been brought up have been Some in support of building more housing and some not in support of building housing And I think the takeaway for me is that rena is very confusing it is It's a hard thing to identify why the state is asking us locally to plan for a certain amount of housing So that really just tells tells me that we need to do a better job of educating our community on why we do this exercise every eight years and why state law is asking every jurisdiction to plan and plan for those different income levels And And again, we've got the the correspondence from the county within your package as well So I did want to stop to see if there is our questions about the housing element generally or the correspondence and then We'd like to go back to discuss the housing sites within the wui and then also the county's rena request All right. Thank you so much. Amy We'll go ahead go to questions from council members first and as you mentioned I'll have you reiterate before public comment What additional type of feedback you'll be looking for from the public as well as from council members On the other side of questions. Let's start with council member fleming Thank you mayor rogers and thank you Ms. Lyle for an excellent presentation as well as the place works team in this wash It's another so much that goes into it and it's very difficult to translate this to us lay people on the council My question for you. It has to do with the county request for absorption of some of their arena Allocation, I'm wondering if aside from the correspondence, we're able to obtain any more information or communications with either planning staff or elected officials on the county side around What they may want to bring to the table in terms of supporting a potential acceptance of part of their allocation I do plan on going back to that slide and providing a little more context for that discussion If you want to maybe hold that question until we get to that point Certainly. Thank you. That's all the questions I have for now. Thank you Oh, I actually I do have one small question, which is around all the age programs the new existing and expanded ones. Um, is there a Uh, a quick link that we can Use to publicize those like a on the city website So are you asking of the programs that we've developed in the housing element if there's a way to Highlight for the public to access them or highlight them Because there's so many of them and they're pretty complex and I know they're represented in each of a body of work and We just have kind of had titles Yeah, it's a pretty big section of the housing element and it is at the end So we have talked about providing a summary of the housing element document We may do that for the next round after we get comments back from housing and community development But I think that's a really valuable comment because it is very dense And one thing that we really do want to highlight is what are the programs that we want to put in place? And how will those actually impact people? But yeah, I think that might help us to communicate it with our members in the community. That's all my questions Councilmember mcdonald Thank you, and thank you for this excellent report I really appreciate the work that's gone into this and I did get a hard copy So I was thrilled to be able to do my highlighter and paper So I appreciate that I do have a couple different questions and one is around the equity of low income and very low income housing that I see mostly in District one being proposed and so I wonder if there's any plans to ensure that there's actually More access around the entire city. I didn't see too many green dots Um throughout the city and that would be a concern of mine to make sure that it's being evenly distributed Throughout the city of santa rosa So that the community members that live there can actually have access throughout the entire city So i'm not sure um if you could address that in your comments And and we would be able to get some feedback on that if that's a proposal or if it simply is There's not enough space in some of those areas to include maybe more high density housing And then I do And more than likely you're going to know this already because we've spoken about it is talking about the wui and making sure that as we move forward on planning when it comes to the wild urban interface of Making sure that exit routes and and that's part of the discussion when we're looking at housing And I and I know we talked about this briefly in the past What happens when we do get an updated Eir report and it shows in fact that we need additional exit routes And perhaps that there shouldn't be housing in some of these areas Because of the concern of fire and safety for community members How do we adjust this particular? Proposal and are we able to maybe shift some things around if we do find that As we move forward with the santa rosa forward plan How do we address that and then Maybe you can maybe you can answer that As you and I know you talked about talking about that specific thing in just a few minutes So I would appreciate that and then I think my last question has to do with My appreciation that we're addressing the mobile home park rent control Uh, that's something that we brought up during goal session and and that was addressed today in your presentation And I appreciate that to make sure that this does remain more affordable for those residents that are living in those Specific areas and I may have one more question, but I forgot my glasses in my car. So I'm I'm going a little bit Blind on this so I apologize Thank you so much. Um, so to your first question about the distribution of those low income sites We we can show those sites in a different way. It's very hard to see on that map But I will say that our production of low income units has actually been pretty well dispersed throughout the city And we are working In the background on a grant funded project called house santa rosa to create a dashboard So the public can see where those sites are and what's in the pipeline What's been developed? Where do those existing? low-income units exist to help kind of Provide clarity and transparency on that issue But they are pretty well distributed Within the housing element, but we will make sure to highlight that in a different way with the next round as well And then for your woo-wee comment, if you're okay holding on that, I will address that when we get to that discussion point Okay, thank you, and I found my last question Thank you for your patience. So as far as when we actually are adding housing And I know I asked this question previously is are we actually making sure that we're adding the fire department first responders not just saying that You know what we currently have in the city of santa rosa would maybe be sufficient But looking at future sites to add fire to make sure that there's enough first responders police as well as you know parks and maintenance and facilities to making sure that as we Expand and grow that we're adding all of those other elements as part of the housing plan And i'm not sure if that's necessarily addressed in this plan or if that's something else that we actually look at Um, and and I just want to make sure that we're being mindful of that as we move forward And we expand that there's a lot of other services that go along with that that sometimes can be forgotten as we continue to add housing Absolutely, it's a great question And that is the effort that we do when we update the general plan is we We work with all departments of the city to make sure that the growth and the orientation of the growth has corresponding plans for infrastructure and services parks open space all of those components that really make up A well-rounded healthy community And so this housing element because we're recognizing existing sites Is really recognizing the growth that was studied and projected under our existing general plan So as we move forward with the conversations with santa rosa forward That is what we will be bringing forward We do have a technical advisory committee that's Working on the general plan update And those are the things that we are looking at so as we identify new areas of growth as part of the general plan update We will be looking at all aspects of the community to be able to support that level of growth in those specific areas And I just saw a couple more groups that I think might be helpful for you to consider meeting with and one of them would be The north bay realtors association They may have their finger on the pulse of what kind of housing is being sought after within the city of santa rosa So that might be helpful for planning Just so that we have feedback from our our realtors actually And then also school leaders and I know that we've talked about this briefly about the need for making sure that schools are involved Even in the housing Planning so that schools can ensure that there's space for children that come And and I didn't see them on the list But perhaps you have met with those two different groups and And I know this needs to be submitted to the state But I wanted to make sure that there was maybe an opportunity to get some feedback on them for our final plan Thank you. Yes, there's still opportunity to reach out and we will do that I think with the school conversation it's not just the homes for the students but also the workforce and the Teachers and administrators. So I think that's an important conversation and we will make sure to to reach out. Thank you Thank you Mr. Vice mayor Thank you, mayor My first question and thank you for the report. Uh, my first question is what what efforts have been done, uh, in regards to Outreach in spanish and what response have you been able to obtain this far? So we have done, um bilingual workshops as part of our general plan update and so we have had um quite a few that have been in Um various areas of the city where we have higher percentages of spanish speakers or non english speakers Because we did we did offer the opportunity for languages other than spanish And then we did provide translation options at our zoo meetings But but more than that, um, we have been working closely with latino service providers and other organizations that work directly with, um The spanish-speaking community, but also some of our vulnerable populations such as our farm worker community and so, um beatrice on our general plan team has Really been focused on Building trust and getting input on not just housing, but all areas of our general plan work So all of that has been encompassed into our housing element And in addition our housing collaborative equity working group did include, um translation and spanish speakers and and community members that were connected to some of those vulnerable populations in um Most of whom spoke spanish um during that set of meetings Thank you. And and In line with the with the question asked by my my colleague mcdonald on page 18 I'm seeing that the numbers between the jurisdictions of san rosa and the unincorporated Areas of our county are similar. I'm wondering if if there's a figure of projected growth That is geared towards moorland or what many consider to be south san rosa in a very informal manner So is your question about the The um methodology as to why the distribution of units have been assigned to the county into the city uh one step beyond that if we have an idea of of What percentage of the growth that the county's projected will be in The area of moorland Unfortunately, we don't know that that is a question. We've asked a bay was to determine how many of the unincorporated counties um allocation Were related to properties that were within our sphere of influence so um, we weren't able to ascertain the exact number um, but We we hope to get um Some more information on that um in the future Very well. I would appreciate that greatly. Thank you All right. Thank you. Amy. There's a lot of really great information for folks who want to read through the housing element here including a lot of historical data on san rosa Particularly around inequities in housing and across our city And I appreciate you compiling all of it. I'm going to pull you back to the 50 000 foot view around this discussion Because the two main questions that I get from people The first is How does the state actually determine what the rena allocation number is going to be? Not how does a bag distribute it amongst a jurisdiction? But what is it based on is it based on Job growth. Is it based on available resources such as water? So i'm going to ask you to touch on that a little bit And then the second question that I get all the time is well, so what why don't we just ignore it? And so the question will be if the city chose just to ignore this process In didn't account for enough housing walk us through what would happen from a state perspective Thank you. Great questions. That is definitely um higher elevation question um I'm going to see if anyone else on the team and maybe synthia could help me answer the question as it relates to the state's reasoning behind The rena numbers and why the numbers were higher coming to our region Um, yeah, sure. So that is a really um good question tricky question So hcd really just looks at population projections. And so They determine what they see is needed based off of those projections And that's how the allocations are given throughout the entire state um Most jurisdictions don't agree with what hcd comes up with But those are their numbers and then as far as what happens if you don't accommodate your rena So planning for your rena is what's required, you know, this is a land exercise We're looking at sites that are zone appropriate At varying densities to meet different income categories And so your job as a city is to identify enough sites to accommodate those units Should a developer come in and want to develop them as of right now The penalties for not building them Is really just sp35 sp35 Is going to dictate when a project is considered by right So if you're hitting a specific rena target, then the project has to be this much affordable before it's by right and so on and so forth So currently that's the only um the only thing that might come back to get you um Was there a question beyond that? I apologize. I know that was a No, rena is always a trippy tricky topic. No, I think you're you're hitting it on the head And you know what I hear oftentimes from people is Isn't it a self-fulfilling prophecy that if the only thing that we're basing our numbers on is future growth Kind of a if you build it, they will come mentality Uh, and and I do know they take into account job growth Necessary workforce. I do know that they take into account Local available resources And so just figuring out how to better message that and talk to the public about it Because I can understand from a certain perspective. I don't agree with it But I can understand it how some people might think the numbers are arbitrary and leading towards a self-fulfilling outcome ultimately Um, so I hope I hope as we continue to talk about the needs of Santa Rosa. We can message that a little bit better Um, and then also just for folks with sp35 Kind of in a word if I can paraphrase you we lose local control Is the answer if we don't follow rena if we don't satisfy rena We lose local control over the ability to approve projects within the city And so it's worth maintaining to have that say over the character of the community that we that we serve Is that fair to say Yeah Yes, and if I may may or rogers just expand on your question as well and use the opportunity to note There there's really two things that we are asked to do one Have a certified housing element on time that shows we can adequately plan for the rena and to Actually accomplish building the units The certified housing element and having that done on time Does have implications to a lot of grants and related transportation infrastructure grants planning grants Many times they ask if we have a certified housing element as one of the requirements to submit or to receive money And so we do want to make sure that we are We always have that certified housing element to make sure we continue to have eligibility And we don't jeopardize any existing grant funds that we do have um And then I will say the state has been There has been legislation over the years Recently looking at creating more sticks to if you don't have a certified housing element Or if you aren't proportionally meeting your rena There so we could receive additional Sticks related to Us not proportionally meeting our arena So that that's just something else to keep in mind It's in our best interest to be able to accomplish what we've been asked to do and to plan appropriately for it I appreciate that let's go to a public comment on this and again Comment on the plan as a whole and then also Amy if you want to frame what type of Comments from the public would be helpful as for the conversations around Sharing rena numbers as well as uh, wooey so that we can get some good input And mayor rogers. I'm I'm actually wondering if it might be good to go back to Because I have more to add on the wooey discussion and the county request And then um because I have a feeling that the public will want to comment on those things as well If there's potential to go back to those first Yeah, let's go back to those before we go to public comment and While you find the correct slide Um, I'll jump in a little bit on the county Conversation the sharing of the rena numbers We've talked about this a little bit from the dais, but the conversation started at Sonoma county transportation authority More than a year ago at this point and there was an interest amongst the board of supervisors members and Myself and bringing this conversation Council has previously weighed in on it Suggesting that we are interested in city-centered growth in Sonoma county and so that this might be Something for staff to entertain And so I do want to thank staff for working with the county and then of course the Request has recently come in from the county for a formal agreement to start that process So I just wanted to help set the context a little bit for you. Amy Great. Thank you so much And thank you sandy for pulling up the the right slide So just touching back on the discussion point related to the wildland urban interface or wui Again, this map is identifying the sites that are located within the wui that we are Proposing to identify as part of the housing element Again, these sites are already Have existing capacity They are Already planned for so we're not proposing to increase densities or intensify any housing within the wui We're really just recognizing the existing capacity many of which are Opportunities to rebuild what was previously there So I do want to note that um, this was a question that we've asked through our outreach So we do have some um late correspondence based on this question And then we also met with the planning commission and housing authority A few weeks ago and asked for their input as well. So in their review of this question They were okay with the keeping the draft housing element the way it is Knowing that we are not increasing or intensifying any Additional housing within these areas So we are Well, and let me also address councilmember mcdonald's question as well um, your question was specifically about Exit strategies or evacuations from these areas And outside of our general plan update and outside of our housing element We have done a lot of work on identifying The different evacuation zones and routes and that effort will continue Regardless of this effort But because these sites are already planned for within our existing general plan The housing element is not required to go into depth to address New evacuation routes We we continue to work with the community if there are issues with the existing evacuation routes Or if there's other ways that we can assist and In just the the fire severity zones and during those emergencies So I wanted to make sure that you know where we are addressing that but It is not part of this particular policy document at this time so with that the The staff recommendation is to move forward with our housing element and identify these sites and continue to identify these sites but we do want to hear from you all on if you are If you are okay with that approach or if we need to move in a different direction Just for clarification on the wui and i'm sorry to keep hounding this one But you suggested that any housing that's being proposed could potentially be approved based on the old general plan The old general plan wouldn't have had the last two wildfires So the concern would be potentially that things that you're approving now Maybe haven't been considered of what we might Get quickly and the new general plan. So So my question is really around what do you do When you receive the new general plan and the new eir that may differentiate From the old general plan and the old eir and now you've approved Housing in those areas. How do we Make sure that we're mitigating Perhaps a difference that could come forward. Is that am I saying it in a way that it makes sense to you? Yes, that's a great question. So, uh, I will just say instead of old I would say existing general plan because it is in force now And it is valid now that we have our existing general plan and although it didn't Identify Are the fires that we have gone through It did require us to have a safety plan and to anticipate Not just wildfires, but earthquakes floods and all the other things that we are unfortunately prone to within the city and so these sites that are identified are Mainly single family home above moderate income sites and for those types of homes They are considered ministerial So they will already have been assessed as part of our general plan environmental impact report and Have been Already been part of the planning effort taking place As projects come forward that may be beyond that. So if they're discretionary and they require more review Potentially a use permit or a zone change or something beyond what we've assessed in our existing general plan Those would have to provide additional environmental review And the state has updated Laws related to the california environmental quality act Really increasing the amount of information that needs to be provided Related to safety concerns such as wildfires. So you will see projects proposed in these areas Will have to do some additional environmental work depending on the project depending on the situation So the the general plan is really looking at kind of a macro big picture level Programmatic level, but those individual projects that come forward that go beyond What was assessed in the general plan will have to Have that additional layer of review Does that help? Yes, sometimes it's just not the answer I like So I apologize if I'm and also I want to make sure that I'm clear on it as well as The folks in my area who are quite concerned about, you know, wildfires wildfire interface and so We appreciate the clarification from you. Thanks Council member spuddle Thank you, mr. Mayor Um, Amy, I had a question and I brought it up with one of our ad hoc meetings Just about the density on Dennis Lane because I know it's not in the wooey But obviously having been that part of town been devastated from the Tubbs fire It really seems like a lot more density is going in there and Dennis Lane in many parts is almost like a country lane And we're right on the border with the county of Sonoma, and I understand they're doing some development there so if this Goes through with this type of density there And this might have been what you were also explaining with the general plan How does the infrastructure improvements get fit into this plan or is that the general plan not the housing element? That's a great question. And that that would be the the general plan where we would assess that um, so in as part of the general plan process we will be looking at future growth areas and asking the question about how um, how we assess the The wildland urban interface areas and not just those that are identified by Cal Fire, but potentially broader than that that we know may have local severity or local reason for concern And so we will have to dive into that On that level So what we're recognizing now is existing capacity Um, there may also be additional ability for a dues. So that could be why you're seeing what looks like um, additional density Um, although that it was already in existence prior um, we have seen quite a few new a dues and um, some of our rebuild lots in those areas Okay, not sure that well, it's just kind of a challenge and again, um, I'm maybe like uh, Councilmember mcdonnell, I I wish there was a better answer or a different answer Um, because one of the challenges this is not a heavy resource area In other words, there's no real even quick place where you can walk and if you talk about the evacuation and again I realize we're not in the wooey But really there's only one way if the evacuation is go north That's a single lane road and it just seems adding that density Seems to be a challenge and so I'm just wondering when we might be able to address it And I'm kind of here and maybe in the general plan process versus the housing element process. Would that be accurate? Yes, it's tricky because What we're doing what we're doing right now is we're identifying Sites where there's existing property rights for those folks to be able to develop So, um, it will be a more challenging conversation in the general plan update of, um, if we want to move in a different direction and um, But with existing property rights, it's very challenging to down zone or reduce the ability for someone to do something Or to wait for infrastructure to be developed Um, so it's it's really hard to put that toothpaste back in the tube. So those conversations we will have Um, we would like input today on if we are comfortable identifying these sites Um, I know the area that you've discussed is not specifically within the wooey here, but um, if you want to, um, vocalize your concern, we could potentially consider just Not identifying those sites specifically on on dentis lane or in that area Obviously, I think, you know, you've heard I do have some concerns I don't have a real easy solution where I would move those to because when you look in the wooey In the density that's you're already existing there. I don't have a real good answer But yes, it does it is concerning to me. Thanks Maybe this is a question for the city attorney But and we'll get into it obviously when we get into the general plan, but just to manage some of the expectations If we were to get into those conversations around Downzoning if that's the appropriate term Would that constitute a taking and would we have to have that conversation at that time? Um, thank you, mr. Mayor for the question. It really depends on the circumstances depends on what the downzoning The extent of the downzoning what is still permitted on the property? If the idea is that you're going to remove the possibility of having A single family dwelling on the on the site That would certainly be a conversation that we would have to have Okay depends on the circum the end result depends on the circumstances But it's certainly a conversation we would need to have Okay All right. Amy. Are we ready to go to public comment? I apologize, but we are looking for feedback on Whether we are okay submitting this draft housing element with the sites identified within the wooey And then once we get that direction, we would like to move to the county's arena request All right, and did you have anything to add on the county's arena requests other than The context that I provided and what you said earlier um, yes, so Sandy if you're able to move us to slide 18. I will just um Go ahead and move there and then of course we can get your direction after after public comment um So along with the arena request As I noted we went through what was in the request from the county and went through the income breakdown of the total of the 1800 units And so I also wanted to note that we did review this question with the planning commission and the housing authority and overall They were not in favor of moving forward to absorb the county's request Mainly that was due to the need to keep our housing element on track for certification and That the county's request did not include enough information for them to Make a decision at this time. There was one planning commissioner that was still open to the conversation So with that we just wanted to walk through What the implications are of this request? So there's really two ways to look at the the arena request And one is can we adequately plan for this increased number of units? And can we certify our housing elements? And the other is can we actually Produce these units knowing that a large amount are very low income and low income So first I wanted to note on the question related to can we certify and housing element and find adequate number of sites That is something we will have to look into further and As I noted there will be a bit of process involved because we would have to get approval from a bag and from hcd Based on state law and so if we were to be directed to Explore this in our housing element. We would be looking at Potentially rezoning sites or at least redoing our inventory work Which would require an additional budget and additional time So the implication of that is that we would not Potentially have a certified housing element by the deadline But we would want to do that additional inventory work and then also additional community engagement On that new inventory that we would be providing And then when it comes to the other question about the implications of being able to accomplish the units In this next a year eight year cycle I actually wanted to see if Megan Bassenger our director of housing and community services was able to weigh in on just the challenges that we've had producing the very low income and low income units and and what She can say as far as our ability to accomplish those in the future If she's able to be promoted I'm making you probably just got promoted. So Good afternoon. I'm Megan Bassenger director of housing and community services So as Amy said, we've been evaluating the potential impacts of absorbing the 1800 additional units And what Amy has touched on briefly in our current renaissance cycle And I just want to emphasize is that the progress we've been able to make in this current cycle Is not only the tax credits that have come to us through the disaster recovery But also the 38 and a half million dollars In the community development block grant recovery funds. So that has been a significant infusion Of what has turned out to be local resources available to projects And another factor we look at is the ability for the projects to obtain funding at the state level Which is highly competitive and the state has had to allocate additional resources In order to advance projects that are currently kind of stuck in the funding cycle So In our current affordable housing pipeline We're looking at an average contribution of about 125 thousand dollars per unit So that has a significant amount of funding that needs to go along With those units. So if we were to Look at just absorbing the additional units in The county's 1800 Unit request it would be about another 92 million dollars in estimated local resources So that's a significant amount of funding When on a normal cycle we don't have disasters and additional resources available to us We have about 10 million dollars funding available So i'd be happy to answer any other questions about the finance Councilmember mcdonald Thank you and thank you for that information Certainly, we don't want to hold up any process where we can receive funds and and so i'm i'm comfortable moving it forward with the caveat that if for some reason we were Able to find housing say additional housing in the downtown area to be able to do more infill housing Or if we found that perhaps putting housing in some of the areas that it has not been safe in the past And we could maybe relocate those that we would be able to adjust the housing plan What i what i'm not clear on is how stringent do we have to stick to this plan? Once we submit it to the state. Is it a done deal or can we make adjustments as we go? That's a great question. Um, so because the Question is if we can absorb The county's rena allocation. We are within a window where we can Potentially make a change to our allocation Once our housing element is certified The only other opportunity to do any kind of exchange between a city and county For these allocation units is through annexation So there's really only those two windows right now during the housing element or through annexation after the fact We can change policy within our housing element and we can move Sites around within our housing element as we move forward Which is one reason why we are required to have the buffer beyond our allocation But that is still committing to our allocation That we had and planned for before our housing element was certified Amy or Megan Would this type of a move absorbing some of the Housing element from the county would that qualify us for the governor's pro housing designation? And if so, what sort of resources would that bring to santa rosa? So the designation that you're mentioning is somewhat new And we have been investigating What the opportunities would present if we were to become a pro housing pro housing designated jurisdiction? and The this potential exchange would not provide any additional ratings in that pro housing designation That that I can think of at this moment But we are continuing to investigate that it does require that we have certified housing element as one of the base Pieces Okay, and perhaps we can get a little bit more information on what's required to get that designation and what the possible benefits would be Since I know that the council has been focused on this Talk to me a little bit about the discussions with the county Has the county up to this point other than sending a request for us to absorb the units Engaged in the conversation about an actual partnership Where in which they helped the city with resources that 92 million that you mentioned in local resource that we would need in order to be able to accommodate I'm actually in a sea of clear heart men are planning economic development directors able to be elevated to aid to that conversation While we're waiting on Claire to promote just like to touch on our federal resources that are allocated to the city And those are based on population and general poverty levels So those allocations would not change unless they're with an adjustment in the city's overall population And the federal methodology that we receive for cdbg at home Hi, good afternoon. I'm Claire Harman director of planning and economic development I know just to follow up on that question mayor We have not gone into deep engagement discussions with the county One of the steps before we would Move into that direction is to get council direction on whether or not we want to fold this into our housing element Or as Amy has mentioned the other options of folding it into A comprehensive discussion about with annexation that would be outside the housing So what we have done is we've reached out staff to staff to To have them articulate their request and any support that would come with that And so that was the you know, we've reached out to the county to get the letters in writing so that we could see What their findings were also how much they had how much work they had gone through to Identify how many units they want to transfer and why Um, and how far they were along in their own housing element process and to Amy's earlier summary They were quite a bit ahead of them. So it's they don't have a draft housing element that we can Work with and they're still they have several specific plans that are in process that probably won't happen in the In the end time for their housing element. So the discussions that we've had and I've worked with tennis wick um, again, not in depth, but just conversations around this this request and This is something that I think if we got the direction today to really look at this transfer and We we would be looking to the county. I mean to the city to direct for an ad hoc a city county ad hoc so we can actually dive into uh What the numbers are going to be And how we would be Partnered in terms of support not just the planning support because it's not just the planning exercise But really, you know, what's the expectations about supporting these these housing units? and so those are one of the One of the avenues through that ad hoc discussion and that could be city staff as well as members of the city council um members of our homeless and how the ad hoc for example and Representatives from the board of supervisors. We could work through What that those agreements would be? And then see if that would be we could come back to the city council with those findings and you could have As Amy has suggested there's there's this is not the only time you're going to see our housing element So we could do that work and come back to the council in the study session before we would resubmit for the second time to the state Um consequently one avenue out of that would be to fold it into the housing element which might have some delays or impacts in terms of Timing costs and analysis and engagement on our part Or what could come out of those? discussions is a commitment to To pursue this type of transfer through an annexation conversation not unlike what we did with the roseland The roseland area annexation process, which Is the way they really look at this comprehensively. So not just units, but how they're going to integrate with with our community And claire, how did the county come up with 1800? I we did that was one of my clarifying questions and I don't I did not get that from their second submittal So what happened between their first letter and their second letter was conversation with County staff and with tennis with and I and I asked several clarifying questions and that was one of them And I I I did not see that in their second letter So I think there's just more work to do to really flesh out where where the numbers came from and what what is their expectation for transferring them Yeah, I appreciate that I'd be interested to see as they go through their housing element process where they put Or identify housing Because we do have this Parallel conversation around annexation As it pertains to moreland and some of the other unincorporated urban pockets And it may be that that's how many units they're planning for that area Which would give us an avenue to continue this discussion even after we've approved our Housing element, but it sounds like we just need more information Councilmember mcdonald Can we also find out um what other cities are being asked to take on as far as housing? I'd appreciate that information if it comes back to council Well, I think uh I'll ask staff, but I think we we know that Go ahead Claire No, I'm I'm sorry. I'll let you answer that So as far as we know, um, we are the only city they formally requested um for arena exchange Councilmembers, but um Yeah, thanks, and you've heard this from me before in the ad hoc, um, Amy for now My frustration is that I'm all for city centered growth that sounds great But there's nine cities in Sonoma county And we're the only one given this opportunity to absorb these numbers and I don't even again As we've just heard we don't know how they came up with 1800 And what really concerns me is the additional workload it would add to our staff And I know there's plenty of work and there's probably some more Work to be done after hearing the comments from uh today's council meeting I just don't think the time is right. I think we couch this until we're ready to talk some annexation And that's when we we reintroduce this conversation to the council Let's go ahead go to public comment, uh, and then we'll come back and answer some of these questions or give direction to staff I'll start on zoom We have cliff followed by debora Howdy cliff Hi, I'm a dope. I've got a picture here, but that's okay Um, my first question is on the creation of downtown area specific plan The motivations for switching it to a four area ratio Uh for the purposes of density calculation Which makes it kind of really hard to figure out the calculation first score An acre number that kind of come out in minutes and then um, is it possible to put the Maximum base four area ratio map up there question on it the The newly created roberts district has a zoning of 6.0 far And that's in line with the core downtown But it's not really in line with the railroad square area The railroad square area is a mixture of 3.0 floor area and 4.0 floor So the new cannery project is also a 6.0 Wouldn't it make be sensible to have the new roberts district? Which as I understand is part of a road square, but it's on the south side of 12 and adjacent to roseland at a more buildable floor area ratio of a 3.0 Uh, or at least part of it like the properties east of uh roberts avenue to a more uh a Lower density that affordable housing can be built on The construction cost of structured parking prevents it from becoming affordable housing But if it was at a 3.0 the midpoint would be a 1.5 and we could do four story ground up Uh, affordable housing with surface parking would be adequate and could do reduced parking because it is walking distance to the train station And uh, the other question I have and I don't know which for this meeting Is the consideration for the roberts avenue underpass since the roberts district could now park right over the square And the roberts underpass has been proposed and it's on the city books Can we re-institute that so we can put a uh through fair connection From the roberts district to the railroad square district And then we have the opportunity to perhaps put a grocery store over on the roberts district site That could serve as both railroad square and the downtown area because we have a grocery desert As part of the downtown area there aren't see any plans anywhere for a uh grocery store Maybe the syringe building could become a grocery store and since county's not going to do that But those are my thoughts and concerns Uh, thank you for your time Thank you so much cliff Let's go to deba followed by eric Thank you for this opportunity to give input So i'm going to talk about the wildland urban interface first of all And I know there's a number of vacant lots there that uh where people have decided not to rebuild And I think in some cases that's because of the difficulty in obtaining fire insurance So I would encourage you to take a look at the issue of fire insurance as you're deciding what to do with that area And also consider if there's any possibility of consolidating some of those vacant lots so that maybe it's not all single family dwellings Because it looks like the the plan is heavily weighted towards the moderate to upper income And I know it's really difficult to come up with a big enough A plot of land to do the multifamily housing development Maybe that's an opportunity that has not really been thoroughly considered And it also does not talk about the shenate property, which I believe is located in that same area And so i'm wondering if you're looking at all as possibly changing the zoning on the shenate property so that it could accommodate More low income housing And then in terms of the request from the county for turning over those units to the city The county actually has a better track record on meeting the goals that have been established in the previous plan So it's not real clear to me why you would want to take on Their responsibility when you've struggled to meet your own goals with the exception of 2021 when you've got an additional funding So I think you'd be taking on a problem that you don't really have the resources to address I do support You know putting the housing within the city So I think it makes sense to possibly pursue what other people have mentioned where you'd have a larger discussion About possible annexation possibly incorporating the various pockets within the city that are still unincorporated But it seems like it's not A well developed or well thought out plan to take over those 1800 units right now So I would urge caution extreme caution in doing that and not really setting yourself up for possible failure with the state When there are more dire consequences So I would really encourage you finally when my last few seconds to be tracking inclusionary housing fees to make sure it's really producing housing and look for opportunities to really require actual housing to be built rather than just the fees because in the past It does not seem to have generated enough funds to build the housing that's warranted Or it all winds up in low income Areas and so it's concentrating low income areas rather than really truly producing inclusionary housing. Thank you Thank you. Deborah. We'll go to eric followed by richard And you can reach me a greater cherry at gmail.com Thank you very much for this plan and I've enjoyed the comments So far in public comment In fact, it's usually the case that the public comes forward with information That is so important in the planning process and that's why I'm a little bit A bit out of shape. I guess you could say about the outreach for the housing element Um, I'm not sure if it's the outreach being uh anemic Or if there isn't a basis for people to participate because they don't feel that their voices are respected And I I sort of think it might be the latter because it seems like this has been a process. We're in our, you know, uh addition of this Housing element and with the city unable to meet its goals in previous editions It seems like there would have been some sort of outreach to the people that actually build housing or the people that have lived experience outside of just meeting affordable housing Um, and it's about building trust to answer To to mimic mayor rager's statement Uh, and while I recognize that the housing element review is about not losing local control Or leveraging development funds I think it's also providing us a basis of fact from which to review past decisions regarding housing Uh, including housing policy and as we look backwards over the last eight years We certainly see a number of somewhat questionable processes regarding the regulations around housing in the city of sanarosa And so that fact basis is really important because now as we use this document As a basis of fact where we're given no fair refuge before In bad faith dealing with the city this allows us to come forward in a basis of fact in good faith in a way that can be Broadcast to the state and the federal government, which I think is very important Um, also, you know when we're talking about not doing this research One thing that was not really articulated very well is how much money this plan actually leverages, which is quite substantial I also wanted to express my appreciation for papy paper copies being available because we do have a work group And we expect to add substantial information to the housing element. Thank you very much for your time Thank you, eric. We'll go to richard followed by daryl Uh, thank you all for uh, taking my zoom in, um, is lial and uh, Board of supervisors, uh, by the city council Thank you for all the hard work that you have done on the housing element. Uh, it really is a massive project I wanted to follow up on tom shred helm's comments About denis lane, which is a kind of a a little bit of an anomaly which is inside the city of santa rosa as tom said, uh, it is a little tiny rural road on which, uh Duplex projects have already been approved and are largely in construction already without any regard For safety and egress and what we went through in 2017 I want to clear up any misconceptions that what's going on on denis lane is not rebuilds with ad us But uh, it's new construction and rezoning and taking advantage of the density bonuses Uh, it's just adding many many new cars and many many more residents on to a rural road that really can't handle it And if we ever have another emergency situation like we saw in 2017 It's going to create a whole new disaster Lately, we're looking at a proposed development That wants to convert an existing vacant parcel along denis lane to a new upscale residential development including seven two-story premium duplexes on what was a single family home So denis lane is its own little problem, but much like in the wui safety egress and ingress are a Dynamic issue which needs to be addressed Before the housing element can be introduced So I think uh, we've got the cart a little bit before the horse here And we need to make sure that people can get in and out safely before we start building more units Thank you all for your time and and I hope my comments are accepted in the spirit that they are delivered. Thank you Thank you so much We'll go to daryl followed by mark daryl you with us I'm having technical issues Okay, I apologize for that. Looks like I was muted. It's all good. We can hear you now Thank you. So thank you council members and planning staff First couple comments. I want to make is that I would love to advocate for more transit orientated urban infill housing and I would looking at your Suggested map on possible locations for the housing element. It is concerning that A good majority of those are in single family Zoned areas in the wui. I think that is a lot of concern given What we're probably going to face in current and future summer fires Um to back also to hopefully back up more transit orientated urban infill I have a couple questions. Don't know if these fall within the housing element or the general plan, but I will make them One is What is the city's? current policy on looking at parking requirements And perhaps looking at reducing certain parking requirements for certain again urban infill transit orientated developments Along with that is How will this possibly taken to consideration any future state housing legislation in particular there is a b Uh 2011 which is a housing option to build more housing in commercially zoned areas And lastly a question on single room occupancies Um, what is the unit equivalent for sro's? Determined by the the arena numbers are is is a single room occupancy also just considered one unit or half unit And I'll leave my comments at that. Thank you very much All right. Thank you so much sterile Let's go to mark followed by dylan Hello Hey mark Oh great. Hey, I just wanted to call it and uh in support of uh councilmember schwaathelms concerning comment um, I wanted to point out uh a couple things and one is to look carefully at taking on another agency's obligation and The other is I think the city council santa rosa has done a better job with respect to Looking at some of the vacation rental issues than some other jurisdictions within the county of sonoma and i'm looking at california california department of finance A report e five is population and housing estimates In the unincorporated area there's a vacancy rate of 15.6 percent Um overall we're looking at uh at the county overall vacancy rate of 8.4 percent City of santa rosa is five point one So the city's vacancy rate Is lower than uh than countywide And what's happening is I think a lot of those are the uh Vacation rentals where the owner doesn't live there and it's not permanently rented. So anyway, um, california department of finance e five report City of santa rosa has a lower vacancy rate Than other jurisdictions within the county. I think that's a good thing. So thanks for doing a great job and be careful what you take on Thanks Thanks mark Go to dillon followed by evan Hello We can hear you Hey, um, yeah, so thanks for um putting all this together um In the document I see you actually highlighted nimbyism, uh, and that being a problem to future developments um, you know recently there's the garage on third and d, uh, which You were looking to convert into housing. Uh, there's you know Outspoken group who was against that and the plan didn't happen Even though there are two garages within a one block radius um So nimbyism is a problem. It's been a problem forever Uh, one thing that I find interesting is that The largest or tallest city or building in center of uh, uh is a 15 story building Bethlehem Towers Uh, that's housing for senior citizens and I was built in 1970 here. We are 50 years later and no building has Uh, even gotten close to that size. Uh, I would like to see more density Uh, especially, you know that size Because housing is an issue. Uh, I'm in my late 20s. I have friends, uh from the early 20s to early 30s Uh, and you know, they're not able to afford housing and have to live with their adult parents, um You know the housing supply needs to be increased I think going through density is the way to do that Um, you know the document there's a hc 11 that talks about density on transit corridors Uh, really in favor of that as well as mix of use uh, just making You know communities more bikeable walkable and connected which is something highlighted in the center as a forward uh website And Along with that, um I think we can also make some single family zoned areas more bikeable and walkable as well That I would like to be considered With cul-de-sac design, um, you know, you might live in a house and a grocery store or nearby area Might be close on the map But in reality through a cul-de-sac, you know, that's going to take you 30 40 minutes to walk because you have to snake your way through So taking note of filtered permeability and maybe making more shortcuts where bikes and pedestrians can walk through and shave down time to make those communities more connected In addition, uh, with zoning as well in some of single family neighborhoods, um Some light commercial zoning in older neighborhoods like the jc neighborhood, uh, like fettin street market, for example there's a neighborhood market that people can walk to and That cannot be zoned or built today Thank you so much dylan. Let's go to evan Uh, good afternoon. Uh, thanks for taking my comments. Uh, evan wig. I'm a resident here in Uh, snow in santa rosa and uh, I just wanted to Take a chance to echo some of the comments That have already been made including that the last, uh, caller's comments. Um, just about um The the need for more bicycle infrastructure I think as we expand we're talking about the need for making the more, uh, sustainable and healthy, uh, and and, uh, You know infrastructure that doesn't require many admissions and obviously, um, you know, we're talking about building developments that could be here for 100 years The the whole makeup of you know, the auto Uh industrial complex is probably going to look a lot different in in 100 years, let alone just, you know, 50 So I just wanted to really advocate for making sure that in the plans As we're starting to to allow for more Housing in certain areas that we're really taking into account the infrastructure and I don't simply mean, you know A little bit of paint a couple of white lines on an existing street. Um, I I would I would actually encourage um, you know anybody who's involved in the writing of This element to to take a day and just bike around Um to some of the the areas that that are actually being identified In in the housing element and and just ask yourself, you know, do I feel safe? Is this is this something I would feel comfortable doing on a regular basis? What I allow my children to Bike From this neighborhood to the local grocery store to their local school And then I think I think that's probably the most visceral and impactful way to really understand how a city operates I I know certainly there's places, you know, just I was on college College avenue just a couple days ago and it was it was pretty frightening. Um, and yet there's there's communities that that that's our Corridor that connects some really vital communities. So again get on your bicycle put on your helmet And bring a notepad and hopefully that helps to inform The way that we start to develop and expand the city. Thanks so much for taking my comments Thank you. Evan. Uh, I'll have you know, I blew a tire on my bike earlier coming to city hall staff has given me a hard time With that, we'll come back to public comment here in the chamber Let's go to mr. Weeks Here for generation housing where we champion more and more diverse and more affordable housing Um, I'd like to begin by thanking everyone who has contributed to this draft housing element Whether you attended a public uh workshop or a public meeting to voice your opinion submitted public comment Or actively contributed to development of content living within this document. Uh, we thank you Um, this is an important process once in eight years. So we're really pleased to see the involvement from the community Um, to my actual points, I'd like to first, uh, say I'd like to echo the the last two speakers I think they touched on on really everything that's kind of incorporated into our mission values and what we're seeking with that I'm going to kind of add a little bit more The draft housing and lens residential parking standards requires most new housing developments to provide a minimum number of parking spots We're privately owned vehicles outside the dsa sp Minimum parking requirements as you all well know, I'm sure are uh, you know Substantially increased the cost of new construction while also Further inducing our car demand which taken together actually negatively impacts The elements stated vision of enhancing affordability equity livability and sustainability In order to build more of The walkable affordable neighborhoods that improve life for everyone. We must only build the parking. We truly need Smartly manage the parking we have and convert the parking that we don't need to healthier uses Our aging parking structures being a prime example um Let the developers decide how much parking to provide if they don't think they can rent their units without adequate parking It's highly likely that they will provide off-street parking um And so if you shouldn't you know, uh wish to pursue this then then I guess my other policy proposal Um that I would advance you is is actually really looking at decoupling parking from rent It's so often the case that those that cannot afford a car Are footing the bill for those that can and and if you look at it through the equity lens That's not really equitable And as again, I'm sure many of you are aware especially staff but research by the turner institute as as found time and time again That reducing parking requirements is really the most impactful way That we can increase our our production rates and and take this this zoning this permitting process to actual development um I would also like to ask uh that you consider implementing a zoning overlay in certain parts of the community That would allow by right development of housing for religious institutions schools and hospitals It is often the case that these entities enjoy substantial surplus land that is underutilized and can be really converted for purposes of affordable housing There is one bill that's uh, you know currently kind of set the stage for that ab 1851 And they're currently working on expanding several of those things in legislator as we speak but on the off chance It doesn't pass. I hope you would consider something locally for now. That's all we have to offer Thank you very much again for all your time and work and I really appreciate uh all you guys put into this Thank you cal Do we have any pre-recorded voicemail public comments? We have no recorded voicemail public comment. All right. I'll bring it back to council And Amy if you could just reiterate one more time for council, what type of input would be helpful to wrap up today's study session Great. Um, well, so our staff recommendation is that we submit the draft housing element um as is as far as the The sites identified within the wildland urban interface and our existing housing allocation So we are looking for input on the housing element in general. There's anything that We need to change in this first round submitted to the state and then also We'd like You all to weigh in on the sites within the wildland urban interface being identified and also the county's greener request and direction to move forward Um on on that question All right, let's start to my left council member sweatel Thank you. Um, I'm supportive of staff's recommendation. I already made my comments with the county I think it's premature for us to just absorb those at this point. Thanks Let's go to council member Fleming The way to get some notice there. I'm just gonna thank you mayor um So I I think what we ought to do in regard to the county is use this as an opportunity To ask them to share in our efforts around working with the state to eliminate flood and fire hazards and other natural disaster sites from future Allitations and to further urbanize and areas that provide more equity And an opportunity for for future residents For residents who are here but are not adequately sheltered I would support going back to the county and asking them for a more clear down and specific Amount separate from the annexation process. I allow I support council members who had held the suggestion that we do wrap in Um, this into the annexation conversation But I don't think that we should delay or put all of the request onto annexation that we should um Take this as a a chance to look to the county for both funding and Partnership So if we're going to take on any of the allocations in the county, I would like Then to come to the table with actual resources to make this happen, especially at the very low and low income levels so that Our staff and our finances of the city are not overburdened And I think that we should put a pair down or quest and So that's where I'm at with that as far as the rena allocation not the rena allocations in the wild and urban interface. I recommend avoiding Siting any locations there that have not been previously cited or that are not rebuild sites Since we don't have any actual jurisdiction over rebuild sites I think that we ought to look at the location in toky park that is More rural in character and assess whether or not it's appropriate to densify I think that we've learned our lessons I'd like to see us act like we've learned our lessons with with those locations. So the denis denis lane location gives me great pause And then there was one comment that talked about the benton street market and plan developments inside of residential neighborhoods and I I too I in that actual Development is one that I find frustrating and that it's somewhat limiting in that. I mean, it's a very Procure issue and that's you know, that's my neighborhood market and But it is really important that we have those services, but also that those services are flexible like if somebody wanted to start a Like a a different type of use besides only a couple very specific uses they would have a difficult time with that. So I'd like our residential Neighborhoods to have some flexibility for neighborhood services to be permitted within them and then Can I answer all your questions Amy? Or was there one more? No, that's that that's all of them. Thank you. That's it for all of that work you did I was that's all I had to say. Well, anyway, um, I we could talk about this for a long time But uh, all folks in the comments there Thank you councilmember Let's go to councilmember rogers My frozen. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Um, so I would like to what first think this up for their hard work bonus um Secondly say that I do support the staff's recommendations um and definitely like the continuing Programs and as far as the mobile home Organs, I think that we want to keep the people that are in the preservation We want to keep the people that are currently in the mobile homes. So, um Would definitely want to see us Uh work on not only Getting more people are preserving that but Working on the rent control and really getting that There so that we don't have additional people that we need to house Um by having currently housed people losing their housing um, and then, um I would be in favor of going back to the county getting additional information. I think that that would be Very important. Um, but I also heard one of the public commenters Say, you know In so many words, we don't want to bite off more than we can we can chew so really having a A really good plan with the county of how are we going to implement this and making sure that we have enough resources Um to do it and to me that would include staffing so I mean to focus on low and very low income dosing to be the needs Um, very high needs that we have in our community right now So, thank you Councilmember mcdonald Thank you. I most of my statements. I've already said earlier And I just want to reiterate the concern over, you know, any housing in the wooey It's certainly hard to tell somebody who has lost their home that they can't rebuild it And we don't want to do that in any way because that's their right as a property owner and certainly If they have already submitted paperwork, we don't want to you know prevent that in any way And I think that that's what the report is showing us that this is about rebuild and not Maybe new build and that would be my concern on on the housing is to not extend building in these areas So as long as that's being Clearly laid out in this document. I'm in support of that and I agree going back to the county I don't think I'm willing to take on the 1800 housing units that they'd like us to do until we receive more Information and see the support that they would be able to provide for the city And work with us on that as well And and would like to see the distribution of the need of the housing more evenly More evenly throughout the cities Mr. Vice mayor Thank you, mayor I do support staff's recommendation And I also echo A few of my colleagues statements in regards to the county's position and justification for it I too would like to see more information or at least more studies being conducted by the county to better guide our decision making Working in unison, of course As the representative of district one I see that that we are being asked to to Help lift the shortfallings or and also the the projections of both county and city And I am looking at the wild land Issues, especially with the wildfires and I see the justification for that My concern is the historical Underfunding of our infrastructure, and I hope that that is being Took it into consideration when we do look at district one and even the future moreland Being a part of the city of san rosa and and therefore I do Advocate for the for the conversation of annexation being placed on the table and entertained. Thank you I want to say first and foremost. Thank you to Our entire team place works everyone who has participated in the surveys This is certainly a comprehensive document, and I know that it's still an evolution and still being built upon I think most of my comments were made earlier. I will say that overall i'm Very much in support of the direction that council seems to be going of allowing rebuilds in the wui But not increasing the intensification or citing Big projects in the wui moving forward I think that's going to be a critical component of how this community continues to grow towards 2050 I will echo the the sentiments of councilmember mcdonald about the need to make sure that we have the adequate Evacuation routes and proper planning for anything that does continue to go in that area And for our existing homes that are there. We've we've seen people have to evacuate three or four times Just in recent memory As it pertains to the county i'm not yet ready to give up on the conversation with them It's hard to find any issue that 80 of our community agrees with But 80 of our community agreed with community separators and urban growth boundaries It's one of the things that Despite the high cost of living for sonoma county makes this such a desirable place to live Is the ability to live and work in your community And then just a few minutes later be out in the middle of nature And be able to take that in from a physical and mental health perspective And we saw the importance of that especially during the pandemic I think it's incumbent upon us to continue to work with the county to try to find some form of an agreement To cite our housing city-centered because that's the way that we need to grow as a region I'm also not willing to sell out the future of santa rosa by taking on that burden without some form of a partnership And in particular the resources as as councilmember fleming mentioned That would be adequate for us to do so that means the 92 million dollars Or some form of cost sharing particularly for those very low and low income units that we know are difficult to build That also means talking about future infrastructure needs As the vice mayor discussed if we're going to cite those units here in santa rosa I want us to get there. We've been very open as a council that we want to get there But I also can't ask staff to take on that burden So I think just going back to the county one more time and saying what we need is an actual plan from you What this looks like we need an actual proposal Not just on a number of units that you're going to provide But how you're going to work with us to develop those units once we take on that burden And then also yes the conversation around moreland and other unincorporated urban pockets Which I think can be part of that conversation and can help make that financing work It is in the benefit of the city to have that property tax value and the sales tax is depending on how we do it So there's a way to get there and i'm not ready to completely dismiss it But i'm also not interested in having staff chase their tail for another couple of months. I know how much work is on your plate With that madame city manager. Is there any other input that you need from the council? I'm seeing shaking heads. Amy Anything else? I just want to clarify so the direction on the wooey issue is to keep the housing element as drafted We do hear your other comments and we'll carry those forward in general plan and other efforts And then for the county's request What we're hearing is that We will have conversations with the county to move towards a potential annexation opportunity and that we Are not going to be asked to Create that opportunity within the housing element. Is that correct? I heard the the council fairly split on it, but I think you're right in terms of the overall majority direction Um, I would say that the message being sent back to the the county should be If they would like the council to consider this they need to come up with the plan and a proposal for us Otherwise we can look at it in annexation Okay, thank you so much Any additional comments from council? Okay, with that we'll go ahead and take a 15 minute recess. We'll be back at four o'clock for our regular council meeting All right, let's presume our council meeting for the day madam deputy city clerk if you could please call the roll to reestablish quorum Thank you, mayor councilmember schwedhelm here Councilmember soyer is absent councilmember natalie rogers president councilmember mcdonald Here councilmember flimming Here vice mayor alvarez president and mayor rogers here Let the record show that all councilmembers are present with the exception of councilmember soyer Right, madam city attorney. Did you want to give a brief report out on closed session? Yes, thank you, mr. Mayor council met in closed session on item 2.1 Which is a conference with legal counsel on anticipated litigation The council did give direction to staff and took no final action. Thank you All right Let's move on to our proclamations and presentations for the night councilmember mcdonald. Can you please take 6.1? Thank you so much for the honor Okay, the city of santa rosa has a proclamation Whereas the community helping our indispensable children excel grant choice one of the santa rosa violence prevention partnership grant programs Which is funded by measure o provides nonprofits And schools with more than 10 million dollars to support youth and families in creating safe and healthy community Communities and whereas the boys and girls club of sonoma marin received choice grant funding to implement reach Re-entering our community to achieve academic success Good character and a healthy lifestyle And the club at juvenile hall to provide outreach mediation and intervention services Along with life skills education and cognitive development programs to change the lives of youth And whereas the reach program culminates in an annual recognition event held in may to award one Outstanding youth the youth of the year award and whereas malachi morgan Was awarded reach youth of the year for his dedication and commitment to overcoming Herculean barriers in his life Including graduating high school and attending classes at the santa rosa junior college While serving a two-year sentence at the sonoma county juvenile detention facility And whereas since his release malachi has not only continued his studies at the santa rosa jc But has been able to maintain a full-time job Attain housing in his own on his own and recently received an internship with the sonoma county public defender's office Now therefore be it resolved That the mayor chris rogers mayor of the city of santa rosa on behalf of the entire city council Do hereby congratulate and celebrate celebrate malachi morgan and recognize him as youth of the year I appreciate the opportunity to be here. My name is david escobar And i'm the director of intervention and prevention for the reach program under the auspices of the boys and girls club of sonoma morgan Today is it gives me a great honor to To give and honor malachi with this Member of the year award This is the first time that i've participated In my two-year tenure with the boys and girls club in such an event and It gives me great pleasure and and a true honor to actually Give this award to malachi, you know, this young man as indicated in the In the resolution proclamation That he's overcome so many so many obstacles and he's been able to maintain um his his cheerful demeanor his great attitude And and is is truly one of our success stories I see great things for him in the future And although his both parents are not here with us I know that they are looking at him from above And watching him receive this award It's amazing malachi what you've been able to to do man And um, I would be remiss if I did not also Just quickly introduce the reach team Here is Jim matery, sorry jib Jim matery Iselina Lopez and jasmine ball who's not here because she's out there in the field with one of our other youngsters But you know really it takes a team for us to To achieve what you see before You today, which is malachi. I'd like to sort of give the the the word over to A friend and a colleague Public defender, um, brian morris. Good afternoon council. I'm brian morris public defender for the county of sonoma and i've had the honor of working with malachi over The last couple of months And this young man is A magnetic personality that is for sure everywhere we go Everyone wants to talk to malachi and he is incredibly open and honest And Seems to me going in a great direction He really does want to learn things. He also has been teaching quite a bit To be honest everyone that i've talked to that's spoken to him kind of comes out With that conversation feeling a lot better and learns the thing or two so With that i'll hand it over to malachi and congratulations to you sir Thank you guys. I want to say that first of all you guys are great and Okay, i had i had a couple notes so to start off Back in the spring of 2021 as they said i was i was in juvenile hall serving a sentence and I was serving i was serving my time and they They came up to me and said if i wanted to join the reach program I didn't know what it was But you know when you're you know as everybody knows that's ever been in that situation You want to you want to look good for the judge? So you want to every program that they offer you're going to say okay to basically So so i signed up for it not knowing really what it was But little did i know it was one of the best decision i've ever made so Coming from the reach program i started out doing a whole bunch of Doing a whole bunch of work that i didn't really know what it was But then after coming out all that work came together So i joined the pro i joined the partnership with the boys and girls club and And mr. David right here. He set me up with a whole bunch of things We we went clothes shopping And we got a whole bunch of clothes for interviews and stuff So then he told me where would i like to work and i said i wanted to sell phones So then i wanted to work at t-mobile and then he said okay, it's good So then we went and got some clothes for for to look presentable at t-mobile and then As i sent out all my applications best buy actually accepted me So then i went to work at best buy and i got that So now i'm still at best buy i want to give you thanks again and and In this situation did teach me the importance of keeping a job because beforehand I had never had a steady like income. So now that i do i'm glad that i do and that's a good thing so You know i'm just helping people out at best buy right as of now and Now i'm moving on i want to give a special A special thanks to to best to to david For for what he's been doing because without him i don't know if i would actually be here right now So So thank you first of all And But the things that he's done he's done since i've been out. He's he's obviously as i said, he's taking me shopping. He's he's Um, he's giving me emotional support every time i've been in any situation. I can call him and he's gonna come through like Um, no problem, you know and not to mention i can talk to him about anything. Um, if i've had any situation with say i'm i'm talking to this person and You know and this happened. He's he's been able to direct me in the right steps so Also, i want to give a a shout out to the other reach the other reach um Other people in the reach program you know, um The reach community we're taking community action, you know actually going into the community and trying to Trying to make a good impact I should have wore the shirt too. There was a there's a reach shirt Okay, that it's on the it's it's a cool shirt. I'm gonna bring it next time but uh So he's so everybody in the reach program There they've come to be friends like, you know a positive peer influence I'm glad I have the positive group around me that's pushing and pushing me in a better direction And I want to get into details, you know, I want to shout out to they're not here right now But I want to get a shout out to the youth in the reach program. That would be hamza You know shout out to hamza shout out to jeremiah shout out to thomas shout out to omari Um, those are my close friends But there's a whole bunch of other people shout out to diego In the reach program that are that are doing things right now that That are just they're they're chasing their dreams and and i'm glad that they're doing that So going from going on from now on to the future on to the next frontier Yeah, um, so From now on I'm glad that i'm not getting into any more trouble that i'm actually doing good for myself and and In making a positive impact on my own life and other people's lives around me. That's a blessing, you know um I want to get in better contact with my family because Last time I've seen a lot of my family. I was in a different situation and And i'm glad that i'm doing better now I want to continue working at best buy because I mean honestly, that's the I love working at best buy I'm glad I like I like to like, you know helping people learning about electronics and And in selling things that's it's fun, you know Yes, okay and Okay, and also with the internship i'm going to continue doing that and continue learning about law and And just to see whatever whatever opportunities are there for me and to wrap it up I want to thank everybody for here for coming. I want to give a special shout out again The reach program is great and I recommend it to honestly to every youth Of regardless of whatever situation you might be in it can help you a lot and and it'll accelerate your dreams and thank you for for this blessing to be here and You guys have a nice day. Thank you I did not pay him to say that So malachi david brian Your your family your friends the reach team our community engagement department Anyone who wants to come down will do a brief recess take a couple of photos Give you your your certificate and then we'll resume the council meeting after that Let's go ahead to open it up and see if there's any additional public comment on our proclamations tonight Mayor we have no voicemail public comment And I don't see any in the council chamber. Thank you All right, let's move on to our staff briefings then go ahead take it away. Madam city manager Good evening, mayor rogers and members of council Uh city manager update on covet response. So federal and state regulators have now approved the use of covet 19 vaccines for children ages six months to four years old Sonoma county will begin vaccinating the roughly 21 000 children in this age range Through primary care providers and health centers beginning this week The county has about 1600 shots in stock Parents should contact their primary care provider to schedule a vaccination appointment Our parents of this age group can go to myturn.ca.gov to schedule an appointment We also want to remember to prevent the spread it is recommended that individuals mask indoors and wash hands frequently Keep at home test handy Stay home if i'm well and get vaccinated and boosted when eligible For more information about the status of covet in our community Testing locations and obtaining at home test And vaccination information. Excuse me for all ages go to socoemergency.org. Thank you Thank you for the update council. Any questions? Let's go to public comment and see if we have any Additional input on staff briefings for tonight I see no hands raised nobody in the council chamber rising to the podium and we have no voicemail public comment Okay, let's move on to our city manager and city attorney reports Madam city attorney. Do you want to start us off? Thank you, mr. Mayor. I have nothing to report this afternoon. So thank you. Okay I have no update this evening. Thank you Okay, we'll keep moving then Council, do we have any statements of abstention on tonight's agenda? Mr. Vice mayor Yes, thank you, mayor. I will be abstaining from item 15.1 the public hearing It is an issue related cannabis and I am in the cannabis industry Any other abstentions? All right, we'll note the vice mayor's abstention down at the appropriate time Let's go on to item 10 mayors and council member reports Does anybody have a report that they'd like to provide for tonight? We'll start with councilmember Fleming Thank you, mayor I'd like to report that last week the public safety subcommittee met And received a staff recommendation following the mulling and death of two cats in a grace track earlier this year that would Bring back to the council The full council for your future review The idea that would allow the city attorney's office to seek a vicious animal designation when A domestic animal usually a dog Attacks Another animal currently that designation can only be sought if the animal attacks a human being and so this would Give the city attorney's office wider latitude and discretion in some really serious reasons Additionally, the renewal enterprise district met yesterday And pleased to report that funding is being distributed to Build a low and low income housing as well as affordable housing Some of that funding is already getting out of the door And we'll start to see more and more cranes in the air very shortly Additionally, we gave our executive director Michelle Whitman authority to investigate the central benefits of using joint power and agreement to Bring more housing currently built housing in particular onto the affordable housing List in in both uh, Santa Rosa and beyond in Sonoma County So if anybody has any additional questions, um, they can Email the renewal enterprise district or Ask uh, I can get them contact information from Michelle Whitman. Thank you All right. Thank you councilmember. Uh councilmember Rogers. Did you have anything? Oh, yes, mayor. Thank you. Um, just that on june 18th. I was able to celebrate june 10th at um, in the okay, uh part for the 52nd annual june team Um celebration, which was very beautiful. Um And uh provide them with the proclamation that you Gave them so it was a very beautiful day and there were a lot of families out there Our in-response team was out there Our police department was out there And it was just a great day with a lot of fun and a lot of great activities And a lot of people selling their merchandise And so I just wanted to report on that. Thank you so much Thank you councilmember. Let's go to councilmember mcdonald Thank you, mayor So a few different things the climate action committee met Last week and we talked about the water expo that's coming to courthouse square on june 29th From five to eight thirties. So you can come to that event and that'll be fun in downtown area And then our cpa also did a presentation on the climate crisis facing sonoma county And we were able to provide feedback on the vision of what we want to see for a healthy climate and a resilient sonoma county as well But the last week i've mostly spent my time in washington dc I was there on behalf of the california state pta But some of the things that we were advocating for really do go hand in hand with what we're dealing with In cities and communities and some of it had to do with youth mental health and Support we asked for a billion dollars to be appropriated for that to make sure that we're supporting children right now Because we know there's a crisis on our hands with children that have really been Affected by the pandemic as well as just needing support for more mental health providers in our schools and in our communities We are looking at the child reauthorization for the child nutrition act That's a critical component to make sure that children in our communities are receiving free and reduced hot lunches And as well as breakfasts and some of our children Specifically in our title one schools in our communities Those might be the only two meals a day that they're receiving So i'd like to see support from council on some of these things as well and then we also talked about an massive issue that we're seeing across our country which is community and safety for um gun prevention and And i'm really proud to say that congressman thompson has authored hr8 as well as a package of bills That's being brought forward for consideration of congress to make sure that We are looking at smart legislation with background checks and raising the age to 21 For the purchase of some of these assault rifles Some of the other issues we talked about when we were there was child care And the need for that and i'm excited to say that the our kids our future initiative Today the signatures were put in to see if it will qualify for the ballot coming forward And the other major thing that we uh had Was meeting with congressman huffman's office He's authored hr5984 which is to fully fund idea which is Funding for special education in our schools so that our most vulnerable students have the support that they need And one of the things that we were able to talk about is a child tax credit There was an extension of the child tax credit under the american rescue plan But we want to see that implemented fully its cut child poverty down by 50 percent across this nation And so i would Really encourage us to look at carving that out of the build back better plan to ask all of our legislators in And our representatives in california to support this as it is a critical component to supporting Our most vulnerable kids in our community Thanks Thank you councilmember councilmember spedum Thank you, mr. Mayor a couple items Back on june 9th. We had our ground water sustainability agency and i uh voted as directed by this body for the fee And it was unanimously adopted By the board we also elected susan harvey to be the new chair and pam stafford from rona park to be the new vice chair Did attend the public safety subcommittee that was already reported out on and then on The 17th of june we had our continuum of care strategic planning meeting and we heard Presentation by andrew henning on the progress of petaluma strategic plan I think it really will be complimentary of our efforts with san rosa at next month's meeting We will be getting an update from Our strategic planning efforts So it's really an effort to kind of coordinate all these different plans so that they are complimentary of each other I also participated on the june 10th event Meeting at gillard park and did the walk to Martin Luther king park, which was a very nice event and was very beneficial and helpful having the band with us Walking the entire route, but it was a wonderful event A little bit more details on the red board meeting So the first loan did close on june 10th and it's for the aviara project on west college That was a 2.4 million dollar loan to support the development of 136 units of affordable housing Which is again, it's great when you actually heard of the possibilities of this red board Then when you actually see this money is going to be invested directly the way we want it So it's a great day for the red board. Thanks And mr. Vice mayor Thank you, ma'am On june 5th. I met with some of my constituents in district one at the rosin creek park and They wanted me to thank our parks and recs For being diligent in the weed abatement and assuring that That the park remains safe of the possibility of being burnt by wildfire or something of that nature um, I also attended the the june 10th event at south park also my district where we were uh Complimented by the visit of our council member rogers with a proclamation and a lot of festivities There were a lot of goods absolutely and a lot of food that was being sold at the at the event and Each one was very good Also on the 18th. I was honored to attend paradise ridge winery where they were having a wakamatsu found grove tea garden celebration for one of our original japanese immigrant members who A century ago came to to san rosa from lands far away japan and it was absolutely Humbling to see how We come from very courageous people We have left their home without knowing What awaits them and I think it was in so