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i City Council to keep in mind that there has been a significant increase of rent, but that the wages of renters have declined. Furthermore, she suggested that there needed to be a balance between the number of jobs created and housing being built. The second panelist added that the Planning Commission and the City Council should look at the need for creating mixed use development in high density areas and focus on transit areas. He said that a good example of this was the City of Mountain View's EI Camino Real Specific Plan. Another panelist mentioned the concept of creating an Affordable Housing Fund that everyone pays into. He provided an example of the City of Menlo Park and the public- private partnership with Facebook. The last panelist summed up that the Planning Commission and the City Council needed to focus on Smart Growth and get people to live near transit areas. She mentioned that the land prices and rent have significantly increased, and she advocated for impact fees that wouldn't create barriers to development. Finally, she asked the City to continue educating its residents about what is Affordable Housing and have them provide input. After the panelists' discussion, the Planning Commissioners and City Council Members exchanged dialogue with the panelists about the difference between Redwood City's Grand Boulevard Plan and the City of Mountain View's EI Camino Real Specific Plan, how the Acquisition Rehab Tool is used, the replacement of retail with residential and vice versa, what Affordable Housing really means, impact fees, and inclusionary ordinance proposals (the City of Emeryville was mentioned as an example). Vice Mayor Foust commented about the MidPen Housing Corporation report on Impact Fees in San Mateo County. She would like to know from Staff how many units have been built to fit into affordable levels. Also, she would like to know from the development community, if Redwood City had Impact Fees how would that impact the new housing development. She would like to know what the margin is to incentivize affordable housing development. Public Comment Roger Wilson opined that there is a need for low income housing in communities, but it is not the role of government to get involved and that it does not have the right to allocate housing. Lee Callister said he has been impressed with what people had to say and he thanked the City for having this important and needed conversation. He said this is about a broad spectrum of housing, not just low income, and that we are talking about the health and vitality of the whole community. Maria Reyes spoke in Spanish with a translator from the Redwood City Local Housing Committee stating that she is a resident and spoke about how high rents, in addition to the costs for water, trash and other utilities, are a problem. She spoke in favor of rent control. Maryza Zuniga spoke in Spanish with a translator from the Redwood City Local Housing Committee about the difficulty and shame associated with having to live with multiple families in one apartment because rents are unaffordable and how this negatively impacts her studies. She spoke in favor of rent control. AMENDED JOINT CITY COUNCIL/ SUCCESSOR AGENCY BOARD August 25, 2014 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES PAGE 8 MINUTE BOOK NO. 65 Page No. 221