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<br />Page | 1 <br /> <br />REPORT <br />To the Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From the City Manager <br /> <br />October 24, 2016 <br />SUBJECT <br />City Council and Housing and Human Concerns Committee Joint Study Session <br /> <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />Hold Joint City Council and Housing and Human Concerns Committee (HHCC) study <br />session to discuss recommendations related to affordable housing policy in Redwood <br />City <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />For more than a generation, the San Francisco Peninsula has been a relatively expensive place <br />to find housing when compared to other parts of California and the nation. This is primarily due <br />to low housing production since the post-World War II housing boom, a physically constricted <br />land area and several decades’ worth of relatively high job creation in the region. Over the past <br />5 years, however, the affordable housing situation has become a crisis. Those who do not have <br />the ability to pay “market” rents, including some long term residents, have needed to move out <br />of the area. While the creation of new housing supply can provide some relief, particularly over <br />the long term, there are many residents who need help now. Furthermore, the lack of affordable <br />housing could have a negative impact of the local economy as the local workforce is priced out <br />of the area. <br /> <br />The City’s primary affordable housing tool, its Redevelopment Agency, was eliminated by <br />Governor Brown in 2012 along with all other local redevelopment agencies in California. The <br />City had produced over 700 affordable housing units using Redevelopment funds. The City was <br />also scheduled to receive millions of dollars over the life of the Redevelopment Plan for <br />affordable housing due to the tax increment associated with developments approved at the time. <br />Redevelopment law had also required that 15% of the housing developed be affordable. Since <br />eliminating redevelopment agencies, the State has failed to provide any new tools to <br />communities to help address the housing crises in the Bay Area and other coastal communities. <br />Compounding the loss of this State tool for producing affordable housing, Federal Community <br />Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funds, which are also used to support housing-related <br />services, have also been reduced over this same time period. As a result, cities now find <br />themselves “on their own” to address an historic and regional challenge when it comes to the <br />preservation and production of affordable housing. Historically, this had not been the case. <br /> <br />Recent Council Action <br />In October 2015, the City Council adopted the “first phase” of post-Redevelopment affordable <br />housing policy. The following list describes the actions taken and the status of implementation: <br /> <br /> <br />8.A. - Page 12