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7A Page 11 SECTION IV: The Initiative's Effect on the City's Lona-Term Plannina 15. Provide a better explanation of the relationship between the Regional Housing Needs Allocation and Redwood City's housing obligations. Response: In the Bay Area, the Association of Bay Area Governments ("ABAG") determines and allocates to each City its fair share of regional housing needs. Each City is obligated to set forth in its respective Housing Element how it will accommodate that need within a specified time frame (or explain and acknowledge its inability to do so). Typically, each City is required to review and revise its Housing Element at least every five years. For the current Housing Element, Redwood City's 1999 - 2006 Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) is 2544 units. The current Housing Element does not identify any area covered by the initiative that should be developed to comply with the City's housing obligations. As part of the development of the New General Plan and new Housing Element, specific areas that could or must be developed to comply with the City's housing obligation will need to be identified. The new Housing Element will be based on the recently approved 2007-2014 RHNA of 1,856 units for the City. As discussed in the May 19, 2008 staff report, no decisions have been made on where those units should be developed. However, if the City decides that some of the covered land should be developed to accommodate the City's housing obligation, the two-thirds voter approval requirement would be triggered unless the City Council made all of the following determinations: (1) the action is necessary to comply with state law imposing a mandatory obligation on the City, (2) there is no suitable land available in lands not covered by the initiative, and (3) no more development is approved than is "necessary to comply with the applicable State housing law." (Initiative. S 6a(0)(4).) This exemption requires City Council to make various factual findings and conclusions that could be challenged in court, which in turn exposes the City to potential litigation. 16. Would a two-thirds vote of the people be required to approve the New General Plan? Response: Yes, if the new general plan permits "Non-Open Space" uses for any lands covered by the initiative designations. It is not known at this time whether the new general plan will make any such changes. But if new general plan includes changes to the use of any "Open Space Lands" as defined by the initiative to allow "Non-Open Space Uses," the plan would be subject to the two-thirds vote requirement. At this time, planning staff has been working with the general plan consulting team to consider alternate adoption strategies in the event the 11