HomeMy WebLinkAboutReso 123-2018 (18-717)File Number: 18 -717
City of South San Francisco
P.O. Box 711 (City Hall,
400 Grand Avenue)
South San Francisco, CA
City Council
Resolution: RES 123 -2018
Enactment Number: RES 123 -2018
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO TO ESTABLISH AND SET AN
EFFECTIVE DATE FOR AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING
COMMERCIAL LINKAGE FEE FOR NEW COMMERCIAL
DEVELOPMENT IN THE CITY PURSUANT TO SOUTH SAN
FRANCISCO MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 8.69.
WHEREAS, the City of South San Francisco ( "City ") aims to provide sufficient levels of affordable
housing for its residents; and
WHEREAS, on April 8, 2015 the City Council of the City of South San Francisco adopted its 2015 -2023
Housing Element; and
WHEREAS, Housing Element Chapter 6.1 "Promote New Housing Development" includes Goal I to
"promote the provision of housing by both the private and public sectors for all income groups in the
community;" and
WHEREAS, Implementing Policy I -3 of the Housing Element provides that "[a]s feasible, the City will
investigate new sources of funding for the City's affordable housing programs;" and
WHEREAS, Program I -3A of the Housing Element provides that "[t]hrough participation in the 21
Elements group, the City will investigate the feasibility of commercial and housing linkage fees to
support affordable housing;" and
WHEREAS, the City may adopt and impose commercial linkage fees to mitigate the impact of
commercial development projects on the need for affordable housing in the City under the authority of
Sections 6600 et seq. of the California Government Code ( "Mitigation Fee Act "); and
WHEREAS, there is a reasonable relationship between the need for affordable housing and the impacts
of commercial development within the City, and there is also a reasonable relationship between the fee's
use and the impacts of commercial development; and
WHEREAS, development of new commercial projects encourages new residents to move to the City,
and some of the employees needed to meet the needs of new commercial development earn incomes
only adequate to pay for affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, because affordable housing is in short supply within the City, these employees might
otherwise
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File Number. 18 -717 Enactment Number. RES 123 -2018
be forced to live in less- than - adequate housing within the City, pay a disproportionate share of their
incomes to live in adequate housing within the City, or commute ever - increasing distances to their jobs
from housing located outside the City, thereby harming the City's ability to attain goals articulated in the
City's General Plan; and
WHEREAS, to ensure that future development projects mitigate their impact on the need for affordable
housing in South San Francisco, and to ensure that any adopted commercial linkage fees do not exceed
the actual affordable housing impacts attributable to the development projects to which the fees relate,
the City agreed to participate in the preparation of a nexus study through the countywide 21 Elements
collaboration project; and
WHEREAS, the City had prepared an impact study entitled "Commercial Linkage Nexus Study"
completed by Strategic Economics and Vernazza Wolfe Associates, Inc. dated July 2015, ( "Nexus
Study "), copies of which are on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Economic Development and
Housing Division and are hereby made a part of this Resolution by reference; and
WHEREAS, the Nexus Study employs widely used, appropriate methodology to determine the
maximum amount needed to fully mitigate the burdens created by commercial development on the need
for affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, the Nexus Study establishes that there is a reasonable relationship between the commercial
linkage fees and the commercial development on which it is imposed and between the need for
affordable housing and the commercial development projects against which the fee is charged, pursuant
to Government Code Section 66001; and
WHEREAS, the Nexus Study has found that there is a nexus between new commercial floor area, the
creation of jobs, and the demand for very low, low, and moderate - income housing for new employees;
and
WHEREAS, the fee will be used solely to increase the supply of housing affordable to very low, low,
and moderate - income employees; and
WHEREAS, the fees will be placed in a separate fund and used exclusively for the development of
affordable housing within the City; and
WHEREAS, to ensure that development projects remain economically feasible, the City prepared a
commercial linkage fees analysis, dated July 2018 to reflect financial feasibility given current market
conditions and existing development fees in the City; and
WHEREAS, based on the July 2018 analysis, the recommended commercial linkage fees as shown in
Exhibit A are lower than the maximum amount needed to fully mitigate the burdens created by new
development on the need for affordable housing as determined by the Nexus Study; and
WHEREAS, to implement the affordable housing goals, policies, and programs of the City's 2015 -2023
Housing Element, the City Council has considered and adopted on this same date an ordinance amending
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File Number: 18 -717 Enactment Number. RES 123 -2018
Municipal Code Chapter 8.69 to establish an affordable housing commercial linkage fees for new
commercial development in the City to mitigate the impact of commercial development projects on the
need for affordable housing in the City (the "Ordinance "); and
WHEREAS, upon adoption, the Ordinance authorizes the City Council to adopt and establish by
resolution commercial linkage fees for commercial development; and
WHEREAS, the City Council now desires to set the commercial linkage fees for certain commercial
development projects, which fees shall not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of mitigating the actual
affordable housing impacts attributable to the commercial development projects for which the fee is
imposed, pursuant to Government Code Section 66005, as determined by the Nexus Study; and;
WHEREAS, at least fourteen (14) days prior to the public hearing at which the Ordinance and this
Resolution was considered, notice of the time and place of the hearing was mailed to eligible interested
parties who filed written requests with the City for mailed notice of meetings on new or increased fees or
service charges, in accordance with Government Code Section 66019; and
WHEREAS, at least ten (10) days prior to the public hearing at which the Council considered the
Ordinance and this Resolution, the Nexus Study was available for public inspection, review and
comment in accordance with Government Code Section 66019; and
WHEREAS, ten (10) days advance notice of the public hearing at which the Ordinance and this
Resolution on the proposed fee was published twice in the manner set forth in Government Code Section
6062a as required by Government Code Section 66004 and Section 66018; and
WHEREAS, the action taken by the Ordinance and this Resolution has no potential for physical effects
on the environment because it involves an adoption of certain Fees and/or charges imposed by the City,
does not commit the City to any specific project, and said Fees and/or charges are applicable to future
development projects and/or activities, each of which future projects and/or activities will be fully
evaluated in full compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA ") when sufficient
physical details regarding said projects and/or activities are available to permit meaningful CEQA
review (See CEQA Guidelines, Section 15004(b)(1)). Therefore, approval of the fees and/or charges is
not a "project" for purposes of CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines, Section 15378(b)(4); and, even if
considered a "project" under CEQA, is exempt from CEQA review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines
Section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that approval of the
Fees and /or charges may have a significant effect on the environment; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act, the City seeks to adopt this Resolution to set the
commercial linkage fees as authorized under the Ordinance in order to mitigate the impacts caused by
new commercial development by providing for the payment of development impact fees necessary for
the City to maintain desirable levels of affordable housing for new and existing residents; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of South San Francisco:
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File Number: 18 -717
Enactment Number: RES 123 -2018
The foregoing recitals are true and correct and incorporated into this Resolution herein by reference.
The findings of the Nexus Study have been considered and are hereby incorporated into this Resolution
by reference.
The facts and substantial evidence in the record establish that there is a reasonable relationship between
the need for affordable housing and the impacts of the commercial development described in the Nexus
Study for which the corresponding fee is charged, and that there is also a reasonable relationship
between the commercial linkage fee's use and the type of commercial development for which the fee is
charged, as is described in more detail in the Nexus Study.
The Nexus Study sets forth cost estimates that are reasonable for constructing affordable housing, and
the fees expected to be generated by new commercial development will not exceed these costs.
The City Council hereby adopts these commercial linkage fees for commercial development projects
shown on Exhibit "A ", attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein.
All commercial linkage fees collected shall be deposited into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund ( "Fund
205 ") to be used to increase and preserve the supply of affordable housing for very low, low, and
moderate - incomes, including necessary administrative costs.
The City Council may review the commercial linkage fees from time to time. For any annual period
during which the City Council does not review the commercial linkage fee, fee amounts may be adjusted
by the Administrator as defined in the Ordinance, or his or her designee, according to the change in the
Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI -U).
The City Council finds that all of the commercial linkage fees adopted pursuant to this Resolution do not
exceed the actual affordable housing impacts of the development projects to which those commercial
linkage fees relate, as set forth in the Nexus Study.
Adoption of this Resolution does not require environmental review pursuant to California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378(b)(4), which provides that a "project' within the
meaning of CEQA does not include the creation of government funding mechanisms or other
government fiscal activities that do not involve any commitment to any specific project that may result
in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment. Further, the action taken by the
Ordinance and this Resolution has no potential for physical effects on the environment because it
involves an adoption of certain Fees and /or charges imposed by the City, does not commit the City to
any specific project, and said Fees and/or charges are applicable to future development projects and/or
activities, each of which future projects and/or activities will be fully evaluated in full compliance with
CEQA when sufficient physical details regarding said projects and/or activities are available to permit
meaningful CEQA review (See CEQA Guidelines, Section 15004(b)(1)).
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File Number: 18 -717
Enactment Number: RES 123 -2018
This Resolution shall become effective on the date of adoption of this Resolution. In accordance with
Government Code Section 66017, the Fees set by this Resolution call be effective 60 days from the
effective date of this Resolution, but only if the Ordinance is adopted and effective prior to that date. All
project applications deemed complete prior to January 1, 2019 date shall not be subject to this
Resolution.
At a meeting of the City Council on 8/8/2018, a motion was made by Richard Garbarino, seconded by Liza
Normandy, that this Resolution be adopted. The motion passed.
Yes: 5 Mayor Normandy, Mayor Pro Tem Matsumoto, Councilmember Garbarino,
Councilmember Gupta, and Councilmember Addiego
Attest by
Ki-i sta
City of South San Francisco Page 5
EXHIBIT "A"
Commercial Linkage Fees for Commercial Development Projects
Commercial linkage fees for commercial development projects shall be calculated using the
gross floor area of net new commercial space subject to the commercial linkage fee pursuant to
South San Francisco Municipal Code Chapter 8.69. Projects with existing commercial space are
entitled to a credit for the original use square footage.
Commercial Development Type Fee per Square Foot of Net New Gross Floor Area
Hotel $5
Retail, Restaurants and Services $2.50
Office, Medical Office and $15
Research and Development Uses