HomeMy WebLinkAboutCD Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Grant Application____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
Council Meeting: July 6, 2020
Disposition: Resolution 14834
Agenda Item No: 4.e
Meeting Date: July 6, 2020
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: Community Development
Prepared by: Paul Jensen (EG)
Community Development Director
City Manager Approval: ______________
TOPIC: LOCAL EARLY ACTION PLANNING GRANT (LEAP) APPLICATION
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION
FOR, AND RECEIPT OF, LOCAL EARLY ACTION PLANNING (LEAP) GRANT FUNDS
IN THE AMOUNT OF $300,000, AND TO EXECUTE DOCUMENTS OR AMENDMENTS
ONCE THE GRANT IS AW ARDED
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a Resolution authorizing the City Manager to submit an application for the State Local Early Action
Planning (LEAP) Grant Program in the amount of $300,000, and to execute documents or amendments
once the grant is awarded.
BACKGROUND:
In the 2019-20 Budget Act, Governor Gavin Newsom allocated $250 million for all regions, cities, and
counties to prioritize planning activities that accelerate housing production to meet the identified needs
of every community. With this allocation, the State Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) established LEAP, with $119 million allocated for cities and counties. LEAP provides one-time
grant funding to update planning documents and implement process improvements that facilitate the
acceleration of housing production and help local governments prepare for their sixth-cycle Regional
Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). The LEAP funds are in addition to the $310,000 the City was awarded
earlier this year from the State’s SB 2 Planning Grant Program.
The City of San Rafael is eligible to receive a LEAP award in the amount of $300,000 based on local
population. An application from the City Manager with a basic program outline is required to access these
funds. Also, to apply for the 2020 LEAP grant, City Council must adopt and submit the attached
Resolution by July 1, 2020. HCD has given the City of San Rafael approve to approve this resolution
after the July 1, 2020 deadline.
ANALYSIS:
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
$200,000 of the $300,000 of the LEAP funds available will be allocated for the update of the City’s
General Plan Housing Element. The City of San Rafael Housing Element serves as the City's framework
for housing goals, policies, and programs required to meet existing and future housing needs and
increase affordable housing opportunities. The City of San Rafael is on an eight-year Housing Element
update cycle and the current Housing Element was adopted in 2015. California’s Department of Housing
and Community Development (HCD) has determined that Housing Element updates for jurisdictions
within the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) are due by January 2023. The Housing Element
update is anticipated to include the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report. Staff anticipates that
preparation of the Housing Element Update for the sixth RHNA cycle will require more effort than previous
updates due to increased regional housing needs, new requirements for identifying eligible housing sites,
and more factors to consider in allocations (such as overcrowding, greenhouse gas emissions, and jobs-
housing balance).
$100,000 of the $300,000 of the LEAP funds availability will be allocated to help supplement the costs of
conducting planning processes addressing housing and sea level rise vulnerability in the Canal
neighborhood of San Rafael. This planning will be centered in social equity, specifically procedural and
distributional equity, and addresses sustainability in our most vulnerable community. The intended
outcomes of these planning processes will be to identify measures and recommendations that can be
implemented to protect the Canal neighborhood from flooding associated with sea level rise in the near
to mid-term, including:
• zoning changes
• housing opportunity areas
• adaptation measures for a future Specific or Precise Plan for the Canal Neighborhood.
Staff is including both the Housing Element and planning processes for the Canal neighborhood as part
of the LEAP application to ensure LEAP funding eligibility for both projects, However, as staff is still
waiting on the sixth-RHNA cycle housing allocations there is still high uncertainty around the scope and
cost to update the City’s Housing Element. Due to this uncertainty, the final LEAP funding allocations for
the Housing Element and Specific or Precise Plans is likely to change.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The City will receive $300,000 from the State of California that will go towards completing the City’s
General Plan Housing Element update (required to be completed by December 2022) and the
development of Specific or Precise Plans for the Canal and Northgate neighborhoods. There is no
requirement for local matching funds.
OPTIONS:
The City Council has the following options to consider on this matter:
1. Adopt Resolution
2. Adopt resolution with modifications.
3. Direct staff to return with more information.
4. Take no action.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Adopt Resolution
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution
RESOLUTION NO. 14834
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL AUTHORIZING THE
CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR, AND RECEIPT OF, LOCAL EARLY
ACTION PLANNING (LEAP) GRANT FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $300,000, AND TO
EXECUTE DOCUMENTS OR AMENDMENTS ONCE THE GRANT IS AWARDED
WHEREAS pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 50515 et seq, the State
Department of Housing and Community Development (Department) is authorized to issue a
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) as part of the Local Government Planning Support Grants
Program (hereinafter referred to by the Department as the Local Early Action Planning Grants
program or LEAP); and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of San Rafael desires to submit a LEAP grant
application package (Application), on the forms provided by the Department, for approval of grant
funding for projects that assist in the preparation and adoption of planning documents and process
improvements that accelerate housing production and facilitate compliance to implement the sixth
cycle of the regional housing need assessment; and
WHEREAS, the Department has issued a NOFA and Application on January 27, 2020 in
the amount of $119,040,000 for assistance to all California jurisdictions;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of San Rafael
approves and authorizes the City Manager or their designee to submit to the Department the
LEAP grant application package; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in connection with the LEAP grant, if the Application
is approved by the Department, the City Manager of the City of San Rafael is authorized to submit
the Application, enter into, execute, and deliver on behalf of the Applicant, a State of California
Agreement (Standard Agreement) for the amount of $300,000 and any and all other documents
required or deemed necessary or appropriate to evidence and secure the LEAP grant, the
Applicant’s obligations related thereto, and all amendments thereto; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Applicant shall be subject to the terms and
conditions as specified in the NOFA, and the Standard Agreement provided by the Department
after approval. The Application and any and all accompanying documents are incorporated in full
as part of the Standard Agreement. Any and all activities funded, information provided, and
timelines represented in the Application will be enforceable through the fully executed Standard
Agreement. Pursuant to the NOFA and in conjunction with the terms of the Standard Agreement,
the Applicant hereby agrees to use the funds for eligible uses and allowable expenditures in the
manner presented and specifically identified in the approved Application.
I, Lindsay Lara, City Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution
was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of said
City held on the 6th day of July, 2020 by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Bushy, Colin, Gamblin, McCullough & Mayor Phillips
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk