HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-04-08 Ordinance 4743ORDINANCE NO. 4743
ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO
AMENDING SECTIONS 16.47.020 AND 16.47.040 OF
CHAPTER 16.47 (APPROVAL OF PROJECTS WITH IMPACTS
ON HOUSING) TO INCREASE THE COMMERCIAL HOUSING
IN-LIEU FEE AND RELATED CHANGES
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does hereby ORDAIN
as follows:
SECTION 1.
of Projects with
Regulations) of
to read as follows:
Section 16.47.020 of Chapter 16.47 (Approval
Impacts on Housing) of Title 16 (Building
Al to Municipal Code is hereby amended
16.47.020 Applicability. This chapter shall apply to
the following developments, except those exempt under Section
16.47.030:
(a) Any new gross square footage;
(b) Any gross square footage that is converted from
an exempt use to a nonexempt use, if such development removes
from the city's housing stock two or more legal dwelling units
that have last been used for housing;
(c) New gross square footage that replaces nonexempt
uses shall not be considered gross square footage for the
purposes of ordinance codified in this chapter. "Replaces"
means that the new gross square footage receives design approval
pursuant to Chapter 16.48 within one year of the previous
nonexempt uses being demolished;
(d) New gross square footage in a development used
for (1) an on-s cafeteria, recreational facility, and/or day
care I y, to be provided for employees and/or r
children and not open to the general public, or (2) a hazardous
materials storage lity shall be exempted from the
requirements this chapter. If any square footage exempted
under this subsection (e) is converted to a nonexempt use, the
entire amount gross square footage converted must meet the
requirements t s chapter, regardless of the number of square
feet converted.
SECTrON 2. Section 16.47.040 of the Palo Alto Municipal
Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
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16.47.040 Housing requirement.
(a) Developments must provide the number of low-
income and moderate-income housing units determined by. the
formula set forth below or provide an in-lieu fee as set forth
in Section 16.47.040(d) below:
Gross Square Feet/350 x .017 = Number of units required
(b) This formula is based on the reasonable
approximation of the amount of housing necessary to satisfy ten
percent of the demand for low to moderate-income housing based
on the average number of low to moderate-income employees
generated per average household by the average commercial and
industrial development.
(c) Housing units may be sold or rented to low-income
and moderate-income buyers pursuant to the city's below market
rate (BMR) program and may be provided either on the site of the
proposed development or off-site. If the unit is provided on
site, its design and location shall be part of the architectural
review application of the entire proposed development. If the
unit is off-site, the director of planning and community
environment must approve the size, condition and location of the
units.
(1) A housing unit if sold, shall be sold to the
city, or city's designee, at the cost of construction and
financing, excluding land costs and profit; provided, that the
cost shall not be greater than that affordable to buyers under
the current income limits for the Palo Alto below market rate
program, published yearly by the department of planning and
community environment and on file with the city clerk.
(2) A housing unit, if rented, shall be rented for a
minimum of fifty-nine years subject to Palo Alto's below market
rate rental program, or for a lesser period; provided, that it
is sold in accordance with subdivision (1) of this section.
(3) A below market rate agreement shall be entered
into between the city and the developer at the time of design
approval of the development pursuant to Chapter 16.48.
(d) If housing units are not to be provided, the
developer shall make an in-lieu payment to the city's housing
fund of fifteen dollars per square foot of proposed development.
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The fifteen dollars per square foot shall be adj usted annually
from the date of approval of the ordinance codified herein by
the percentage changes in the Consumer Price Index, all urban
consumers index, for the San Francisco-Oakland area.
(e) The in-lieu payment must be paid prior to
issuance of the first grading or building permit for a project.
Any permit issued prior to payment shall be null and void. For a
phased project, payments may be made for each portion of a
phased project prior to issuance of the first grading or
building permit for that phase.
(f) If the formula as applied to a proposed
development results in a fraction of a unit, the developer shall
provide for the fraction of a unit either a whole unit or an in-
lieu payment, based on the entire applicable square footage.
(g) At the time of a developer's application for
architectural review pursuant to Chapter 16.48, or, if no
architectural review is necessary, at the time of an application
for a building permit, the developer must notify the director of
planning and community environment whether units or an in-lieu
payment will be provided to the city. The housing requirement
shall then be placed as a condition on the. director's approval
of the proj ect pursuant to Chapter 16.48 or as a condition on
the issuance of a building permit by the division of
inspectional services.
(h) Exception for Mixed Use Developments. In a mixed
housing and commercial or industrial development, the
developer's housing requirement pursuant to this chapter and the
developer's below market rate housing requirement pursuant to
the housing element of the Comprehensive Plan both should be
calculated. The developer shall be required to meet only the
larger of the two requirements.
SECTION 3. This is not a proj ect for purposes of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) . However,
individual improvement projects to be funded by the fees hereby
established and individual development proj ects upon which the
fees will be imposed shall be subject to appropriate
environmental review under CEQA.
II
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SECTION 4. This ordinance shall be effective 30 days
after the date of its adoption; provided, that when effective,
the provisions of Sect 16.47.020 and 16.47.040 hereby
amended shall be imposed on 1 applicable development receiving
discretionary approval from and after the effective date hereof.
INTRODUCED: March 25, 2002
PASSED: April 8, 2002
AYES: BEECHAM, BURCH, FREEMAN, KISHIMOTO, KLEINBERG, LYTLE,
MORTON, MOSSAR, OJAKIAN
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
/;J)tl1AL l' ~1lQ-City Clerk (
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
~w.~
S$nior Asst. City Attorney
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Mayor
Director of
Services
and