HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-09-23 City Council (8)City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:’ HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
4
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PLANNING AND
COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT
DATE:SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 CMR:402:02
SUBJECT: ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION REQUIRED FOR THE HOUSING
ENABLED BY LOCAL PARTNERSHIP (HELP) PROGRAM LOAN
APPLICATION
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution that is required as
part of the City’s application to the California Housing Finance Agency (CHFA) for a
Housing Enabled by Local Partnership (HELP) Program loan in the amount of $500,000
as authorized by Council action on September 9, 2002.
BACKGROUND
On September 9, 2002 (CMR:378:02), Council approved the establishment of a Below
Market Rate (BMR) Emergency Fund. The Emergency Fund will support a preservation
program for the BMR housing stock and a loan program to assist BMR unit owners
facing substantial, mandatory condominium association assessments. The first two
projects to be affected by these assessments are ~the Abitare and Redwoods
condominiums. Initial funding for the assessment loan program was approved by
Council with the adoption of a Budget Amendment Ordinance (BAO) appropriating
$150,000 from the Residential Housing In-Lieu Fund to the new BMR Emergency Fund.
Council also authorized the City Manager to apply to CHFA for HELP program funding
of up to $500,000 for additional funds for assessment loans and for other expenses
connected with the preservation of the City’s BMR unit housing stock. The HELP
application is due by Friday, September 27, 2002. The attached resolution is required as
part of the HELP application.
DISCUSSION
Staff recommended pursuing the HELP program funds to supplement the $150,000
appropriated by Council from the Residential Housing In-Lieu Fund. The $150,000 will
CMR:402:02 Page 1 of 4
be sufficient to fund six to eight assessment loans and pay related third party
administrative costs. Based on several discussions with HELP program management,
staff concluded that the new. BMR emergency loan and preservation program would be
competitive for the HELP funds. With the addition of the HELP funds, there would be
resources available to assist additional owners at Abitare and the Redwoods, to provide
further loans should there be subsequent assessments at those two projects and to have
funds readily available for assessment loans at other developments.
Staff also intends to utilize the majority of the HELP funds for preservation and
rehabilitation of the BMR unit housing stock. With a dedicated source of funds, the City
could acquire units quickly to prevent foreclosure losses. Units in poor condition could
be acquired and rehabilitated or owners could be provided with short-term loans to
complete comprehensive repairs and renovation prior to sale. Over time, the new
assignment fee will provide an ongoing source of funding to help preserve the BMR
housing stock. In the short term, the HELP program funds represent a critical component
of the City’s preservation strategy.
Staff has had further discussions with the Palo Alto Credit Union (PACE) regarding its
administration of the assessment loan program. PACE management has expressed a
strong interest in taking on this new program and its board of directors will review and
act on the proposal at its next meeting on September 25. PACE has recent experience
administering the Utility Department’s home energy improvement loan program. Staff
intends to initiate the assessment loan program with the funds from the $150,000
appropriation as soon as the administrative process can be worked out.
RESOURCE IMPACT
The HELP funds would be provided to the City an unsecured loan for up to 10 years at
three-percent simple interest per annum. The $500,000 requested in the HELP
application will be drawn down as funds are used for assessment loans and preservation
activities. Interest will accrue only on funds that are actually utilized. Staff proposes that
the maximum 10 year loan term be requested from CHFA. The City HELP loan will be a
debt of the City itself and becomes a general obligation of the City. The City, not the
BMR owners who receive assessment loans, will be responsible for repayment of the
HELP funds and the interest by the end of the 10-year term. While specific repayment
sources or security are not required for the HELP application, it will strengthen the City’s
application to identify proposed repayment sources. Three sources will be identified in
the HELP application and used to repay the HELP loan; they are listed in order that they
will be used:
Assessment loan repayments from BMR owners
Funds from the assignment fee charge on the resale price of existing BMR
units
Funds from the Residential Housing In-Lieu Fund
CMR:402:02 Page 2 of 4
In staff’s judgement there is very little risk that the City would not be able to repay the
HELP loan over the 10- year term from the above sources of funds.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
CHFA requires that the HELP application include excerpts from relevant approved plans
such as the Housing Element documenting this local housing priority. As discussed in
the September 9 CMR (pages 12-13), the draft Housing Element address the
conservation, rehabilitation and maintenance of the City’s affordable housing stock in
broad terms under Goal H-2. Staff will prepare minor revisions to Policy H-9 in the draft
Housing Element to clarify that preservation of the BMR ownership housing stock is a
City priority. Staff will also draft language to add the assessment loan program to the
draft Housing Element. This draft language will be submitted as part of the HELP
application. Because the Housing Element update has not yet been adopted by Council,
the City’s HELP application may be ranked lowered than competing applications from
other jurisdictions due to the City’s inability to show that its BMR emergency program is
clearly included in an adopted local housing plan.
TIMELINE
The following are the key milestones in the HELP application process and the steps
necessary to actually utilize the funds:
o Council approves resolution regarding HELP application
¯Staff submits funding application to CHFA
®HELP awards announced
¯City and CHFA execute HELP funding agreement
¯Procedures for assessment loans funding from HELP
worked out between City, loan program administrator
and CHFA
~HELP program funds available for first assessment
loans and to preserve at-risk BMR units
September 23
September 27
November 22
By mid-December
By mid-January 2003
Mid-January 2003
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The application for the HELP program funding is not an action subject to the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
ATTACHMENTS
A. Resolution Authorizing an Application for HELP Funds
PREPARED BY:
Catherine Siegel, Housing Coord(.~tor
CMR:402:02 Page 3 of 4
DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW:
Director of Planning and Community Environment
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
HARRISON
Assistant City Manager
Human Relations Commission
Palo Alto Housing Corporation
BMR Unit Owners at Redwoods and Abitare Condominiums
CMR:402:02 Page 4 of 4
ORDINANCE NO.
ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO
ALTO AMENDING PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE
SECTION 18.88.160 PERTAINING TO VEHICLE
EQUIPMENT REPAIR AND STORAGE
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as
follows:
SECTION i. Legislative Findings.
declares as follows:
The Council finds and
A.The public interest requires that periodic
revision of the municipal code is necessary in order to make
editorial changes for clarification and to make revisions that
are consistent with current practice and public policy.
B. Palo Alto Municipal Code Section 18.88.$60
pertaining to vehicle equipment repair and storage requirels
revision in order to be consistent with current practice and
public policy.
SECTION 2. Section 18.88.160 of the Palo Alto Municipal
Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
18.88.160 Vehicle and Equipment Repair and Storage.
~’a4~4~-~~ ~ ~ , Except as otherwise provided, parkinq is allowed
all residential districts and ~-e on all sites in any other
district used for residential occupancy:
(a) No person shall service, repair, assemble,
disassemble, wreck, modify, restore, or otherwise.work on any
vehicle, motor vehicle, camper, camp trailer, trailer, trailer
coach, motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, house car, boat, or
similar conveyance .._i_~...... s except when conducted within a garage
or accessory building, or durinq the hours of 8:00 a.m. and
i0:00 p.m. when conducted in an area screened from view from the
street and adjoining lots by a legally located fence, wall, or
equivalent screening.
(b) No person shall store, place or park any of the
conveyances designated in subsection (a), or any part thereof,
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which is disabled, unlicensed, unregistered, inoperative, or
from which an essential or legally required operating part is
removed, includingan unmounted camper, camp trailer, trailer,
trailer coach and similar nonmotorized conveyance, or any other
structure or device exceeding .46 cubic meters (sixteen cubic
feet) in volume to be carried upon or in any such conveyance, or
any equipment, machinery, or similar material unless conducted
within a garage or accessory building, or in an area screened
from view from the street and adjoining lots by a legally
located fence, wall, or equivalent screening.
(c)No person shall service, repair, assemble,
disassemble,wreck, modify, restore, or otherwise work on, or
store, place,and park any of the conveyances designated in this
section (excluding [i] passenger vehicles other than house cars,
and [2] ~pickup" motor trucks on which no equipment other than a
camper is mounted), whether disabled or fully operative, for an
aggregate period of over seventy-two hours during any continuous
period of ninety-six hours in any open areas on a lot only in
locations where an accessory building or principal building of
equivalent height or bulk would be permitted by the provisions
of this title.
(d)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a)
and (b), emergency repairs and short-term or temporary parking
of any conveyance listed in subsection (a), when owned by a
person residing on the lot, may be conducted for an aggregate
period of up to seventy-two hours in any continuous period of
ninety-six hours exclusive of the screening requirements.
(e) For the purpose of this section, references to
types of conveyances shall have the same meanings as defined in
the Vehicle Code of the state of California, where such
definitions are available.
(f)
section.
Chapter 18.94 shall not be applicable to this
(g)Subject to securing a permit therefor from the
building official and otherwise complying with applicable law,
the use of a recreational vehicle, as defined in this title, may
be permitted for sleeping purposes only for a period not to
exceed thirty consecutive days in any calendar year for not more
than two nonpaying guests of the occupant of a single-family
dwelling in accord with all applicable regulations governing
parking and storage of vehicles.
(h)Except in the OS (open space) and AC
(aqricultural conservation)districts, no person shall store,
020726 sdl 0053096 2
place, or park any of the conveyances desiqnated
section, whether disabled or fully operative,
visible from a public street unless it is parked or stored upon
either permeable or impermeable paving surface.
(i) No person shall store, place, or park any of the
conveyances desiqnated in this section within the thirty-five
foot trianqle of property at the intersection of streets
improved for vehicular traffic.
(j) No person shall store, place, or park any of the
conveyances designated in this section in a manner that ~they
cover more than 50 percent of any required front yard.
(k) Violation of this section is a misdemeanor,
punishable as provided in this code. Each day of violation
constitutes a separate offense and may be separately punished.
SECTION 2..The Council finds that this is not a project
under the California Environmental Quality Act and, therefore no
environment impact assessment is necessary. ~
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in this
in any areas
020726 sdl 0053096
SECTION.3. This ordinance shall be effective
thirty-first day after the date of its adoption.
INTRODUCED:
PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Attorney
Mayor
APPROVED:
City Manager
Police Chief
Director of Administrative
Services
on the
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