CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA PACKET

Page 4 of 5 4) Is there any other analysis or information the City Council would like to have to inform a decision on how best to proceed? Depending on City Council interests, there may be other information that would be beneficial for staff (or outside experts) to provide and/or to help to clarify questions or options under consideration. Next Steps After the City Council provides direction on each of the considerations described above, City staff will develop the elements of the program toward the identified goals, with the expectation the City Council would then review and consider that more detailed plan of action. Regardless of the option(s) selected, and assuming there would be majority City Council support to move forward with the program, staff would anticipate a key eventual outcome to be the release of a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the creation of affordable rental housing in Pleasanton. The NOFA would be a solicitation for interested and qualified affordable housing developers, or development teams, to submit proposals to the City for evaluation in accordance with any policies or program guidelines developed by the City. Related follow-up actions, as part of the development of the NOFA, might include evaluation and identification of prospective City- or public agency-owned sites, as well as further policy discussions around aspects such as funding amounts to be allocated and additional information sharing or research to be provided to respond to City Council and/or community questions and concerns. Affordable Housing Strategy A decision to move forward with a City-supported affordable housing project would involve the commitment of a (likely substantial) portion of the LIHF balance. However, it cannot constitute the entirety of the balance, since there are existing and ongoing annual expenditures (e.g., as part of the Housing and Human Services Grant program) that should be accounted for. Further, it may be prudent to retain an additional increment of the LIHF balance as a reserve, to provide the City with the ability to respond to opportunities to financially support other affordable housing projects and programs that might be proposed, whether in Pleasanton or, as has been the case in recent years, by one of the City's Tri-Valley partners. It would be beneficial to have clear guidance from City Council on the priorities, criteria and expectations around use of City staff, financial, and other resources to support affordable housing, both to assist in evaluating future requests for use of City housing funds and other resources, as well as in directing staff efforts in pursuit of outside grant funding and similar opportunities. Staff would propose to present this strategy, reflective of direction from this meeting, for discussion and input at a future meeting. EQUITY AND SUSTAINABILITY This workshop directly implements the Housing Element that serves as the City’s strategy for addressing its housing needs for all residents at all income levels. There are several programs (Programs 1.5, 2.1, 2.9, 2.11, 5.2, and 5.5) in the 2023-2031 Housing Element aimed at directly creating affordable housing throughout the City for various populations and needs. Additionally, Housing Element Policy 2.1 is to use the Lower Income Housing Fund (LIHF) to support the production of affordable housing for extremely low-, very low-, and low-income households. Attachment 1 provides more detail on those specific Housing Element policies and programs. Page 64 of 90