Correspondence - #32 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City of Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua, Mayor Pro Tern Jessie Lopez, and Councilmembers Page 3 City regarding the identified requirements with which the City's resolution did not comply and scheduled a call to discuss the City's proposed SB 6 resolution and responses to the inconsistencies HCD identified during the June 2, 2023 call. On June 8, 2023, HCD provided the City with verbal technical assistance related to the processes and requirements for exempting parcels from SB 6 and discussed the City's proposed updates to the AB 2011 resolution. During this call, HCD confirmed that the City's interpretation of the no net loss exemption requirement was fundamentally different than what appears to be required by statute. On June 9, 2023, City staff confirmed that the City's position on no net loss had not changed, and they would include language in their updated material that would commit the identified sites with residential densities as AB 2011 and SB 6 sites. On June 13, 2023, the City released the agenda for the upcoming June 20, 2023, City Council meeting to hear the AB 2011 and SB 6 parcel exemption resolutions. The City has made substantial changes to the number of AB 2011 parcels proposed for exemption and included additional alternative parcels that would not have otherwise been eligible to be developed pursuant to AB 2011. On June 16, 2023, HCD met with the City to discuss the updated resolutions and attachments. AB 2011 Compliance Under AB 2011 (Gov. Code, § 65912.114, subd. (i) and 65912.124, subd. (i)) "a local government may exempt a parcel from [AB 2011] before a development proponent submits a development application on a parcel pursuant to [AB 2011] if the local government makes written findings...." This exemption allows local governments the opportunity to guide the newly created AB 2011 residential density to alternative compliant parcels within the jurisdiction. As a threshold matter, HCD notes that the Legislature took care to use the singular, not plural, forms of the word "parcel." This strongly suggests that the Legislature did not intend for local governments to issue blanket exemptions as the City proposes to do by resolution. But even if local governments were able to make adequate findings to permit blanket exemptions, the following concerns remain. Inadequate Findings The City is utilizing the affordable exemption (Gov. Code, § 65912.114, subd. (i)) and the mixed income exemption (Gov. Code, § 65912.124, subd. (i)). These exemptions require a different set of criteria for establishing parcel eligibility and allowable density. Both exemptions require parcel -specific details that were not present in the proposed resolutions. The City's written findings must specifically demonstrate compliance with all requirements for each exemption. This requires a level of detail and specificity that — particularly given the scale of the proposed exemptions — is clearly not currently present. To correct the deficiencies and allow HCD to make an accurate determination about the City's compliance with AB 2011, the City must expand its written findings to clearly discuss the City's compliance with each requirement, and the attached tables should function as supplemental support for the written findings.