Item 21 - Amendment to the Affordable Housing Funds Policies and Procedures

Home Browse Search

Affordable Housing Funds Policies and Procedures Page 11 By-Right Funding for Achieving City Goals and Objectives If at any time a developer proposes a project that is located in a zoning district permitting development of residential uses “by-right” and such approvals do not require any discretionary actions by the City, the developer may submit an application for by-right funding of extremely low-income affordable housing units. Staff may then form a Review Panel to consider the developer’s application for by-right funding as quickly as possible using the scoring and selection criteria from the Open RFP Process. This policy will expedite consideration of the developer’s application for by-right funding. Only units serving households at 30% Area Median Income and below may qualify for by-right funding under this application process. The maximum per unit subsidy shall not exceed the maximum limits established by HUD for the HOME Program at the time of submission of the application for by-right funding by the developer. Applications for by-right funding may only request Inclusionary Housing Funds from the City under the above-described process and the requested amount shall not exceed the amount of the City’s total Available Funds as published quarterly in the Housing Division Quarterly Report. However, funding is subject to the availability of actual Inclusionary Housing Funds. Additionally, the City reserves the right to amend these policies at any time, which could affect the availability of such funding, or to deny funding for any project that the City determines in its sole discretion does not align with the City’s goals and objectives for this program. Three-Year Goals for By-Right Funding Proposals: The City of Santa Ana has established the following Goals for the next three years, to be evaluated on an annual basis, for proposals submitted under this section. The Goals are linked to the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) per the City’s Housing Element and based upon what affordable housing development projects that the City has in the pipeline for development and estimates/goals for Year 3: Year # of Extremely Low- Income Units at 30% AMI # of Very Low-Income Units at 50% AMI # of Low-Income Units at 80% AMI 1 54 111 9 2 54 33 38 3 115 82 34 TOTAL 223 226 81 Competitive Selection Criteria In selecting among competing project proposals, consideration shall be given to projects that meet the following General Principles: • Significantly increase affordable housing opportunities for large families (three- and four- bedroom units). • Benefit a higher percentage of units for extremely low-income households with deeper affordability. • Are cost effective with low operating costs (green building techniques). • Increase affordable housing opportunities for special needs populations, including homeless individuals and families, persons with a disability, and seniors. • Are located in areas currently underserved by affordable housing developments. Exhibit 1