Report Prepared by: Leah Brown, Management Analyst, Development Services
Title
SUBJECT: Report on Programs Within the Draft Housing Element, Public Input Received, and Seek Council Direction Regarding Requests for Additional Programs from the Public
REPORT IN BRIEF
Review programs within the Draft Housing Element, Public Input received and seek Council direction on the inclusion of additional programs from the public.
RECOMMENDATION
Review and provide policy direction to staff.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve programs as drafted in the Housing Element; or,
2. Advise staff to include specific additional programs; or,
3. Continue to a future City Council meeting (date and time to be specified in City Council motion).
AUTHORITY
Charter of the City of Merced, Section 200, et seq.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
As provided for in the 2024-25 Adopted Budget and City Council’s Prohousing Policies
DISCUSSION
As part of the eight-year period (2024-2032) of the 6th Cycle Housing Element, the City must outline a comprehensive Housing Plan. The Housing Plan sets forth a strategy, including goals, policies, and programs, to address housing issues identified in the City of Merced.
Goals
1. Regional Collaboration: Work collaboratively with jurisdictions in the county to efficiently address housing issues and find regional solutions.
2. Housing Development: Provide an adequate supply and range of housing types to meet the diverse needs of residents.
3. Affordable Housing Options: Facilitate the development of affordable housing and protect the existing supply of affordable housing to extremely low, very low-, low- and moderate-income households.
4. Housing and Neighborhood Preservation: Maintain and improve the City’s existing housing stock.
5. Housing for Persons with Special Needs: Support and provide housing and services for people with special needs in the community. People with special needs include, but are not limited to, seniors, families with children, people with disabilities, single-parent families, farmworkers, and people who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.
6. Resource Conservation and Sustainable Development: Utilize energy conservation and sustainable measures for new and rehabilitated housing.
7. Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: Promote housing opportunities and access for residents regardless of age, race, religion, sex, marital status, ancestry, national origin, color, disability, or economic level in compliance with local, state, and federal fair housing laws.
Implementing Programs
1. Regional Collaboration - Collaborate with other jurisdictions in the region on housing efforts, including funding opportunities, best practices, and other efforts to address housing, transit, economic development, and homeless issues in Merced County.
2. Adequate Sites for RHNA and Monitoring of No Net Loss - For the 6th Cycle Housing Element, Merced has been assigned a RHNA of 10,517 units.
3. By-Right Approval - If a site has been used in the City’s inventory in prior housing element cycles and meets certain criteria, projects on those sites are subject to by-right approval when a project includes 20 percent of the units affordable to lower-income households and no subdivision is proposed.
4. Replacement Housing - Development on non-vacant sites with existing residential units is subject to replacement requirements, pursuant to AB 1397.
5. Accessory Dwelling Units - Continue to encourage the production of ADUs and work to provide affordable units for lower-income households.
6. Zoning Code Amendments - Remove constraints to housing development by amending the Zoning Code to facilitate a variety of housing types, especially housing for lower-income households and those with special needs.
7. Facilitating Affordable Housing Development - Expand affordable housing options for households of all income levels using development tools such as density bonus provisions, waiving development fees and streamlining the application process.
8. Preservation of At-Risk Housing - The City will work to preserve assisted units and will proactively monitor to encourage continued affordability beyond existing covenants and work proactively with owners of affordable units to assist in rehabilitation needs.
9. Housing Preservation and Rehabilitation - The City works cooperatively with citizens to ensure Municipal Code compliance and explore funding for housing rehabilitation.
10. Lower-Income and Special Needs Housing - Assist in the development of housing to meet the needs of extremely low-, very low-, and low-income households.
11. Farmworker Housing - Merced had 2,781 farmworkers in 2021, representing 22.6 percent of the total farmworker population across the county.
12. Water and Sewer Service - The City of Merced is the provider of water and sewer services within city limits. Adequate water and sewer services are available to fully accommodate the City’s share of the RHNA.
13. Community and Economic Development - Develop and maintain infrastructure for economic growth and equal access to essential services.
14. Fair Housing Outreach and Enforcement - Assist residents with fair housing issues
These programs were included in the Draft Housing Element presented to the City Council in May 2024. They were part of the public review draft posted on our City website and available for comment from May to June 2024. The programs outline specific measurable tasks that the City needs to accomplish during the 6th cycle. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has advised certain improvements and modifications to quantify measurable goals, further define, and provide milestones and metrics to measure accomplishments.
During this review and redraft period, City staff responded to a request from the Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability to meet with them and members of the community to discuss the programs. They brought up several ideas for programs that are not part of the draft that they would like to see, such as an on-going rental assistance program and utility bill assistance beyond the assistance already provided. To be fair and provide equal access for all to comment on the programs and make suggestions, a public workshop on the Housing Element programs was held on January 23, 2025. The workshop was announced on the local community conversations radio show, on social media, and in the Merced County Times. Staff promoted the workshop at the Hmong New Year celebration by tabling an information booth.
The workshop was held at noon on the 23rd, and it was well attended with 13 community members in attendance. Most had questions or comments; several were follow up questions from the Housing Element Rezones discussion from the previous nights’ City Council and Planning Commission meetings. Spanish translation services were provided and used by one community member that worked with our Senior Planner directly.
The following is a summary of additional program ideas that were proposed:
- Zoning amendments to attack urban sprawl and increase higher density housing
- Remove parking requirements *
- More economic development *
- Invest in the Merced Senior Center and Boys & Girls Club *
- Upzone residential areas that are R1, to allow small houses, and tiny house villages
- Add housing as a use for commercial properties *
- Allow small businesses, like corner groceries, in residential zones
- Tiny homes on wheels in villages should be allowed
- Transit oriented development *
- More investments in seniors
- Establish permanent rental assistance program
- Rent stabilization program
- Incentivize rental property owners to rent their units, to avoid vacant units sitting for extended periods of time
- Establish a rental registry
- Establish a right to legal counsel
- Invest in infrastructure in food deserts
- Limit conversion of homes to offices, especially in the downtown
- Regulate Air B&B’s - rentals (short term rentals)
- Do more to encourage affordability for those rentals with expiring affordability covenants
- Establish policies limiting or removing rental application fees
Those ideas with an asterisk represent on-going actions and priorities. For example, economic development and transit-oriented development are ongoing. Others will be addressed via new legislation that dictates less parking requirements and zoning ordinance amendments to facilitate changes. Staff is currently drafting zoning ordinance amendments to allow for high density residential as an additional allowed use in commercial zones.
Staff is seeking discussion and direction on whether to add any additional programs to the Housing Element. Not including them at this time, does not preclude a future direction for later implementation.
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
No appropriation of funds is needed.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Presentation at Programs Workshop from 1/23/2025
2. Presentation