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Home My WebLink About4.6 - 3224 Local Early Action Planning Grant Page 1 of 2 STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL DATE: June 2, 2020 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Linda Smith, City Manager SUBJECT: Local Early Action Planning Grant Prepared by: Michael P. Cass, Principal Planner EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The City Council will consider adopting a resolution allowing for the submittal of an application for Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) grant funds. LEAP provides funding to local jurisdictions for the preparation and adoption of planning documents and process improvements that accelerate housing production and facilitate compliance implementing the sixth cycle of the Regional Housing Needs Allocation. As a jurisdiction with a population of 60,000 to 99,999 residents, the City of Dublin is entitled to a maximum award of $300,000. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the Resolution Authorizing Application for, and Receipt of, Local Government Planning Support Grant Program Funds. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The City of Dublin is eligible to receive $300,000 in LEAP Grant funds. The LEAP Grants Program does not require a local financial commitment or matching funds from jurisdictions requesting grant funding. DESCRIPTION: The Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Grants Program is part of a broader program formerly known as the Local Government Planning Support Grants Program, which was established by the State as part of the 2019-20 Budget Act. The 2019-20 Budget Act provides a spectrum of support, incentives, resources, and accountability to meet California’s housing goals. LEAP provides one-time grant funding to local jurisdictions for technical assistance, preparation and adoption of planning documents, and process improvements that accelerate housing production and facilitate implementing the sixth cycle of the Reginal Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). LEAP grant applications that propose projects in one of the State’s pre-determined priority policy areas are automatically deemed to accelerate housing production. The City of Dublin, with a population of 60,000 to 99,999 residents, is eligible to receive up to $300,000 in LEAP Page 2 of 2 funds. State mandate requires cities and counties to have a certified General Plan Housing Element that demonstrates how the local jurisdiction can accommodate their share of the region’s housing need identified through the RHNA process. Recent legislation has increased scrutiny of Housing Element sites and introduced limits on whether sites can be carried over from one RHNA cycle to the next. Local jurisdictions will need to identify new sites and/or re-zone previously used sites to meet the needs identified in the upcoming RHNA. The City must adopt an updated Housing Element which accommodates the sixth cycle RHNA by January 2023. Staff recently released an RFP for a qualified consultant to assist Staff with the preparation of the Housing Element update and will return to the City Council this summer with a proposed consulting services agreement. The cost, including staff and consultant time, associated with preparing the Housing Element update is one of the pre-determined priority policy areas under the LEAP Grant Program. Therefore, Staff proposes applying for LEAP funds to offset the City’s cost to prepare the Housing Element update. The LEAP funds would supplement the Senate Bill 2 grant the City received to prepare, in part, a site analysis of vacant and underutilized sites in advance of the RHNA. The deadline to apply for LEAP funds is July 1, 2023. A resolution authorizing application for, and receipt of, Local Government Planning Support Grant Program Funds is included as Attachment 1 to this Staff Report. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The Resolution authorizing City staff to submit an application for LEAP grant funds is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 as the application does meet CEQA’s definition of a “project” and would not result in either a direct physical change, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE: Objective 3E of the City of Dublin Two-Year Strategic Plan (2021-2022) is to “update the City’s General Plan Housing Element in accordance with state law and to ensure an adequate supply of sites to accommodate the City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation for the period 2023-2031.” Adopting a resolution authorizing application for, and receipt of, LEAP Grant funds would enable the City to obtain funding to offset the cost to implement this objective. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: None. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Resolution Authorizing Application for, and Receipt of, LEAP Grant Program Funds RESOLUTION NO. xx-20 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN AUTHORIZING APPLICATION FOR, AND RECEIPT OF, LOCAL GOVERNMENT PLANNING SUPPORT GRANT PROGRAM FUNDS WHEREAS, pursuant to Health and Safety Code 50515 et seq., the Department of Housing and Community Development (“Department”) is authorized to issue a Notice of Funding Availability (“NOFA”) as part of the Local Government Planning Support Grants Program (hereinafter referred to by the Department as the “Local Early Action Planning Grants program” or “LEAP); and WHEREAS, the Dublin City Council desires to submit a LEAP grant application package (“Application”), on the forms provided by the Department, for approva l of grant funding for projects that assist in the preparation and adoption of planning documents and process improvements that accelerate housing production and facilitate compliance to implement the sixth cycle of the regional housing need assessment; and WHEREAS, the Department has issued a NOFA and Application on January 27, 2020 , in the amount of $119,040,000 for assistance to all California jurisdictions. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Dublin City Council confirms the following: SECTION 1. The City Manager is hereby authorized and directed to apply for and submit to the Department the Application package; and SECTION 2. In connection with the LEAP grant, if the Application is approved by the Department, the City Manager of the City of Dublin is authorized to submit the Application, enter into, execute, and deliver on behalf of the Applicant, a State of California Agreement (“Standard Agreement”) for the amount of up to $300,000, and any and all other documents required or deemed necessary or appropriate to evidence and secure the LEAP grant, the Applicant’s obligations related thereto, and all amendments thereto; and SECTION 3. The Applicant shall be subject to the terms and conditions as specified in the NOFA, and the Standard Agreement provided by the Department after approval. The Application and any and all accompanying documents are incorporated in full as part of the Standard Agreement. Any and all activities funded, information provided, and timelines represented in the Application will be enforceable through the fully executed Standard Agreement. Pursuant to the NOFA and in conjunction with the terms of the Standard Agreement, the Applicant hereby agrees to use the funds for eligible uses and allowable expenditures in the m anner presented and specifically identified in the approved Application. PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED by the Dublin City Council on this 2nd day of June, 2020 by the following vote: AYES: NOES: 2 ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ______________________________ Mayor ATTEST: ______________________________ City Clerk