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Residents, Sierra Club press commission to speed overdue housing-element protections; planning director outlines next steps
Summary
Two public commenters urged the Planning Commission to accelerate state‑mandated housing‑element actions (rent protections, inclusionary zoning, commercial linkage fee). Planning Director Kristen Pollock said staff completed an internal draft inclusionary ordinance and aims to publish it for public review shortly and will present a timeline with milestones to City Council alongside a consultant contract.
At the Planning Commission community forum, two speakers — Paul Tice of the Sierra Club’s affordable‑housing campaign and Crystal Gallegos, a tenant advocate — urged the commission to create a clear schedule and deliver the housing‑element items state law requires, including renter protections, inclusionary zoning and a commercial linkage fee.
Paul Tice asked the commission and staff to develop "a clear plan with dates and waypoints" to advance the overdue housing‑element provisions and noted the consultant contract to support ordinance drafting had been delayed and would not reach council until late May at the earliest. Tice warned the delays mean months more before ordinance drafting, commission review and council consideration could be completed.
Crystal Gallegos told the commission she works with tenants experiencing illegal evictions, sudden rent hikes and harassment, and said the city cannot afford more delay. "We can't afford another cycle where the city meets its above‑moderate RHNA numbers while almost producing nothing for very low income units," she said, urging urgency and specific milestones.
Planning Director Kristen Pollock responded that staff had recently completed an internal draft of an inclusionary‑housing ordinance and hoped to publish it for a 20‑day public‑review period as soon as the end of the week. Pollock said staff plans to present the consultant contract for the downtown/waterfront specific plan to City Council alongside a companion timeline that would identify milestones for housing and tenant‑protection items.
No final adoption of housing ordinances occurred at the meeting. The commission and staff discussed accelerating certain items where feasible and routing draft materials for public review before return to the Planning Commission and City Council for formal action.
What's next: Staff expects to publish the inclusionary ordinance draft for public review shortly and to present a milestone plan to City Council in conjunction with the consultant contract; commissioners asked staff to include clear dates and to coordinate review with the Economic Development Commission where appropriate.
