Council hears options for inclusionary zoning and incentives tied to SB 9 projects

City staff and outside consultants presented the council with a menu of policy choices for a potential inclusionary zoning ordinance tied to the city’s housing element. Jeff Bond, the city’s interim planning and building director, said the outreach goal was to give the council options, not to bring a final policy: "This is an informational item with your feedback," he said. Andrew Hill, the consultant leading the presentation, described a tiered approach and explained why smaller Piedmont projects and SB 9 conversions were central to the discussion: "Projects of 3 units or less would be exempt from inclusionary requirements," he said, and for projects between 4 and 10 units staff would likely allow an in‑lieu fee option while larger projects could face on‑site set‑asides.

Hill walked through concrete thresholds and tradeoffs the staff and planning commission recommended the council consider — a two‑tier example that captured some SB 9 activity, a 15% low‑income set‑aside for rental projects of 11+ units and a 10% moderate set‑aside for ownership projects. On deeper affordability he cautioned: "Very low income units require a deeper level of subsidy from the developer and this puts a greater financial feasibility burden on the project, particularly for smaller projects." Council members repeatedly asked for numeric examples and site testing to better understand how the options would play out in Piedmont’s constrained land supply. Staff said they would return with model scenarios, cost calculations and draft ordinance language for further review.