City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council:
1. Approve a professional services agreement with Conexus in an amount not to
exceed $63,000 for the preparation of the 2008 Housing Element Update;
2. Authorize the City Manager or his designate to approve the expenditure of an
additional amount not to exceed $37,000 in contingencies for other
additional/unforeseen costs and services associated with the preparation of the
Housing Element (i.e. Demographic Surveys, Housing Studies, Graphics, Public
Meetings, Mailings, etc.); and
3. Create a Council Subcommittee which would have jurisdiction of the subject of
the Housing Element and appoint members thereto.
BACKGROUND:
Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA)
State housing law requires that jurisdictions provide their “fair share” of regional
housing needs. Local governments and Councils of Governments (COG’s), together
with the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), are
charged with determining existing and future housing needs {commonly known as
the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA)}. The Southern California
region’s COG, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG),
prepares the RHNA numbers for all jurisdictions within its six-county territory.
Meeting Date: 07/09/07 Item Number: A-1
AGENDA ITEM: Approval of a Professional Services Agreement with Conexus to
Prepare the 2008 Housing Element Update; and Creation of a Joint
Council/Commission Housing Element Subcommittee and Appointment of Two
Councilmembers thereto.
Contact Person/Dept.: Susan Yun / CDD Phone Number: (310) 253-5755
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: John Douglas of Conexus (7/3/07); Master Notification List
(07/03/07).
Department Approval:
Sol Blumenfeld (6/13/07)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Iker) (06/26/07)
City Controller Approval:
Marlee Chang (07/02/07)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (07/03/07) City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
The last RHNA cycle covered the period from January 1998 through June 2005.
The current RHNA cycle will cover the period of 2008 through 2014; jurisdictions will
be given credit for housing built during the gap period of 2005 through 2008.
On February 1, 2007, after several workshops, presentations, and analysis of local
jurisdiction input, SCAG’s Regional Council approved the final draft RHNA number
distribution for the 2008-2014 planning cycle for all member jurisdictions, including
Culver City.
SCAG not only provides a target number of new housing units for each City and
County but also distributes those numbers by income levels, specifically by very low,
low, moderate, and above moderate. Culver City’s share of the SCAG region RHNA
numbers is as follows:
Affordability Level Units
Very Low 128
Low 80
Moderate 85
Above Moderate 211
Total RHNA 504
Housing Element
HCD measures how a City will achieve its RHNA allocation by reviewing and
certifying the City’s Housing Element. To receive HCD certification, a Housing
Element must demonstrate that a City has sufficient land and policies in place that
will allow the potential for its RHNA allocation to be met with special attention given
to its share of very low and low income housing. This need should be met during the
planning cycle for which the RHNA numbers are allocated. Other supporting
documents such as the General Plan Land Use Element and the Zoning Code are
also reviewed along with the Housing Element. State Law requires that at the
beginning of a RHNA planning cycle, local jurisdictions have in place a State HCD
certified and adopted Housing Element.
By June 30, 2008, Culver City is required to submit to HCD, for final certification, an
adopted Housing Element that has already gone through Planning Commission and
City Council public hearings and at least one round of reviews by HCD.
The Housing Element update is anticipated to take at least one year to complete.
The City will review its current Housing Element (which receive d HCD certification
at the beginning of the last planning cycle) and update it as appropriate. This update City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
is required to make the Housing Element consistent with applicable current State
housing law and to demonstrate the City has the potential to construct its RHNA
allocation for the 2008-2014 cycle.
The process leading to the adoption and certification of the Housing Element will
involve holding community workshops, joint study sessions, and public hearings by
the Planning Commission and City Council. The process also includes a 60-day
review period by HCD.
In addition, as with any adoption of an element of the General Plan, an
environmental analysis will be prepared pursuant to CEQA guidelines. The scope of
work and proposed budget assumes that an Initial Study and Negative Declaration
will be prepared for the Housing Element update. If the Initial Study finds that
significant impacts could occur, an EIR would be required and a revision to the
proposed scope and budget may be subsequently presented to the City Council for
consideration and approval.
Housing Element - Council/Planning Commission Subcommittee
Staff recommends that a City Council/Planning Commission Housing Element
Subcommittee be created so that there is a forum for status updates and guidance
on policy issues throughout the Housing Element update process. This would be
particularly useful during the stage where HCD provides their comments to the City’s
Housing Element document. Staff would then have the opportunity to touch base on
a regular basis with the Subcommittee to provide updates and to obtain feedback as
necessary.
Should a Housing Element Subcommittee be formed, staff anticipates meeting with
the Subcommittee as a joint Council/Commission Subcommittee.
DISCUSSION:
Because of the significant amount of work needed to accomplish what is mandated
by the State within a relatively short time frame, staff requests the assistance of a
Housing Consultant. The Housing Consultant will assist the City in drafting a
Housing Element that can be certified by HCD and will further assist in organizing
workshops and public hearings. This assistance will include the analysis of the
various issues noted above and the required environmental analysis as part of the
adoption process.
Staff received the following three proposals from qualified firms for this project:
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Consulting Firms Proposed Budget Average
Hourly Rate
1. Conexus $62,777 $ 95
2. Hogle – Ireland, Inc. $63,080 $ 102
3. Veronica Tam & Associates $100,000 -125,000 $ 100
Staff recommends Conexus to prepare the Housing Element due to their extensive
public sector experience and competitive rates. Of the three proposals received,
Conexus’ overall budget was the lowest and included competitive rates when
comparing rates to other professional firms.
Mr. John Douglas, who is the co-founder and partner of Conexus, will be primary
point of contact and Principal Project Manager for the Housing Element. Mr.
Douglas has extensive experience in land use and environmental planning, housing
policy, conflict resolution and public participation. He has 32 years’ experience in
the planning field, including 15 years in local public agency management.
For the past several years he has been a consultant to Culver City on planning and
CEQA compliance issues for projects including: the MTA Exposition Light Rail
Transit Line, Washington/National Specific Plan, Hampton Inn, West Los Angeles
College, Symantec Office Complex, and 700 Corporate Pointe. As a result of his
prior experience in Culver City, he is uniquely well-qualified to assist the City with its
2008 Housing Element update.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
There are sufficient funds in the Planning Division budget to cover the costs
associated with the Housing Element Update project in the amount of $100,000
under Other Contractual Services account (1015210.619800) for services and costs
related to the 2008 Housing Element Update project.
The appropriated budget of $100,000 will be allocated as follows:
1. $63,000 for consulting services with Conexus to prepare Housing Element.
2. $37,000 in contingency for additional / unforeseen costs and services associated
with the preparation of the Housing Element. This money would be used to pay
for items including, but not limited to, necessary contract amendments with
Conexus, new contracts with consultants other than Conexus for work ancillary to
the Housing Element (any further contracts needed for this work will comply with City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
all City Council established contracting policies and procedures and, if
necessary, will be returned to the City Council for consideration), and out of
pocket costs from the City for preparing any supplemental housing related
studies, demographic information, public meetings, graphics, etc. It should be
noted that the Housing Fund will reimburse the City in the amount of $50,000 for
the contract services.
ATTACHMENTS:
Conexus Scope of Work and Budget.
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Approve a Professional Services Agreement with Conexus for the preparation of
the 2008 Housing Element Update for an amount not to exceed $63,000; and
2. Authorize the City Manager or his designate to approve the expenditure of an
additional amount not to exceed $37,000 for additional/unforeseen Housing
Element project related cost; and
3. Authorize the City Attorney to prepare the necessary documents and authorize
the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City; and
4. Create a joint Council/Commission Subcommittee entitled “Housing Element
Subcommittee” and appoint Council member ________ and Councilmember
_______to serve on that Subcommittee; and
5. Direct the Planning Commission to appoint two of its members to the Housing
Element Subcommittee.