SEC. 428.1. FINDINGS.

The Board of Supervisors hereby finds that:

(a) The additional affordable housing fee requirement of Sections 428.1 et seq. is supported by the November 2016 Nexus Study performed by Keyser Marston and Associates. The Board of Supervisors has reviewed the Nexus Study and other documents and, on that basis, finds that the Study supports the inclusionary affordable housing requirements combined with the additional affordable housing fee and requirements set forth in Sections 428.1 et seq. Specifically, the Board finds that the Study: (1) identifies the purpose of the additional fee and requirements to mitigate impacts on the demand for affordable housing in the City; (2) identifies the use of the additional fee to increase the City’s affordable housing supply; and (3) establishes a reasonable relationship between the use of the additional fee for affordable housing and the need for affordable housing and the construction of new market rate housing. Further, the affordable housing fee and requirements do not include the costs of remedying any existing deficiencies and do not duplicate other City requirements or fees.

(b) An account has been established, funds appropriated, and a construction schedule adopted for affordable housing projects funded through the Inclusionary Affordable Housing Program. The Affordable Housing Fee will reimburse the City for expenditures on affordable housing that have already been made and that will be made in the future.

(c) A major objective of the Divisadero Street NCT, set forth in Planning Code Section 759, is to encourage and promote development that enhances the walkable, mixed-use character of the corridor and surrounding neighborhood and to encourage housing development in new buildings above the ground floor. New market rate housing development could outnumber both the number of units and potential new sites within the area for permanently affordable housing opportunities. The City has adopted a policy in its General Plan to meet the affordable housing needs of its general population and to require new housing developments to produce sufficient affordable housing opportunities for all income groups, both of which goals are not likely to be met by the potential housing development in the area. In addition, the Nexus Study indicates that market rate housing itself generates additional lower income affordable housing needs for the workforce needed to serve the residents of the new market rate housing proposed for the area. To meet the demand created for affordable housing by the Divisadero Street NCT zoning and to be consistent with the policy of the City, additional affordable housing requirements should be included for all market rate housing development in this NCT.

(d) The Divisadero Street NCT rezoning set forth in Ordinance No. 127-15 allows greater residential development on certain sites within the NCT, and such residential development will create a greater need for affordable housing, and should provide more affordable housing. The higher densities will also make provision of higher levels of affordable housing feasible for such sites.

(e) If a site located in the Divisadero Street NCT received an increase in density of 50% or more from the 2015 rezoning set forth in Ordinance No. 127-15, a higher inclusionary affordable housing requirement should apply. The density for the previously existing Divisadero Street Neighborhood Commercial District was one unit per 800 square feet of lot area.

(Added by Ord. 295-18, File No. 151258, App. 12/7/2018, Eff. 1/7/2019)