In a joint meeting on July 14, the Cloverdale City Council and Cloverdale Planning Commission are set to receive presentations about both state housing laws and updating downtown zoning using SB 2 funding from the state. The meeting begins at 6:15 p.m. and is being held virtually following a two-item regular city council meeting. To view the full joint agenda, click here.
The meeting piggybacks off of issues that have previously been discussed during planning commission meetings — the update on state housing law covers the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), which sets forth housing goals placed on the city from the state to ensure that each state jurisdiction provides its “fair share” of housing; SB 35, which allows developers to use a ministerial approval process for multifamily residential projects that meet specific requirements; SB 330, which sets parameters related to reasons a jurisdiction can disapprove of a housing project; and the density bonus law, which states that developers who build a certain percentage of affordable units in a project are able to receive a specific density bonus.
Downtown Zoning
Additionally, the council and planning commission are receiving an update and presentation about the city’s downtown zoning update, a project that would likely support additional housing in the area. The city is still in the early phases of its possible zoning district update, with an opportunity site analysis that looks at parcels in the downtown that may be developable.
Funding for the zoning update is coming from state SB 2 Building Homes and Jobs Act funds.
According to Rafael Miranda, the city’s associate planner, “A portion of this revenue is being used to provide funding and technical assistance to all local governments in California to help cities and counties prepare, adopt and implement plans and process improvements that streamline housing approvals and accelerate housing production. Cloverdale qualified as a small city for this program, and as a result the city was awarded a maximum grant amount of $160,000.”
The city is working with community planning and design consultant PlaceWorks to conceptualize what vacant downtown parcels may work well if rezoned.
PlaceWorks held a workshop with the planning commission in April about the downtown that reviewed all of the downtown sites that were identified as being developable.
Neither of the items on Wednesday’s joint meeting are action items, though the council is being asked to provide feedback on the update.
