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102-A. ABAG/MTC SCS staff report to the Planning Commission dated January 25, 2011.pdfATTACHMENT A CUPERTINO OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CITY HALL 10300 TORRE AVENUE - CUPERTINO, CA 95014-3255 (408) 777-3308 - FAX (408) 777-3333 - plarming©cupertino.org PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT Agenda Item No. Agenda Date: Tanuary 25, 2011 SUMMARY The purpose of this report is to provide the Commission with an overview of the SCS process to date. This report also describes the relationship between Senate Bill 375 and the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) and the effect of the law on local governments as well as the Bay Area as a region. The report is based on information provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The SCS does not alter the authority of jurisdictions over local land use and development decisions. PURPOSE AND APPROACH Senate Bill 375 became law in 2008 and is considered landmark legislation for California relative to land use, transportation and environmental planning. It calls for the development of a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) in all metropolitan regions in California. Within the Bay Area, the law gives joint responsibility for the SCS to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The SCS integrates several existing planning processes and is required to accomplish the following objectives: 1. Provide a new 25-year land use strategy for the Bay Area that is realistic and identifies areas to accommodate all of the regions population, including all income groups; 2. Forecast a land use pattern, which when integrated with the transportation system, reduces greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and light trucks and is measured against our regional target established by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The SCS is a land use strategy required to be included as part of the Bay Area's 25-year Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). By federal law, the RTP must be internally consistent. Therefore, the over $200 billion dollars of transportation investment typically included in the RTP must align with and support the SCS land -use pattern. SB 375 also requires that an updated eight - year regional housing need allocation (RHNA) prepared by ABAG is consistent with the SCS. The SCS, RTP and RHNA will be adopted simultaneously in early 2013 (see Attachment 1 - SCS Schedule). 1-1 January 25, 2011 Sustainable Communities Strategies Update Page 2 The primary goal is to build a Bay Area which continues to thrive and prosper under the changing circumstances of the twenty-first century. A successful SCS will: • Recognize and support compact walkable places where residents and workers have access to services and amenities to meet their day-to-day needs; • Reduce long commutes and decrease reliance that increases energy independence and decreases the region's carbon consumption; • Support complete communities which remain livable and affordable for all segments of the population, maintaining the Bay Area as an attractive place to reside, start or continue a business, and create jobs. • Support a sustainable transportation system and reduce the need for expensive highway and transit expansions, freeing up resources for other more productive public investments; • Provide increased accessibility and affordability to our most vulnerable populations; • Conserve water and decrease our dependence on imported food stocks and their high transport costs. In recognition of these other goals, ABAG and MTC will adopt performance targets and indicators that will help inform decisions about land use patterns and transportation investments. These targets and indicators will apply to the SCS and the RTP. The targets and indicators are being developed by the Performance Targets and Indicators Ad Hoc Committee of the Regional Advisory Working Group (RAWG), which includes local planning and transportation staff, non-profit organizations, and business and developers` organizations. The targets are scheduled for adoption early 2011 and the indicators will be adopted in spring 2011. BUILDING ON EXISTING EFFORTS In many respects the SCS builds upon existing efforts in many Bay Area communities to encourage more focused and compact growth while recognizing the unique characteristics and differences of the region's many varied communities. FOCUS Priority Development Areas (PDAs) are locally -identified and regionally adopted infiil development opportunity areas near transit. Cupertino does not currently have a PDA. While PDAs are only three percent of the region's land area, local governments have indicated that based upon existing plans, resources, and incentives, the PDAs can collectively acc9mmodate over fifty percent of the Bay Area's housing needs through 2035. The current RTP allocates an average of $60 million a year to PDA incentive -related funding. Future RTPs, consistent with the SCS, will be structured to provide policies and funding that is supportive of PDAs and potentially other opportunity areas for sustainable development in the region. PARTNERSHIPS To be successful, the SCS will require a partnership among regional agencies, local jurisdictions, Congestion Management Agencies (CMAs), transit agencies, and other regional stakeholders. 1-2 January 25, 2011 Sustainable Communities Strategies Update Page 3 MTC and ABAG are engaged in an intense information exchange with County -Corridors Working Groups throughout the Bay Area. Cupertino's Director of Community Development is working with the Santa Clara County Association of Planning Officials (SCCAPO), primarily composed of planning directors from each city and from Santa Clara County, to address these issues. Other City staff members are involved in working groups of planners and transportation officials coordinated by and supported technically by the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). The City/County Managers Association and the Santa Clara County Cities Association are also active in reviewing key policy actions related to the SCS. In addition to the County -Corridor Working Groups, a Regional Advisory Working Group (RAWG), composed of local government representatives and key stakeholders throughout the region, provides technical oversight at the. regional level. The Director of Community Development is a participant in those meetings. PROCESS - SCS SCENARIOS The final SCS will be the product of an interactive process that includes a sequence of growth and supportive transportation scenarios. Starting with an Initial Vision Scenario (February 2011), followed by more detailed SCS scenarios that refine the initial vision scenario (Spring and Fall 2011), and final draft (early 2012). Initial Vision Scenario ABAG and MTC will release an Initial Vision Scenario in February 2011 based in large part on input from local jurisdictions through the county/corridor engagement process and information collected by December 2010. The Vision Scenario will encompass an initial identification of places, policies and strategies for long-term, sustainable development in the Bay Area. Local governments will identify places of great potential for sustainable development, including PDAs, transit corridors, employment areas, as well as infill opportunity areas that lack transit services but offer opportunities for increased walkability and reduced driving. As noted earlier, Cupertino has not currently proposed a PDA. The Initial Vision Scenario will: ■ Incorporate the 25-year regional housing need encompassed in the SCS; ■ Provide a preliminary set of housing and employment growth numbers at regional, county, jurisdictional, and sub -jurisdictional levels; ■ Be evaluated against the greenhouse gas reduction target as well as the additional performance targets adopted for the SCS. Detailed Scenarios By the early spring of 2011 the conversation between local governments and regional agencies will turn to the feasibility of achieving the Initial Vision Scenario by working on the Detailed. Scenarios. The Detailed Scenarios will be different than the initial Vision Scenario in that they will take into account constraints that might limit development potential, and will identify the infrastructure and resources that can be identified and/or secured to support the scenario. 1-3 January 25, 2011 Sustainable Communities Strategies Update Page 4 MTC and ABAG expect to release a first round of Detailed Scenarios by July 2011. Local jurisdictions will provide input, which will then be analyzed for the release of the Preferred Scenario by the end of 2011. The County/Corridor Working Groups as well as the RAWG will facilitate local input into the scenarios through 2011.. The analysis of the Detailed Scenarios and Preferred Scenario takes into account the Performance Targets and Indicators. REGIONAL HOUSING NEEDS ALLOCATION As described above, the eight -year RHNA must be consistent with the SCS. Planning for affordable housing in the Bay Area is one of the essential tasks of sustainable development. In the SCS, this task becomes integrated with the regional land use strategy, the development of complete communities and a sustainable transportation system. The county/corridor engagement process will include discussions of RHNA, since both the SCS and RHNA require consideration of housing needs by income group. The process to update the RHNA will begin in 2011: • A Housing Methodology Committee for the region will be appointed in January 2011. Meetings will continue through September 2011. At the Santa Clara County level, the RHNA Methodology Committee will include 2 staff from cities (San Jose and Morgan Hill) and 2 alternates (Cupertino and Sunnyvale), and a staff member from Santa Clara County. • Cities must determine whether they want to form a sub -regional RHNA group by March 2011. If so, they must follow the same timeline for formulation as the Methodology Committee. • Local jurisdictions will provide input prior to the adoption of the RHNA methodology by September 2011. • The final housing numbers for the region will be issued by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to ABAG by September 2011. • The Draft RHNA will be released by ABAG by spring 2012. • ABAG will adopt the Final RHNA by the end of summer 2012. • Local governments will address the next round of RHNA in their next Housing Element update (2014-2022). • The distribution of housing needs will then inform the Detailed SCS Scenarios. REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN The SCS creates an explicit link between the land use choices and the transportation investments. MTC and ABAG's commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and provision of housing for all income levels translates into an alignment of the development of---, places committed to these goals and transportation, infrastructure and housing funding. The regional agencies will work closely with the CMAs, transportation agencies and local jurisdictions to define financially constrained transportation priorities in their response to a call for transportation projects in early 2011 and a detailed project assessment that will be completed by July/August 2011; the project assessment will be an essential part of the development of Detailed SCS Scenarios. The RTP will be analyzed through 2012 and released for review by the end of 2012. ABAG will approve the SCS by March 2013. MTC will adopt the final RTP and SCS by April 2013. 1-4 January 25, 2011 Sustainable Communities Strategies Update Page 5 Regional agencies will prepare one Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for both the SCS and the RTP. This EIR might assist local jurisdictions in streamlining the environmental review process for some of the projects that are consistent with the SCS. Local jurisdictions are currently providing input for the potential scope of the EIR. Regional agencies are investigating the scope and strategies for an EIR that could provide the most effective support for local governments. ADDITIONAL REGIONAL TASKS MTC, ABAG and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District are coordinating the impacts of CEQA thresholds and guidelines recently approved by the Air District. The Air District is currently developing tools and mitigation measures related to the CEQA thresholds and guidelines to assist with development projects in PDAs. The four regional agencies will be coordinating other key regional planning issues including any adopted climate adaptation - related policy recommendations or best practices encompassed in the Bay Plan update recently released by Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). CUPERTINO'S ROLE IN THE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES STRATEGY The City will be asked to respond to several key questions over the coming year and beyond, such as (but not limited to): 1. How do our current policy documents (General Plan, Specific Plans and Area Plans) relate to the SCS? 2. How much housing and employment should/can the City accommodate to provide a meaningful contribution to smart growth and sustainable development mandates of the Bay Area and balance new growth opportunities with the existing character of the City of Cupertino? 3. Where are the key areas where the City expects to accommodate new housing and employment within the next 25 years? 4. What are the key local sustainable development issues/strategies that might be advanced through the SCS (e.g. type of housing, employment centers, affordable housing, opportunities for enhanced commercial revenue, etc.)? 5. What infrastructure investments would be needed to support additional development in Cupertino (e.g., enhanced school facilities, open space, transportation/transit, etc.)? 6. How should the City Council, Commission and staff participate in the SCS process? The SCS provides an opportunity for the City of Cupertino to advance local goals as part of a coordinated regional framework. The SCS will help begin a dialogue on balancing issues at the local level (new housing, jobs, etc.) while addressing regional objectives. As such, it may serve as a platform for cities and counties to discuss and address a wide spectrum of challenges, including high housing costs, economic development, affordable and accessible transportation, and public health, and identify local, regional, and state policies to address them. 1-5 January 25, 2011 Sustainable Communities Strategies Update Page 6 NEXT STEPS The following is an outline of key steps in the SCS process in 2011: • October/November 2010; Staff input to Planned Development Areas (PDAs) and other "opportunity" areas. • February 2011: Release of the Initial Vision Scenario. • March/April 2011: Local agency feedback to the Initial Vision Scenario. • April -August 2011: Release of Detailed SCS Scenarios and local agency input. Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) • January 2011: Appointment of RHNA Methodology Committee. • March 2011: Determination whether to participate in subregional housing methodology effort. • February -August 2011: Participation and review of housing methodology (ABAG and/or subregional), including local agency input. Input to the Initial and Detailed Vision scenarios will encompass reviews by staff, the Planning Commission, and City Council, and the community through the hearing process. Prepared by: Aarti Shrivastava, Director of Community Development V ee-GZe ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1: Draft Schedule of City Input for Sustainable Community Strategies and Regional Housing Needs Allocation Process Attachment 2: Letter from ABAG Outlining Process for Subregional RHNA Determinations Attachment 3: Place Type Description Charts (ABAG/MTC) G:planning/pdreporVpc2f2011/SCA Update012511.doc 1-6