Petaluma OKs $500,000 for affordable housing

California’s bid to boost its affordable housing stock is advancing under a package of streamlined rules, incentives and potential penalties for cities, and Petaluma’s latest income-limited project is one result of that effort.

The City Council on Monday approved the new 52-unit apartment complex near the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, and kicked in $500,000 to get the project moving.

The 6-1 vote at the council’s Jan. 23 meeting advanced the MidPen Housing Corp. project on an empty .75-acre lot in the 800 block of East Washington Street.

To qualify as affordable housing, all of the units will be reserved for families earning 60% or less of the area median income for Petaluma, which is roughly $100,000 according to census data. And under a 2017 state law, the project will be fast-tracked without much local input.

“I’m very excited about this project in general and kicking off another affordable housing project,” said Mayor Kevin McDonnell, before the vote was taken. “We really need housing and we really need it in the affordable group.”

The all-electric, four-story apartment complex, named the Washington Commons project, will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments as well as studio apartments. Amenities will include a community room, property management offices, a laundry room, bicycle parking and a courtyard, according to the staff report.

“This sounds like a wonderful project, (a) beautiful project, and will without doubt give many lucky families the home that they desperately need,” said Sheila Baker, who spoke during the meeting. She also suggested a rideshare program be established at the new complex for those with limited transportation options.

Under Senate Bill 35, Washington Commons is guaranteed to move quickly through the approval process as long as it meets state development standards and certain affordable housing qualifications. Under the state law, local governments and communities are restricted in their ability to reject such projects, as senior city planner Heather Hines explained.

“What that means is we approve it at a staff level with no discretion. So no decision by the Planning Commission, no (site plan and architectural review) hearing, no use-permit hearing,” Hines said.

Council member Mike Healy, who cast the lone “no” vote, said he approved of the project overall, including its location and density. But he said its lack of parking spaces moved him to reject the proposal.

“I think it’s a very good project that’s ruined by inadequate parking,” Healy said. “I think there’s a lot of wishful thinking here, and I really don’t see a connection in how we get there and how we make this work without causing problems.”

The project currently calls for only 22 parking spaces for resident vehicles, which means less than half of the units would be able to park cars on site.

Healy pointed to what he called the “parking challenged” apartment community on Ellis Street, which is a block away from the latest MidPen Housing project site.

“You’ve got two or three families in each apartment, and so you have parking that is never available,” he said. “This is just going to put an additional parking burden on our low-income, heavily Hispanic adjoining neighborhood, which I don’t think is fair.”

The approved $500,000 in-lieu funds comprises a portion of the total site purchase cost of $1.4 million, according to the staff report. The total cost for acquisition and development of Washington Commons is estimated to be $39 million.

City staff said the current available balance of Petaluma’s Housing In-Lieu Fund is approximately $1.7 million, and anticipated revenue for the fund by fiscal year 2023-24 would add $1.8 million based on assessed fees of residential projects under construction. In-lieu funds are collected from developers to pay for affordable housing units in cases where those units are not included on-site in an approved development.

According to the staff report, the city plans to gather community feedback on the project between February and March, and further project reviews by city leaders are expected later in the spring. Construction is slated to begin in 2024, with a completion date expected for 2026.

MidPen Housing Corporation is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit affordable housing developers, and says it has housed more than 16,600 residents in 11 Northern California counties. Most recently, MidPen constructed a 45-unit affordable housing project at 414 Petaluma Blvd. N.

Amelia Parreira is a staff writer for the Argus-Courier. She can be reached at amelia.parreira@arguscourier.com or 707-521-5208.