The Consolidated Plan is a comprehensive planning document that identifies a jurisdiction's overall needs for affordable housing and nonhousing community development, outlining a strategy to address those needs. The five year strategy and one year Action Plan proposed are designed to correspond with adopted goals from the City’s General Plan Housing and Community Revitalization Sub Element. The Consolidated Plan includes the City’s application for the CDBG grant of $1,345,000, $420,000 in program income and $560,000 in HOME funds for fiscal year 2000/01.

Every five years, the federal government requires that the entire document be updated, and that during the intervening years only the one-year plan must be submitted for approval, along with any substantial changes to the rest of the text. This document establishes the new five-year strategy period; however, because Census data required to be used in updating the needs section of this document have not yet been received, HUD is allowing local jurisdictions to review their existing five-year Consolidated Plans and update them only to the extent that new information is readily available.

The Consolidated Plan focuses on the City’s affordable housing strategy and includes support of housing and human service agencies, rehabilitation and retrofitting of existing housing stock, and the acquisition, rehabilitation, and construction of affordable housing by non-profit developers. The intent of the Plan is to encourage grantees to create a need-based, rather than resource-based, housing strategy. Since Sunnyvale has traditionally taken this approach, it will not require any major changes in the City’s plans or programs. The Consolidated Plan provides an action-oriented management tool for the City to identify housing needs and the resources and programs that can be used to address them.

The 2000-2005 Consolidated Plan has four main components: the Housing and Homeless Needs Assessment; the Housing Market Analysis; the Strategic Plan (2000-2005); and, the Action Plan. Staff has prepared a draft Consolidated Plan for the Period of 2000-2005 along with the 2000-2001 Action Plan for Council’s consideration. The draft Consolidated Plan has been available for public review for the past thirty days. The complete document is attached (Attachment A).

Specific agencies and programs which are recommended for funding by the City through the use of CDBG funds in Fiscal Year 2000/01 are listed on page 7 of the Plan. Implementation of the Consolidated Plan will not impact the City’s General Fund Budget. At its meeting on April 26, 2000 the Housing and Human Services Commission (HHSC) recommended approval of the Consolidated Plan. Staff recommends that the 2000-2005 Consolidated Plan and the 2000-2001 Action Plan be approved.

On November 28, 1990 President Bush signed the Cranston/Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 which reaffirmed the national commitment to provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing for all Americans. In 1995, HUD adopted a new regulation requiring that the applications for funds be consolidated into a single submission incorporating in the application aspects of CDBG, HOME, Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). (Only the CDBG and HOME programs are applicable in Sunnyvale.) This new plan is known as the Consolidated Plan. The Consolidated Plan includes an action plan and certifications that must be updated and submitted on an annual basis while the complete plan must be submitted at least every five years.

Title 1 of the National Affordable Housing Act requires that, in order to apply for certain HUD programs, state and local governments must have an approved Consolidated Plan.

Housing and Community Revitalization Sub-element:

Goal 2.3C: Promote and maintain a diversity in tenure, type, size, location and cost of housing to permit a range of individual choice for all current residents and those expected to become city residents as a result of normal growth processes and employment opportunities.

Policy 2.3C.1d.: The City should encourage and assist non-profit housing organizations to develop 100 new low and very low income rental units within the City over the next five years.

Title I of the National Affordable Housing Act (the Act) established the requirement that local governments, applying for direct assistance under certain federal programs, prepare and adopt a Consolidated Plan according to regulations and guidelines promulgated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The overall goal of this process is to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities principally for low- and moderate-income persons.

The Consolidated Plan is a comprehensive planning document that identifies a jurisdiction's overall needs for affordable housing and nonhousing community development, outlining a strategy to address those needs. The Act requires each local jurisdiction to describe its housing needs and market conditions, set out a five-year strategy that establishes priorities for meeting those needs, identify resources anticipated to be available to address the priority needs, and establish a one-year action plan that outlines the intended uses of the resources.

The Consolidated Plan focuses on the City’s affordable housing strategy and includes support of housing and human service agencies, rehabilitation and retrofitting of the existing housing stock, and the acquisition, rehabilitation, and construction of affordable housing by non-profit developers. The intent of the plan is to encourage grantees to create a need-based, rather than resource-based, housing strategy. Since Sunnyvale has traditionally taken this approach, it will not require any major changes in the City’s plans or programs.

The Consolidated Plan provides an action-oriented management tool for the City to identify housing needs and the resources and programs that can be used to address them. This document establishes the new five-year strategy period; however, because Census data required to be used in updating the needs section of this document are not yet available, HUD is allowing local jurisdictions to review their existing five-year Consolidated Plans and update them only to the extent that new information is readily available.

Further, jurisdictions are not required to develop new priorities for assistance if no new data are available to support such changes. It is anticipated that the City of Sunnyvale will complete a full review and prepare substantial revisions to this document once new Census data are available. In the interim, this report will provide limited new data to help establish the current climate of community development, but major changes to the overall approach of the 1995 document are not anticipated. Additionally, this document has been substantially reorganized and edited to conform to HUD’s guidance on the preparation of this year’s document.

The 2000-2005 Consolidated Plan has four main components: the Housing and Homeless Needs Assessment; the Housing Market Analysis; the Strategic Plan (2000-2005); and, the Action Plan.

1. The Housing and Homeless Needs Assessment describes the City’s estimated housing needs projected for the next five years. Based primarily on the 1990 census, this section identifies persons and families in need and those with housing cost burdens and overcrowded conditions. These include extremely low-income, low-income, moderate and middle-income individuals, small and large families, and elderly persons. These categories are further divided among renters and owners. Included in this assessment are the needs of the homeless and the extent of homelessness among different groups of the homeless population. Also discussed are the special needs of persons requiring supportive housing.

A major finding of this section is that the group with the greatest housing needs appear to be low to moderate-income renter households. Eighty-five percent of the low-income renter households are paying more than 30 percent of their income toward housing costs, and of these more than half are paying over 50 percent of their income toward housing costs.

The number of homeless persons and households at risk of homelessness are also on the rise. An extensive survey of homeless persons in Santa Clara County was conducted in January 1995 at emergency shelters, transitional housing locations and unsheltered public locations where homeless persons were known to congregate. From the results of this survey it is estimated that approximately 16,300 persons experienced an episode of homelessness in Santa Clara County. An increasing number of the homeless population are families with children. Children (under age 18) comprised 23% of the persons surveyed, and the majority of those were under age 12.

2. The Housing Market Analysis describes the characteristics of the City’s housing market; the supply and demand and the condition of the housing stock. Areas of low-income, racial and ethnic concentrations within the City are also described.

Racial and ethnic concentrations tend to be in the northeastern area of the City, while the only census block considered to have a low-income concentration was in the southern area of the City. The availability of public assisted housing, supportive housing and homeless facilities within the city and County is also discussed along with the barriers to affordable housing.

3. The Strategic Plan describes the City’s priorities to provide housing that is affordable to extremely low-income, low and moderate-income families, homeless families and individuals with special needs who require supportive services. The Strategic Plan describes how the funds that are reasonably expected to be received will be used to address the identified needs and states the anticipated accomplishments.

The Priority Needs Summary table provides gross estimates of the total dollars needed to completely solve the needs, which are then given a High, Medium, or Low priority. These numbers are not intended to represent the amount of money that is actually available from the Department of Housing and Urban Development or any other agency.

Included in the Strategic Plan is the Nonhousing Community Development Plan, which prioritizes the City’s nonhousing community development needs requiring federal funds, including; public facility improvements such as the new "Older Adult Center", social services, accessibility, economic development needs, lead-based paint hazard reduction, code enforcement and planning.

4. The Action Plan for 2000-2001 includes a discussion of the funds from all sources that will be expended in Sunnyvale for affordable housing and support services in the next year. The Action Plan also provides a listing of all the activities to be undertaken during the program year.

Approval of the Consolidated Plan will not generate any new General Fund commitments. Without an approved Consolidated Plan the City would lose federal entitlement program monies. Specific agencies and programs which have been funded by the City in the past through the use of CDBG funds are listed. However, this does not constitute approval for these programs in the future.

1. Council can approve the 2000-2005 Consolidated Plan.
2. Council can approve the 2000-2005 Consolidated Plan with such minor modifications as appropriate.
3. Council can direct Staff to make significant changes to the 2000-2005 Consolidated Plan and hold a new Public Hearing.
4. Council can deny approval of the 2000-2005 Consolidated Plan.

Staff recommends alternative #1.

Prepared by:

Katrina L. Ardina
Housing Loans Specialist

Reviewed by:

David S. Boesch. Jr.
Director, Community Development

Approved by:

Robert S. LaSala
City Manager

A. HHSC April 26, 2000 Minutes

B. 2000 Consolidated Plan (.doc 574kb)