The city council finds and determines that in order to provide sufficient affordable housing to achieve the city’s goal of providing a full range of affordable housing options to residents of the city, in accordance with the standards established in the general plan, housing element, and other applicable plans and regulations, development projects identified in Section
8.69.040 shall pay a commercial linkage fee in order to mitigate the impacts of these development projects on affordable housing in the city.
(a) Encourage
the development and availability of housing affordable to a broad
range of households with varying income levels within the city as
mandated by California
Government Code Section 65580, et seq.
(b) Offset
the demand for affordable housing that is created by new commercial
development and mitigate impacts that accompany new commercial development
by protecting the economic diversity of the city’s housing stock;
reducing traffic, transit and related air quality impacts; promoting
jobs/housing balance; and reducing the demands placed on transportation
infrastructure in the region.
(c) Promote
the city’s policy to promote the provision of housing by both
the private and public sectors for all income groups in the community,
as identified by the Housing Element of the general plan.
(d) Support
the Housing Element goal of encouraging high quality residential development,
as well as ensure a full range of affordable housing and the policies
and actions that support this goal.
(e) Support
the Housing Element goal of providing suitable, decent, and affordable
housing for its residents.
(f) Support
the guiding principle of the Housing Element that housing in South
San Francisco supports increasing the range and diversity of housing
options that will be an integral aspect of the city’s growth
and development.
(g) Support
the guiding principle of the Housing Element that South San Francisco
values diversity and strives to ensure that all households have equal
access to the city’s housing resources.
(h) Meet
the housing needs identified by the Housing Element of the general
plan.
(i) Encourage
the production of the very low, low, and moderate-income units planned
for by the Housing Element of the general plan.
(Ord. 1560 § 2, 2018)
The city council finds and determines that there is a reasonable
relationship between the commercial linkage fee and the type of development
projects to which the fee is imposed because the development projects
that are subject to the fee outlined in this chapter will place additional
demands on housing, specifically affordable housing, in the city.
The proceeds collected as a result of this fee will address and mitigate
the additional impacts created by these development projects.
(Ord. 1560 § 2, 2018)
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
“Administrator”
means the director of economic and community development
of the city or other person designated by the city manager.
“Building permit”
includes full structural building permits, as well as partial
permits such as foundation-only permits.
“Commercial use”
includes hotels; retail uses, restaurants, services; and
offices, medical offices, and research and development uses.
“Commercial development project”
means an application for a planning permit or building permit
that includes the new construction of gross square feet of commercial
space or the conversion of a residential use to a commercial use.
“Commercial linkage fee”
means the fee paid by developers of commercial development
projects to mitigate the impacts that such projects have on the demand
for affordable housing in the city.
“Developer”
means any person, property owner, firm, partnership, association,
joint venture, corporation, or any entity or combination of entities,
which seeks city approvals for all or part of a commercial development
project.
“First approval”
means the first discretionary approval to occur with respect
to a commercial development project or, for commercial development
projects not requiring a discretionary approval, the issuance of a
building permit.
“Planning permit”
means any discretionary approval of a residential project,
including, but not limited to, a comprehensive or specific plan adoption
or amendment, rezoning, tentative map, parcel map, conditional use
permit, variances, or architectural review.
(Ord. 1560 § 2, 2018)
The city council may from time to time adopt by resolution a
commercial linkage fee to be imposed on developers of commercial development
projects. Commercial linkage fees shall not exceed the cost of mitigating
the impact of the commercial development projects on the need for
affordable housing in the city.
(Ord. 1560 § 2, 2018)