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CHC 01-13-05 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CUPERTINO HOUSING COMMISSION January 13,2005 1. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Cupertino Housing Commission was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Chairperson Frances Seward 2. ROLL CALL Present: Chairperson Frances Seward, Housing Commissioners Richard Abdalah, Sarah Hathaway-Feit, Kim Mosleh, Mahesh Niha1ani and P1anning Commissioner Lisa Giefer Absent: None Staff present: Vera Gil, Senior Planner 3. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS None 4. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Approval of October 28, 2004 minutes Action: Item continued 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Teacher Housing Assistance Program Staff explained that although the Teacher Housing Assistance program has been in existence since February 2003, no teachers have been received loans from the program. Both City staff and the staff from Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley, the agency administering the program on the City's behalf, believe the requirement that the applicant's home must be 10cated within the City limits has caused teachers not to take advantage of the program. Ed Moncrief, Executive Director of Neighborhood Housing Services, stated that his staff has interviewed many of the teachers that expressed interest in the program. The teachers often stated that they did not think they could find a decent townhome in Cupertino for the amount of money they could afford to pay. They also felt that the loans were not sufficient to off set the higher Cupertino housing prices. Many teachers believe they can purchase a nicer unit for the price in a neighboring community. Mary Jew, Cupertino Union School District, mentioned that some teachers have taken advantage of the Below Market Rate (BMR) program. Ms. Jew also expressed an interest in having the City remove some of the BMR priorities. She felt the work within the City limits was too restrictive since some teachers work in the Cupertino School District, but do not work within the City limits. Staff explained that the BMR program is not a teacher program, but a community-wide program that gives some preference to teachers and other public service employees. Public Service employees receive one point, Cupertino residents receive one point and applicants working within the Cupertino city limits receive one point. The goal of awarding one point to Cupertino workers is to assist in reducing commute times and encouraging workers to live in the cities they work in. It is possible for applicants receiving two points to receive a BMR unit. The Housing Commission continued discussing the Teacher Housing Assistance Program and requested that the school districts provide the City with maps showing the school district boundaries. At the next meeting the Housing Commission will evaluate whether they can expand the boundaries for eligible homes to match with the boundaries of one of the school districts. b. General Plan Update Ciddy Wordell, City Planner, discussed the General Plan update process and explained to the Housing Commission the differences between the Administrative Draft of the General Plan and the General Plan Task Force Draft. The Task Force Draft has removed Policy 3-1, which designated the number of units to be planned for by income category. Also amended were the wording requiring a better jobs/housing balance and mixed use housing in the Crossroads area of Cupertino. The Housing Commission agreed that Chairperson Seward and Commissioner Hathaway-Feit would meet with staff to produce a statement from the Housing Commission. The statement will then be e-mailed to the Housing Commission for review prior to the January 25, 2005 Planning Commission meeting. Commissioner Seward will attend the meeting to represent the Housing Commission. 8. COMMITTEE MEMBER REPORTS None 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS None 10. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 8: 1 0 p.m. to regular meeting on February 10,2005. SUBMITTED BY: ~Jj~ 1Lx Vera Gi1, Staffliaison to the Cupertino Housing Commission