The Fresno City Council has approved a policy to help streamline the building approval process for proposed developments that set aside at least one-fifth of their housing units to lower-income households. This policy allows developers who present a housing proposal with at least 20% of their total units priced for low-income rental prices to be approved ministerially by the city in certain areas of town, skipping review by the Fresno Planning Commission and City Council.

Affordable Housing Initiative

Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea said the proposal is a way for the council to address local cost of living issues. The policy also helps keep the city compliant with its Housing Element, a document cities and counties must submit to California housing officials to outline how they plan to help address the state’s housing shortage.

Though relatively brief, comments at Thursday’s hearing for the proposal mirrored conversations heard last year when the city debated a similar policy to allow for ministerial approval of select office-to-housing conversions. The policy was approved 6-1, with Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi being the lone dissenting vote.

Karbassi expressed concerns that the policy could lead to less public input, as it allows for ministerial approval of projects in certain areas. However, the policy being included in Fresno’s Housing Element largely tied the city’s hands, as a failure to pass the policy could have brought consequences that ranged anywhere from a loss of eligibility for state funding grants to litigation from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Original reporting: Fresnoland — read the source article.