With no discussion about the impacts, the Union City City Council directed staff on April 11, 2017, to draft and bring back ordinance language that would impose an affordable housing impact fee on new rental homes starting at $10 per sq. ft. and increase by $1 per sq. ft. per year for the next three years to $14 per sq. ft. The council also gave the go-ahead for revisions to the city’s affordable housing fee program for market-rate homes. Currently, for-sale housing developers must set aside 15 percent of the units as affordable, pay an in-lieu fee or reach an alternative in-lieu compliance agreement with the city. The council eliminated the alternative compliance option and set a single in-lieu fee of $20 per sq. ft for the first year, which will increase to $22 per sq. ft. in the second year and be adjusted annually based on the CPI. The rates as specified under the new structure are lower than the existing in-lieu fees for all but the smallest units although some developers have negotiated less costly deals through the alternative compliance program.) Click here to read BIA|Bay Area’s letter to the Union City City Council. Click here to read the agenda and staff report. For questions or comments, contact BIA’s Lisa Vorderbrueggen at lvorderbrueggen@biabayarea.org or 925-348-1956.
