Affordable Housing Siting Policy

Background

Beginning in 1988, the San José Housing Department applied a Dispersion Policy to the City's investments in affordable housing. This policy, which evolved over time, sought to achieve balance in locating affordable housing across the city.

In 2017, the City Council voted to pause implementation of the Dispersion Policy to allow for an update to the policy, to align with the General Plan and with federal and state guidance on fair housing. It was determined the current Policy was outdated and inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the General Plan 2040, which focuses development in mixed-use, walkable Urban Village areas, concentrating growth near transit corridors throughout the city.

Work to Date

On December 6, 2022, the City Council unanimously approved the Affordable Housing Siting Policy. The purpose of the Siting Policy is to expand affordable housing choices through equitable development that reduces disparities in housing options among neighborhoods and continues to build integrated, vibrant, and healthy communities. The Siting Policy intends to find the right balance to achieve multiple objectives. Specifically, this entails creating much-needed affordable housing while ensuring that housing choices and opportunities for lower-income households are available throughout the City. The Siting Policy has been shaped to provide this balance using both a data-driven approach and constituent engagement. In the long term, the Siting Policy will increase choice and decrease segregation by intentionally investing to create a greater diversity of housing in neighborhoods that have historically eschewed affordable housing, while advancing the following specific objectives:

1. Aligning with Federal and State affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) laws and obligations;
2. Create a goal to develop affordable housing in areas of the City that have historically limited low-income housing development; and
3. Expand housing choices for low-income residents.

The Siting Policy would apply to most activities that increase the stock of affordable housing in San José, including new construction affordable housing created with public financing, including but not limited to developments directly funded by the City and those financed with tax-exempt bonds, regardless of the issuer; acquisition and rehabilitation of existing market-rate housing that is converted to affordable housing; and affordable housing created through the City's Inclusionary Housing Ordinance when a developer elects to build this housing off-site. However, the Siting Policy would not apply to acquisition.

Reference Materials

Affordable Housing Memo - December 6, 2022
Affordable Housing Siting Policy PowerPoint
Affordable Housing Siting Policy Report
Affordable Housing Resolution
Affordable Housing Siting Policy
Siting Policy Map (Developed by the Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley)

Public Outreach

Meeting Date & Audience	Attendees
September 29, 2022 - General public	59
September 30, 2022 - General public	60
October 6, 2022 - Developers	22
October 13, 2022 - General public	12
Total	153

City staff and the consultant team sought to ensure the community was engaged in the development of the Affordable Housing Siting Policy. Meetings were held from August 2020 to August 2021 to gather input on the development criteria for a Siting Policy that is dispersed throughout each district. A summary of comments from these meetings can be found below:

Community Meeting on August 16th, 2021