Re B Anb Oensi Ed

Sonoma County and its nine Cities have officially recognized the need for Affordable Housing but not all have fully endorsed the Regional Housing Needs Allocation or met earlier goals. The Town of Windsor disagrees partially with this finding- The Town and other jurisdictions in Sonoma County have recognized the need for affordable housing and have dedicated resources and stafftoward prioritizing affordable housing and addressing the state mandated RHNA across all income categories. While it is true that not all jurisdictions have been successful in meeting the 5th cycle RHNA, this is not due to a resistance ofthe RHNA by Sonoma County's towns and cities.

Some cities hinder the development of Affordable Housing through designation of new historic districts, increased landscaping requirements, hithly restrictive zoning, and exploitation of environmental concerns. The Town of Windsor disagrees partially with this finding. The Town has consistently supported affordable housing development and works closely with affordable housing developers to identify and eliminate obstacles to development. While overly restrictive regulation may be a strategy that some cities use to hinder affordable housing development, the Town of Windsor does not engage in this process nor is Town staff aware of this practice in other Sonoma County jurisdictions.

There is great variability in the planning and approval processes and procedures for developing Affordable Housing in the County and its Cities, thus complicating and slowing development. The Town of Windsor partially disagrees with this finding. While there is great variability in the planning and approval processes and procedures among the various jurisdictions in Sonoma County, the variability is a result of the unique circumstances and values that each community has. The variability does not necessarily complicate or slow down development of housing. Each jurisdiction retains local discretion to ensure that the uniqueness and individuality of their community is preserved, enhanced, and stays in line with the community's vision. FlO. Design review and project approval are often slow and very complex, and hinder the development of Affordable Housing. The Town of Windsor partially disagrees with this finding. While there is potential for the design review process to hinder development, the Town of Windsor has developed several tools to facilitate the development of affordable housing. The Town does not have a separate design review board or committee; the Planning Commission is empowered to conduct design review at the same time that it considers other land use entitlements. The Town offers non- binding concept design review to provide direction to developers before many resources are invested into design. Additionally, the Town has adopted objective design standards and takes advantage of State-mandated ministerial review processes to reduce processing times.

Mitigation fees vary by individual projects and jurisdictions, complicating the building of Affordable Housing. The Town of Windsor disagrees partially with this finding. lt is true that mitigation fees will vary between projects and jurisdictions, but that is because every project has individual and specific impacts, and every jurisdiction has unique infrastructure and service needs. The Town of Windsor has not seen evidence that this variability complicates the building of affordable housing.

Changes to city boundaries by annexation of land within their Spheres of lnfluence could allow the development of more Affordable Housing but is resisted due to the high costs of additional infrastructure. The Town of Windsor wholly disagrees with this finding. The cost of infrastructure may be an added challenge for development ofthese parcels, but the Town is supportive of annexations of land within the Sphere of lnfluence (SOl)for the purpose of development. A recent annexation facilitated by the Town has resulted in a development proposal that includes on-site affordable housing. Town of Windsor Response to Recommendations

I (we) agree with the findings numbered: Ft, F2, F3, F5, ttL, FL3, Fl4, Ft6, F]-g, F2O, F27, F22,