§ 35-372. Affordable Dwelling Units.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
• To provide affordable shelter for all residents of the city.
• To address housing needs.
• To promote a full range of housing choices.
• To encourage the construction and continued existence of moderately priced housing by providing for optional increases in density in order to reduce land costs for such affordable housing.
This section implements the following provisions of the master plan:
• Neighborhoods, Policy 4a: Require affordable housing providers to complement the architectural design and character of the neighborhood in which new housing is being constructed.
• Neighborhoods, Policy 4e: Facilitate the provision of affordable housing by the private sector.
• Neighborhoods, Policy 4e: Provide incentives for private housing providers who provide affordable housing designed to meet the goals set forth in the five-year housing master policy.
• Neighborhoods, Policy 4e: Review zoning, subdivision ordinances, building codes, and related development-control ordinances and administrative procedures, to identify and overcome barriers to affordable housing.
• Urban Design, Policy 1c: Support and promote mixed-use residential development that will include a mix of multi-family units and single-family homes in varying sizes, types and price ranges.
(a)
Applicability.
(1)
Generally. The provisions of this section shall apply to any application for development approval, as set forth in subsection (2) below, which include affordable dwelling units with the maximum ratio specified in column (B) of Table 372-1, below. For purposes of this section, an "affordable dwelling unit" means any dwelling unit restricted as low income housing or very low income housing.
(2)
Qualifying Applications. The provisions of this section apply to a site, or a portion thereof, which is the subject of an application for a rezoning, master development plan, or subdivision plat.
(b)
Architectural Design and Character. Affordable dwelling units shall comply with the residential urban design criteria (section 35-372) of this chapter.
(c)
Density Bonus and Set-Aside Requirements.
(1)
A qualifying application (as defined in subsection (a) of this section) may be approved with an increase in the density of the site as set forth in Table 372-1. The applicant shall consent to a voluntary and enforceable condition in which the specified percentage of the developable density of the site, as specified in column (B) of Table 372-1, is reserved as affordable dwelling units as defined in subsection (a) of this section.
(2)
Table 372-1 shall be construed as follows:
A.
Determine the category of housing as set forth in column (A).
B.
Determine the required set-aside for the application category by referring to column (B). For purposes of this subsection, the number of affordable dwelling units required is determined by multiplying the total number of dwelling units permissible on the site as set forth in Table 310-1 by the percentage prescribed in column (B) of Table 372-1, below.
C.
Determine the density increase that may be awarded by referring to column (C). For purposes of this subsection, the additional density that may be awarded is determined by multiplying the total number of dwelling units permissible for the site as set forth in Table 310-1 by the percentage prescribed in column (C) of Table 372-1, below. The city shall not require the additional dwelling units to be restricted as to income.
Example: A twenty-acre parcel is zoned "R-6" (six (6) dwelling units per acre in Table 310-1). Thirty (30) percent of the parcel is devoted to right-of-way and open space, leaving fourteen (14) acres developable for lots. The developer can subdivide the tract into one hundred one (101) lots as a conventional subdivision (fourteen (14) acres (six thousand (6,000) square feet per lot). The applicant agrees to restrict ten (10) percent of the units, or ten (10) units (one hundred one (101) units by ten (10) percent (column (B) of Table 372-1, below), as low income housing. The developer may construct an additional twenty (20) dwelling units (one hundred one (101) by twenty (20) percent (column (C)), or a total of one hundred twenty-one (121) dwelling units.
(3)
In some instances, developers will not be able to provide the number of dwelling units permissible after applying Table 372-1. In such cases, the applicant may reduce the number of affordable dwelling units. However, the number of affordable dwelling units provided in such cases must at least equal the ratio. To the additional units which result from dividing column (B) by column (C) and multiplying the dividend by the number of affordable dwelling units required under subsection (2), above.
Example: In the twenty-acre parcel discussed in the example under subsection (2), above, the developer is able to construct only ten (10) additional dwelling units because of floodplain restrictions. In Table 372-1, column (B) (ten (10) percent) (column (C) (twenty (20) percent) is fifty (50) percent. Ten (10) affordable dwelling units were required by subsection (2), above. The applicant may reduce the number of affordable dwelling units provided by fifty (50) percent, or by five (5) units.
TABLE 372-1
(A)
APPLICATION CATEGORY
(B)
SET-ASIDE
(C)
DENSITY BONUS
Low Income Housing 10% 20% Very-Low Income Housing 5% 10% (d)
Project Phasing. No qualifying application shall be approved unless the applicant consents to a condition that building permits for the dwelling units that are not affordable dwelling units (hereinafter "market rate units") shall be issued as follows:
(1)
Building permits may be issued for the first fifty (50) percent of the market rate units prior to the construction and offering for sale or rental of any affordable dwelling unit.
(2)
No building permits may be issued for the next twenty-five (25) percent of the market rate units (i.e., from fifty-one (51) percent up to seventy-five (75) percent of the approved market rate units) prior to the construction and offering for sale or rental of at least twenty-five (25) percent of the approved affordable dwelling units.
(3)
No building permits may be issued for the next fifteen (15) percent of the market rate units (i.e., from seventy-six (76) percent up to ninety (90) percent of the approved market rate units) prior to the construction and offering for sale or rental of at least seventy-five (75) percent of the approved affordable dwelling units.
(4)
No building permits may be issued for the remainder of the market rate units (i.e., from ninety-one (91) percent to one hundred (100) percent of the approved market rate units) prior to the construction and offering for sale or rental of one hundred (100) percent of the approved affordable dwelling units.
(e)
Enforcement. The city council or its designee may enforce compliance with the standards of this section and may impose penalties for noncompliance as set forth in article IV of this chapter.
(f)
Administration.
(1)
Affordable dwelling units shall be offered for sale or rent exclusively to persons, households or families who meet the income criteria for "low income housing" or "very-low income housing," as defined in Appendix "A" of this chapter, hereinafter target households.
(2)
The provisions of this section may be administered by the City of San Antonio Grants Monitoring and Administration. The City of San Antonio or a community housing development organization (CHDO) shall have an exclusive right to purchase any units be offered for sale to target households but not purchased or rented within a time period mutually agreed upon between the applicant and the City of San Antonio or a CHDO.
(3)
Affordable dwelling unit sales prices throughout the city shall be established by the City of San Antonio initially and shall be adjusted semiannually, based on a determination of all ordinary, necessary and reasonable costs required to construct the affordable dwelling unit prototype dwellings by private industry, and other information such as the area's current general market and economic conditions, provided that sales prices not include the cost of land, on-site sales commissions and marketing expenses, but may include, among other costs, builder-paid permanent mortgage placement costs and buy-down fees and closing costs except prepaid expenses required at settlement.
(4)
Affordable dwelling unit rental prices shall be established by the City of San Antonio initially and shall be adjusted semiannually, based on a determination of all ordinary, necessary and reasonable costs required to construct and market the required number of affordable dwelling rental units by private industry in the area, and other information such as the area's current general market and economic conditions.
(5)
Prices for re-sales and re-rentals shall be controlled by the City of San Antonio or a CHDO designated by the applicant for a period of fifty (50) years after the initial sale or rental transaction for each affordable dwelling unit.
(6)
The sales and rental price for affordable dwelling units within a development shall be established such that the owner/applicant shall not suffer economic loss as a result of providing the required affordable dwelling units. "Economic loss" for sales units means that result when the owner or applicant of a development fails to recoup the cost of construction and certain allowances as may be determined by the City of San Antonio for the affordable dwelling units, exclusive of the cost of land acquisition and costs voluntarily incurred but not authorized by this section, upon the sale of an affordable dwelling unit.
(Ord. No. 2010-11-18-0985, § 2, 11-18-10)