Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Ken Cole, Director
Subject: HUD Assessment of Fair Housing
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution approving the Department of Housing Fair Housing Goals and Public Comment Responses to be included in the San Mateo County Regional Assessment of Fair Housing pursuant to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Final Rule, published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in July 2015.
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BACKGROUND:
The Fair Housing Act, which was adopted as part of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, requires recipients of federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) funding to Affirmatively Further Fairing Housing (AFFH). HUD published an AFFH Final Rule in July 2015 which outlines the process recipients of HUD funding are required to use to demonstrate compliance with the rule. That process includes preparation of an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) which must include an analysis of fair housing data, an assessment of fair housing issues and contributing factors, and an identification of fair housing priorities and goals.
As a recipient of HUD funding, the County of San Mateo (the “County”) is subject to the AFFH Final Rule as is the Housing Authority of the County of San Mateo. Other agencies in San Mateo County subject to the AFFH rule include the Housing Authority of South San Francisco and the Cities of Daly City, Redwood City, San Mateo, and South San Francisco. All these agencies, known together as the entitlement jurisdictions, agreed to work collaboratively on a joint AFH for the entire San Mateo County region. On November 15, 2016, your Board adopted a resolution to authorize the County to participate in this joint assessment process and also approved the required Community Participation Plan associated with the development of the countywide AFH.
DISCUSSION:
The AFH Community Participation Plan included outreach to all County residents and specific outreach to populations affected by fair housing decisions, investments, and challenges. In addition to community input gathered through the engagement process, the AFH must also include analysis of HUD-provided maps and tables and also local data. This analysis is used to assess the impact of multiple factors that affect the fair housing environment.
The results of this analysis were presented to your Board on July 25, 2017, and the required public hearing was also held. At that meeting, your Board appointed Supervisors Warren Slocum and David Canepa to an AFH Subcommittee to review outreach activities that had been completed for the AFH and determine if additional outreach was needed.
The AFFH Final Rule requires that after the initial public hearing, the draft AFH be made available for public review and comment for 45 days. The San Mateo County Regional AFH comment period began on August 1, 2017 when the draft was released to the public and closed on September 15, 2017. During that period, 15 public comment letters were received, many with multiple signatories. In addition, the AFH Subcommittee requested public comment be gathered at a town hall event in North Fair Oaks which was held on September 12, 2017.
The AFH must include fair housing goals for each entitlement jurisdiction that address the issues identified in the analysis or through public comment. The San Mateo County goals are listed in Attachment 1. The AFH must also include all public comments and responses to those comments. The public comments and the County’s response to those comments are listed in Attachment 2.
The AFH Subcommittee reviewed and accepted the Fair Housing Goals and Public Comment Responses for the San Mateo County draft final AFH on September 19, 2017. If approved by your Board, the Fair Housing Goals and Public Comment Responses will be included in the draft final San Mateo County Regional Assessment of Fair Housing submitted to HUD by October 4, 2017. If HUD accepts the draft final document, our AFH will become final. If it is not accepted, the County would make revisions, open a 30-day public comment period, and then resubmit the document to HUD.
The final AFH must be incorporated into the County’s subsequent Consolidated Plan, to be submitted to HUD on or before May 15, 2018. The San Mateo County Department of Housing will use the Final AFH goals to guide policy priorities and allocate future agency funding.
County Counsel has reviewed and approved the accompanying resolution as to form.
Approval of this action contributes to the Shared Vision 2025 outcome of Livable Communities by ensuring that the County adheres to the legal obligations and principles embodied in the concept of “fair housing”, which are fundamental to healthy communities.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Measure |
FY 2016-17 Actual |
FY 2017-18 Projected |
|
HUD Review & Acceptance |
N/A |
November 2017 |
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no net County cost.