Oxnard Inclusionary Housing Ordinance Update 2022
The City of Oxnard is in the process of updating its Inclusionary Housing Ordinance (Ordinance 2980), which currently requires that all new residential developments containing ten or more dwelling units include a minimum of 10% of all housing units within that development to be affordable to lower-income households, or developers pay an in-lieu fee instead of producing the affordable units. Pursuant to a recommendation for the State of California Housing and Community Development Department Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing law, the City of Oxnard is seeking additional community input on how the existing Inclusionary Housing Ordinance should be updated.
This web page serves as the public information and participation “portal” to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance update process. Welcome Aboard!
If you have any questions, please contact the Housing Department at 805.312.1774
News
Draft Inclusionary Housing Ordinance
A draft update to the City’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance is available to view at the following links:
The Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the Draft Inclusionary Housing Ordinance on Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. The hearing will be held in City Council Chambers of the City of Oxnard located at 305 West Third Street. Members of the public will also be able to participate via video conference / telephone by following instructions on the following link https://www.oxnard.org/city-
A list of previous meetings and recording links are available at the end of this webpage.
You may return to this page to receive updated information, as it is available, regarding our next scheduled workshop for the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance update. If you have any questions on the City’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance update, please email Emilio.Ramirez@oxnard.org
What is Inclusionary Housing
Inclusionary housing, also referred to as ‘inclusionary zoning,’ is a policy or regulation that requires private developers to reserve a certain percentage of housing units for very low, low, or moderate-income households in new market-rate residential developments. To ensure long-term affordability, inclusionary programs usually include a minimum number of years that affordable units are restricted as affordable. Such programs often allow developers to incorporate affordable housing into the same development, build it elsewhere, or contribute money or land to produce affordable housing in lieu of construction. Inclusionary housing has been in practice in California and other parts of the country since the 1970s. Over 20% of the jurisdictions in California have adopted inclusionary housing programs to help address affordable housing needs and equitable development goals.
In many inclusionary housing programs, the affordable units must be of similar size and quality as the market-rate units and must be spread throughout the project. The integration of affordable units into market-rate development creates opportunities for households with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to live in the same developments and have access to the same types of community services and amenities.
In addition to Inclusionary housing, many jurisdictions have also adopted commercial linkage fee ordinances to share the public benefit-cost of affordable housing across all development types, including commercial and industrial development. The commercial linkage fee augments a jurisdictions Affordable Housing Funds used for the production of affordable housing by demonstrating a link between the jobs that businesses create and the need for workforce housing. The City’s inclusionary housing ordinance does not presently contain a commercial linkage fee, though such could be considered based on community input.
Reference link for more information on Inclusionary Housing: https://wclp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/inclusionary-factsheet_v2.pdf
Background
In 1999 the City established an Inclusionary Housing Program (Ord. 2506), requiring developers to provide a percentage of their units at affordable prices and a policy to establish an affordable housing in-lieu fee to facilitate new housing units that are affordable to households with extremely low, very low and low incomes. The program was updated in 2000 (Ord. 2545), 2002 (Ord. 2615), 2005 (Ord. 2688), 2006 (Ord. 2721) to provide a procedure for appeal and make other adjustments. The most recent update to the Inclusionary Housing Program was adopted by City Council on June 2, 2020 (Ordinance 2980) to increase in-lieu fees to address affordability gaps.
The City’s current inclusionary housing ordinance (Ord. 2980) requires that all new residential development projects containing ten or more dwelling units shall include a minimum of 10% of units affordable to lower-income households. For rental projects, at least 5% of dwelling units must be affordable for very low-income households and 5% must be affordable for lower-income households, consistent with State law. The ordinance requires the developer to offer affordable units to qualified Oxnard resident buyers or renters. The ordinance also allows developers to (1) request approval from the City Council to make an in-lieu affordable housing payment rather than developing units; or (2) dedicate land or build affordable units on specified off-site land. The fee is based on the City’s adopted affordable housing in-lieu fee schedule, adjusted annually. The in-lieu fee (Resolution 15,330) was determined through a lengthy fee study process and evaluation of fee sufficiency, and it is not anticipated to become a constraint to development.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
- January 31, 2023, Community-wide virtual meeting on the draft update to the City’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance.
- November 22, 2022, The Community Services, Public Safety and Housing & Community Development Committee meeting Community Services, Public Safety, Housing & Development Committee – 11/22/2022 – Agenda Item D2 – YouTube
- June 8, 2022, Public Workshop Power Point Presentation & recording from June 8, 2022 Workshop
- June 1, 2022, Inter-Neighborhood Council Organization (INCO) Meeting, https://youtu.be/UqKp_qTDdFQ
- May 9, 2022, West Ventura County Business Alliance (WVCBA) Meeting
- April 20, 2022 HFW! Meeting
- March 23, 2022, Public Workshop Power Point Presentation & recording from March 23, 2022 Workshop