Spend $30,000 in housing fees to hire law firm for inclusionary housing law changes
In Plain English
The city collects fees from developers who build market-rate housing instead of including affordable units. Richmond wants to update its inclusionary housing law, which requires new developments to include affordable units or pay fees instead. If approved, the city uses $30,000 from these collected fees to pay Goldfarb & Lipman law firm for drafting the changes.
Auto-generated summary. Source: official agenda documents.
Votes
Motion · Official minutes
Hold the item over until a study session was with the City Council
5 aye · 1 nay
Why This Vote Matters
The council voted to delay spending $30,000 on legal services to update Richmond's affordable housing requirements, instead scheduling a study session to discuss the matter first. The money would come from fees the city has already collected from developers who chose to pay rather than include affordable units in their projects. In a 5-1 vote with broad support, the council decided more discussion was needed before hiring Goldfarb & Lipman law firm to draft changes to the inclusionary housing law. Mayor Butt was the only dissenting vote, with Councilmember Beckles absent. This delays the legal work but ensures the council will have a dedicated meeting to thoroughly review the proposed updates to housing policy.
Auto-generated context based on official minutes.
Motions without individual roll-call records
Substitute motion · Official minutes
Approve the item and immediately start the process of how inclusionary fees could be spent and what the fees were spent on in the past
Related agenda records
Automatically matched by topic. Open an item to check its relevance and each motion’s outcome.
Housing In-Lieu Fees Appropriation
Amending Inclusionary Housing and Affordable Housing Linkage Fee ordinance
INTRODUCE an ordinance amending the Richmond Municipal Code in relation to the City of Richmond's inclusionary housing program; and ADOPT a resolution amending inclusionary housing in-lieu fees for residential developments and adopting non-residential linkage fees for non-residential developments
Inclusionary Housing Ordinance update
Guidelines for Implementation of the Inclusionary Housing and Affordable Housing Linkage Fee Ordinance