Development Streamlining and Incentives Program (DSIP)

PROJECT SUMMARY

The Community Development Department’s Planning Division is developing the Development Streamlining & Incentives Program (DSIP), which consists of three primary components:
(1) Updating and clarifying the City's Development Review (DR) process;
(2) Updating the City’s Density Bonus Ordinance to align with state Law; and
(3) Establishing a framework for a Community Benefits Program (CBP).

Collectively, these efforts are intended to streamline development review procedures, reduce processing timelines, incentivize housing production, and implement adopted City policies and programs consistent with applicable state law.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The adopted City of Burbank 2021-2029 Housing Element sets forth 27 Programs to address the community’s identified housing needs and implement the City’s housing-related goals and objectives. This project seeks to implement fully or in part several of these Programs, including:

Program 9: Facilitate Development of Affordable Housing on Non-Vacant Sites
This DSIP includes an expansion and clarification of various options for by-right development. The CBP component is a local option for by-right development which includes ministerial/streamlined approval for housing projects that provide Community Benefits. Among the options for Community Benefits is increased affordability. Beyond the CBP there are several options for ministerial review included in the proposed program.

Program 11: Density Bonus Ordinance
The DSIP includes an update to the City’s Density Bonus Ordinance. The proposal streamlines the Burbank Municipal Code (BMC) by referencing state law directly and establishing detailed Implementing Regulations. Furthermore, the proposed changes would establish a simplified process for reviewing density bonus incentives, concessions, and waivers, with on-menu concessions and incentives approved ministerially and granted automatically, and off-menu concessions/incentives and all waivers approved, and only subject to denial only through explicit statutory findings.

Program 12: Affordable Homeownership Program
One of the goals is to incentivize the construction of “missing middle” housing including smaller apartments, townhome and rowhouse style development.
The DSIP includes an option for Ministerial Development Review for “missing middle” housing types of up to 22 units in residential zones citywide. This option is designed to result in a townhome, compact apartment building type or multi-plex courtyard configuration.

Program 17: Objective Development Standards
Among the goals of this program is the objective to streamline the processing of housing projects of a limited size that comply with the development standards through the establishment of by-right/ministerial approval in the Specific Plan Areas. The DSIP will be established directly following the Specific Plans, and furthers the implementation of this Program by creating a path to ministerial approval for certain housing development projects.

Program 19: Development Fee Waivers
This program calls for potential fee reductions offered as an incentive for the production of affordable housing. Among the Developer Benefits for projects which qualify for the CBP is a reduction in Community Facility Fees (also known as Development Impact Fees) for the affordable housing units proposed for the housing development project. Staff will evaluate the feasibility of this option at this time.

City staff undertook this effort starting in December of 2022 and obtained the services of a qualified City consultant with expertise in this topic, to research and prepare this analysis. This exercise is being undertaken primarily to inform future decisions related to the City’s policy related to housing policy. The discussion is also timely as the City looks for ways to incentivize affordable housing production and considers different options for fulfilling the State’s Regional housing Need Assessment (RHNA) allocation for Burbank, which requires that the City construct 8,772 housing units, 3,971 for lower-income households by 2029.

Included below is additional information through which the public can stay up to date on the status of work associated with this effort.