Revised 2023
-
2031
Housing Element
City Council
May 20, 2024
Zachary Dahl, Interim Director
Manira Sandhir, Planning Manager
Housing Element Team
Community Development Dept.
• Zachary Dahl, Interim Director
• Manira Sandhir, Planning Manager
• Steve Golden, Principal Planner
• Nicholas “Nicky” Vu, Housing Specialist II
• Linda Ly, Associate Planner
City Attorney’s Office
• Prasanna Rasiah, City Attorney
• Mazarin Vakharia, Assistant City Attorney
Consultants
• Diana Elrod, Diana R. Elrod Consulting
• Veronica Tam, Veronica Tam and
Associates
• Nicholas Hamilton, Good City
Company
• Darin Smith, EPS
• Heidi Aggeler, Root Policy Research
• Diane Glauber, Lawyer’s Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law
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Presentation Overview
• Staff Presentation
• Housing Element Background
• Housing Element Overview and Revisions
• Sites Inventory
• Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH)
• Goals, Policies and Programs
• Public Participation and Outreach
• Public Comments
• Clarifying Questions and Discussion
• Consideration of Adoption
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Housing Element Background
• Required Element in the City’s General Plan
• Requires Certification by State Housing and Community Development Department (HCD)
• 6th Housing Element Cycle – 2023-2031
• Regional Housing Needs Allocation
• Bay Area – 441,176 units
• City of San Mateo – 7,015 units
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City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)
Income
Category
Very Low
50% AMI
Low
80% AMI
Moderate
120% AMI
Above
Moderate
Income
Total
2023-31
Allocation 1,777 1,023 1,175 3,040 7,015
AMI – Area Median Income
2024 San Mateo County AMI:
• One-Person Household - $130,600
• Four-Person Household - $186,600
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Housing Element Timeline
• Preparation and Public Outreach
• 2020 and 2021
• First Draft
• Published – April 2022
• PC/CC Public Hearings – May/June 2022
• Submitted to HCD – July 2022
• First HCD Comment Letter – Sept. 2022
• City Council Study Session – Nov. 2022
• Second Round – Local Adoption
• Planning Commission Hearing – January
10, 2023
• City Council Hearing – January 24, 2023
• Submitted to HCD – January 27, 2023
• 2nd HCD Comment Letter – March 27,
2023
• Third Round Updates
• Two City Council Study Sessions – April
and June 2023
• Resubmitted to HCD – Aug. 4, 2023
• Rescinded HCD Submission – Sept. 20,
2023
• Updated and Resubmitted to HCD –
Nov. 22, 2023
• Substantial Conformance
• HCD Letter – January 19, 2024
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Housing Element
-
Overview
1. Introduction and Background
2. Housing Needs and Sites Inventory
3. Other Required HE Components
• Constraints Analysis
• Existing and Potential Housing Resources
• Climate Change and Energy
4. Public Participation
5. Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH)
Assessment
6. Housing Plan - Goals, Policies and Programs
• Production, Preservation, Protection, Promotion and AFFH • 52 policies, 117 programs
7. Quantified Objectives
8. Review of Prior Housing Element
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Sites Inventory
-
Statutory Requirements
• Capacity Analysis – Enough land zoned at appropriate densities to accommodate RHNA allocation, plus a buffer
• Existing Uses – Use of redevelopment trends in the region can justify site selection without site-by-site analysis
• Realistic Capacity – Distributed citywide with consistent assumptions/requirements for different types of sites such as less than ½- acre, greater than 10-acres, vacant sites, non-vacant sites, etc. • Sites Inventory – Not a comprehensive list of all sites that may develop • It is likely that other sites not identified will be developed with housing • Show that City’s zoning allows for sufficient capacity to accommodate RHNA 8 of 43
9 Sites Inventory Methodology
• Sites Inventory Development
• Methodical review of individual parcels Citywide
• Focus on General Plan 2040 Study Areas
• Original Approach
• Focus on individual sites, with density adjusted for each site to determine most accurate realistic capacity
• Revised Approach
• Focus on a consistent methodology applied by zoning and parcel characteristics • Approach based on HCD discussions/input
• Types of Sites
• Vacant sites zoned for residential use
• Vacant sites zoned for nonresidential use that allow residential development • Residentially zoned sites, including non-residentially zoned sites with a residential overlay, that are capable of being developed at a higher density (non-vacant sites, including underutilized sites) • Sites owned/leased by a city and/or county
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• Site Evaluation Metrics
1. Property owner or developer interest
2. Developer owned
3. Previous proposal for redevelopment
4. Vacant site
5. Site containing limited improvements (such as
parking and outdoor storage)
6. Existing uses are consistent with recent
redevelopment trends
7. Age of structure
8. Single story versus multi-story structure
9. Improvement to land value ratio
10. Lot coverage
Sites Inventory Methodology
(cont.)
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Sites Inventory Methodology
(cont.)
• Evaluated Development Trends from 2019-2023
• Development Assumptions
• 90% of capacity for commercial, downtown, executive office and transit-oriented areas • 75% of capacity for multi-family zoned sites
• ADUs – 55 per year
• Affordability Distribution
• Above moderate units for sites under ½ acre
• RHNA distribution for sites between ½ acre-10 acres
• 15% low and 15% moderate for sites over 10 acres
• ADUs - 30% very low, 30% low, 30% moderate and 10% above moderate • Methodology Peer Reviewed - Economic Consultant EPS
• Confirmed trends in redevelopment of non-vacant sites; and long-term leases, while being a constraint, does not preclude development
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Recent Development Applications in Non
-
R Districts
Project Applic. Units Density (% of
base)
Zoning
477 E. Hillsdale Blvd. (Hillsdale Inn) Multi-
Family
PA22-021 230 150% C2
Block 21 (500 E. 3rd Ave.) Mixed-Use PA21-063 111 150% CBD/S 616 S. B Street, Nazareth Vista Mixed-Use PA22-037 48 150% C1/R5 477 9th Avenue, Mixed-Use PA22-047 120 150% E2
1855 S. Norfolk St., Multi-Family PA22-099 260 150% C1
Block 20 (500 E. 4th Ave.) Mixed-Use PA23-003 86 150% CBD/S Post + Beam (668 E. 3rd Ave.) Mixed-Use PA23-025 69 138% CBD/S 1919 O'Farrell Street Multi-Family PA20-037 49 135% E1/R4 Hayward Park Station (401 Concar Dr.)
Multi-Family
PA21-033 191 136% TOD
Bespoke (445 South B Street) Mixed-Use PA23-012 71 122% CBD/R 13 Pipeline Housing Projects
• What Counts as Pipeline
• Projects that have been approved, permitted, or received a certificate of occupancy after June 2022 can be credited toward City’s RHNA • New Development in the Pipeline
• 655 new housing units under construction
• 1,588 new housing units approved
• 856 new housing units under review
• Total pipeline projects - 3,110 units
• 44% of City’s total RHNA
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Summary
• Total RHNA – 7,015
• Pipeline Projects
• 3,110 units
• Total Realistic Capacity
• 10,286 Units
• Buffers
• Total RHNA – 94%
• Very Low/Low – 17%
• Moderate – 10%
• Above Moderate – 484%
• General Plan 2040
• Substantial Buffer Increase
15 General Plan 2040
• General Plan Update Process
• Started in 2018
• Adopted March 18, 2024
• Land Use Map significantly increases densities
• Densities increased from 35-50 units/acre to 99-130 units/acre • Creates capacity for over 19,700 new housing units over next 20 years • Over 90 percent of Sites Inventory sites are within a Study Area • Most sites have an updated land use designation with increased base density • Measure Y Amendment – November 2024
• To realize increased capacity and densities, voter approval will be necessary 16 of 43
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City Properties and Funding
• 480 E. 4th Ave - Kiku Crossing
• 225 BMR units; Temporary Cert. of Occupancy issue
• 445 S. B St - Bespoke
• 71 BMR units in mixed-use public-private partnership
• Approval target is 24/25
• Construction in 26/27
• 4142 El Camino Real
• City-owned future housing opportunity site
• Housing Fund
• Commercial Linkage Fee, Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA), Below Market Rate (BMR) fractional and in-lieu fees, and other miscellaneous housing funds
Kiku Crossing
Bespoke
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Missing Middle Housing
• Missing Middle housing: small to medium-scale development such as duplexes, triplexes, and 4-10 unit townhouse/apartment projects
• Missing Middle Housing and constraints to development a key City priority • Policies and programs
• Policy H1.4 Support Increased Accessory Dwelling Unit Development • Policy H1.6 Streamline Housing Application Review
• Policy H1.7 Update Zoning Code Development Standards to Support Housing Production
• Policy H1.8 Adopt Objective Design Standards
• Policy H1.12 Encourage Development of Missing Middle Housing • Policy 1.17 Permitting and Development Fee Review
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Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH)
• AB 686 requires public agencies to provide AFFH analysis beginning January 1, 2019. Must include:
• Fair housing enforcement and outreach capacity,
• Segregation and integration
• Disparities in access to opportunity,
• Disproportionate housing needs and displacement risks, and • Racially/ethnically concentrated areas of poverty
• Must “administer programs and activities relating to housing and community development in a manner that affirmatively furthers fair housing, and take no action inconsistent with this obligation” 20 of 43
AFFH
(cont.)
• Challenges identified:
• Racial/ethnic minority populations
disproportionately impacted by
poverty, overcrowding, cost
burdens and homelessness;
• Northeast areas of the City most
impacted; and
• Discrimination complaints based on
disability and race.
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AFFH
–
City’s Approach
• New programs to reduce barriers to housingin high opportunity areas;
• Promoting housing supply;
• Conserving/improving assets in areas of poverty;
• Protecting residents from displacement;
• Four action areas:
• Action Area 1 - Enhancing housing mobility strategies • Action Area 2 - Encouraging new housing choices and affordability in high or highest resource areas and racially concentrated areas of affluence (RCAA) • Action Area 3 - Improving place-based strategies to encourage community conservation and revitalization including preservation of existing affordable housing • Action Area 4 - Protecting existing residents from displacement 22 of 43
Other Required Components
• Existing and Potential Housing Resources
• Climate Change Context and Energy Conservation
Requirements
• Prior Housing Element Review and Accomplishments
• Housing units – 2,573 units completed through 2022
• 81.3% of the City’s 5th Cycle RHNA (3,164 units)
• Adopted Commercial Linkage fee and increased inclusionary Requirements to 15%
• Process Improvements and Code Amendments
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Goals, Policies, and Programs
• Goal 1 – Production - Produce new housing at all income levels, with a focus on Affordable Housing. 20 policies, 41 implementation actions. • Goal 2 – Preservation - Preserve existing housing that is affordable to lower- and middle-income residents. Six (6) policies, 13 implementation actions. • Goal 3 – Protection - Protect current residents to prevent displacement.
Seven (7) policies, 17 implementation actions.
• Goal 4 – Promotion - Promote community engagement and public outreach.
Five (5) policies, 12 implementation actions.
• Goal 5 – Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing- Address the issues of fair housing, equity and access while reinforcing the objective that affirmatively furthering fair housing is both a stand-alone priority and decisively inseparable from achieving the Housing Element’s other goals. 14 policies, 28 actions. 24 of 43
GOAL H1: Production of new housing at all income
levels, with a focus on affordable housing
• Utilize public funds and properties to build
more affordable units
• Support ADU production through regional
collaboration, promotion, availability of
resources, and streamlined review
• Coordinate with water and sewer providers
• Address constraints posed by Measure Y
• Encourage housing development through
Zoning Code amendments to reduce
constraints and maximize developable area,
create minimum densities for mixed-use,
updated policies for missing middle
housing, reduce parking requirements, and
simplify review processes
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GOAL H1
-
Updates and Revisions
• Require mid-cycle review of Sites Inventory production and monitoring of pipeline projects and ADUs
• Stronger policies for Extremely Low Income and Senior units • Added geographic targets and metrics in High/Highest Resource areas and Racially Concentrated Areas of Affluence (RCAA)
• Specific targets for streamlining review of projects meeting Objective Design Standards
• Action to amend zoning code to allow housing as a permitted use on Quasi- Public sites after General Plan adoption
• Backup action to add capacity for at least 1,700 new units around the City if an amendment to Measure Y is not approved by the voters in November 2024 26 of 43
Policy H 1.20
–
Adopt San
Mateo General Plan 2040
Backup Action (e)
If the Measure Y ballot initiative does not
pass in November 2024, present
alternative plans within six months to the
City Council, including a plan for
rezoning, to address the housing
production constraint of Measure Y with
an emphasis on higher densities in high
and highest resource areas, and to add
at least 1,700 units of new capacity
around the City, thereby increasing the
City’s RHNA buffer by at least 25%.
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GOAL H2: Preservation of existing housing that is
affordable to lower
-
and middle
-
income residents
• Prevent conversion of existing affordable units from becoming market rate by renegotiating agreements
• Use public funds to acquire the units or require developers to replace any lost units
• Indirectly preserve affordable housing by improving the quality of life of residents to prevent displacement
• Incentivize upgrades to low-income homes through rehabilitation, accessibility modifications, or energy efficiency changes
• Enable capital improvements and resiliency projects that protect against threats posed by climate change
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GOAL H2
–
Updates and Revisions
• ELI Focus with geographic metrics focused on low-
resource areas
• Focusing 40% of housing rehabilitation funds in low-
resource areas and areas with significant
infrastructure needs
• At least eight improvement projects in Equity Priority Areas, funded through Capital Improvement Plan
(CIP)/Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)
Bridgepointe
Condominiums
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GOAL H3: Protection of current residents to
prevent displacement
• Prevent gentrification and displacement through protection of lower-income residents.
• Address homelessness and increase shelter capacity that can protect housing insecure individuals and families from having to leave the City entirely • Affirmatively fund and support outreach services for at-risk renters and/or those facing fair housing challenges
• Prioritize special needs tenants in below market rate units • Undertake several actions to affirmatively further fair housing, including below- market rate set-asides
• Revisions – Updated/expanded Program H 3.6 (Monitor Rental Rates and Displacement)
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GOAL H4: Promotion of community engagement
and public outreach
• Increase access and awareness of housing programs through use of new technology
• Provide education and information on regulatory requirements and specific programs and protections offered locally, regionally, and by the state
• Support countywide rental waitlist to centralize occupancy of BMR units • Conduct public outreach in a diversity of methods and forms • Conduct direct outreach to owners/developers of properties on the Sites Inventory
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Goal H5: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
• Action Area 1 - Enhancing housing mobility
strategies
• Action Area 2 - Encouraging new housing
choices and affordability in high or highest
resource areas and racially concentrated
areas of affluence (RCAA)
• Action Area 3 - Improving place-based
strategies to encourage community
conservation and revitalization including
preservation of existing affordable housing
• Action Area 4 - Protecting existing residents
from displacement
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Goal H5: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
• Actions address issues focused on groups that have disparate housing needs in the City, concentrated in census tracts that have high rates of poverty. Example – Hispanic community, and single-female heads of household.
• Persons with disabilities also experience housing discrimination due to low economic opportunity and failure of landlords to provide reasonable accommodations. Actions identified have specific quantified objectives to reach the target households.
• AFFH Fair Housing Action - cross references items that are interwoven with the Housing Plan’s other four goals, policies, and programs. 33 of 43
Goal H5
–
Updates and Revisions
• Added specific language about targeting AFFH programs in areas of higher resources and areas of affluence.
• Targeted programs to specifically address the needs of ELI households. • Added specific numerical targets for the number of units/households to be achieved.
• Added concrete actions to conduct outreach to developers and special needs group to facilitate implementation.
• Added a new program (5.2.4) that would, in conjunction with the County, develop a housing mobility program that provides support to tenants seeking to move to high opportunity areas in the region.
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• Comment Letters from
Groups/Organizations
• California Housing Defense Fund (CalHDF)
• Housing Action Coalition (HAC)
• David D Bohannon Organization (Hillsdale
Mall)
• NAACP – San Mateo Branch
• Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
• Housing Leadership Council
• TransForm
• Citizens’ Climate Lobby
• Beresford Hillsdale Neighborhood
Association
• One San Mateo
• Campaign for Fair Housing
• Peninsula for Everyone
Public Comments and Participation
• Public Review Periods
• April/May 2022 30-day
• Dec/Jan 2023 14-day
• July 2023 14-day
• November 2023 7-day
• April 2024 7-day
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Response to Public Comments
• Iterative Responses and Changes
• Four rounds of review with public comment periods
• Multiple supplemental submittals to respond to public comments • Sites Inventory
• Updated Realistic Capacity Methodology
• Added/removed sites, and updated capacity estimates
• Policies and Programs
• Updated and revised text
• Increased level of commitment and target metrics
• City Response Letters
• CalHDF, Housing Action Coalition (3) and Hillsdale Mall • Economic Consultant Peer Review
• Assumptions, financials, and trends reviewed by EPS
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Public Comments
–
April 2024
• Public comments since April 16, 2024
• Received a total of six comment letters
• In support of more affordable housing in the City
• In support of AB1033 – Optional local policies to allow ADUs for separate ownership • Organizations – HAC and CalHDF
• Housing Action Coalition (HAC) Letter - 4/19, 11/15 (most recent) • Concerns about development feasibility, realistic capacity assumptions and existing leases being a barrier to redevelopment
• Staff Response Letters – sent 4/22 and 5/17
• California Housing Defense Fund Letter - 4/23
• Concerns about Constraints Analysis and realistic capacity assumptions • Staff Response Letter – sent 5/17
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Planning Commission Recommendation
• Public Hearing held on April 23, 2024
• Five members of the public provided input
• Stronger tenant protection and anti-displacement policies; more affordable housing and higher densities in the highest resource areas, housing sites exposed to poor air quality, and allow for the sale of ADUs. • Commission voted 4-1 to recommend adoption of the
Revised Housing Element to the City Council
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Supplemental Analysis
–
Sites Inventory
• Updated Memo from EPS – May 17, 2024
• Despite certain challenges posed by existing uses, market trends demonstrate that redevelopment of existing uses on sites included in the Housing Element Sites Inventory is likely to occur within the planning period.
• Redevelopment of non-vacant commercial sites for housing is a growing trend • Strong housing demand and high land values for residential development within the planning period make it financially attractive and feasible for commercial property owners
• Most existing commercial leases are expected to expire within the eight-year Housing Element planning period
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Supplemental Analysis
–
Sites Inventory
(cont.)
• City's methodology reflects observed industry trends, property owner interests, and site-specific conditions likely to support redevelopment. • Land values for residential development have been increasing; values of existing commercial uses have been decreasing with high vacancy rates • Out of the 43 largest residential/multifamily developments built in San Mateo County and nearby areas of Santa Clara County since 2014, 88% of these projects were on land with previous commercial uses • Available term data for 248 commercial leases found that 64% of them had a term of 5 years or less; thus, most existing use leases will expire within the Housing Element cycle ending in 2031
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Adoption and Certification Timeline
• April 23, 2024 – Planning Commission Public Hearing
• Recommended adoption to the City Council
• May 20, 2024 – City Council Public Hearing
• Housing Element Adoption
• End of May – Housing Element submitted to HCD
• May/June 2024 – By-Right Ordinance Adoption
• Planning Commission and City Council Public Hearings
• July 2024 – By-Right Ordinance submitted to HCD
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Housing Opportunity Overlay District
(By
-
Right Ordinance
-
AB 1397)
• Required Program H 1.10
• Sites can be re-utilized and can count towards
low-income units if local ordinance is adopted
• Within one-year of statutory deadline (2024)
• Local ordinance to allow housing “by-right” on
sites from prior Housing Elements with 20%
units affordable at the lower income level
• Minimum 30 units per acre, would apply to
approximately 40 parcels
Prior Housing
Element sites
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Recommendation
Adopt a resolution to approve a General Plan Amendment
to adopt the Revised Housing Element for the Sixth
Housing Cycle (2023-2031) that is compliant with State
law, provides a plan for at least 10,286 new housing units, and affirmatively furthers fair housing, and is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act,
based on the identified findings.
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