Amended San Mateo County housing element approved

“I am very excited that we are here finally, that we have a really strong housing element with commitments that I think are really important,” Supervisor Noelia Corzo said. 

Many changes to the housing element from what was previously approved by the board were small details, but the adjustments to rezoning plans and site inventory will ultimately lead to a smaller projected surplus in the county reaching its regional needs housing allotment, planner Will Gibson said. 

In response to guidance from the Department of Housing and Community Development, changes include a significant reduction in the projected development potential on multifamily sites and the removal of many sites originally included from the county’s rezoning program. 

The previously adopted housing element had 126 parcels spanning 42 acres intended to be rezoned for adequate development, but is now decreased to 35 parcels totaling only 12 acres. 

To counteract the loss of development potential without less rezoning, there will be greater density allowed on the remaining sites, up to 120 units per acre in the unincorporated Colma, Broadmoor and Harbor Industrial Area.

“I’m really excited about what, in unincorporated Colma and Broadmoor, we’re doing around upzoning,” board President David Canepa, who represents those areas. 

Without the approved rezoning done by the county, the sites available for development would not contribute enough to any of the income categories of the county’s regional housing needs allocation, Gibson said. A deficit of 964 units total would result without rezoning. 

Although the rezoning areas were reduced in the amended housing element, a surplus of development remains, though it is a far lower buffer than previously planned, lowering from 71% to 20% over the targeted units. Gibson said the reduction, while significant, is still approved by the state and maintains a notable surplus. 

The county must still rezone the areas outlined in the housing element, which is targeted for completion by the end of the year.

The rezoning that must occur is the last step to receive full certification from the state department. 

“The housing element, it’s a process, but it is also a really important conversation where we make commitments, and then it’s really on our board and our county to live up to those  commitments,” Corzo said.