Belmont gets housing progress update

The city has to issue a total of 1,785 building permits between 2023-31, as part of the state mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocation.

“I am over-the-moon proud of us. We’ve tried so hard, we’ve done the right things, and I’m really proud of how much we have in the pipeline and then also what we have planned,” Mayor Julia Mates said. “We’re moving in the right direction. We have a lot of incentives to make sure that we’re doing our part.”

While it still has a lot more permits to approve, it’s still ahead of many other cities in San Mateo County, such as Foster City, which has approved a small percentage of its allocation thus far. San Mateo has approved about 4%, however, it has a handful of large-scale developments in the pipeline, partly ignited by the passage of Measure T, which upped height and density limits in certain areas.

And according to data from the Fair Housing Elements, only a fraction of the state’s jurisdictions are on track with their housing goals.

“We’re dealt the hand that we’re dealt in terms of the state RHNA and all the other challenges that the housing element brings us,” Mates said. “And those are shared challenges, so it’s not just us, but all the jurisdictions are finding some of it challenging. But in terms of Belmont, I am really happy to see the progress.”

To achieve some of the city’s other housing element obligations, Tobi Liebermann, Housing and Economic Development manager, said the city also “amended the zoning code to establish the by-right designation for housing sites that were reused from the prior housing elements, provided extensive staff assistance to support housing pipeline projects, and we have also spent a fair amount of time managing our existing portfolio of regulated units, such as [below-market-rate] units.”