Belmont shrinks gaps in its housing policies

Belmont — which must plan for 1,785 new housing units over the next eight years, according to the Regional Housing Needs Assessment — still needs its housing element certified by the state. And as part of the council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 23, staff proposed several updates to ensure the housing element and current zoning ordinances are more closely aligned. 

One of the updates would more firmly establish by-right designations into the city’s zoning ordinance. The efforts are meant to fast-track housing developments that offer at least 20% of their units to lower income households, and under such conditions, certain discretionary approvals and environmental reviews would not be required. 

City staff also proposed increasing height limits in certain areas, although community pushback led councilmembers to opt for continued research on the issue before moving forward.

“We need more time studying height limits. When I hear 83 feet as a possibility of buildings as a standard in our community, that makes me very concerned. At the same time, what I learned from [Community Development] Director [Carlos] de Melo is that those 83-foot buildings would only happen if it was 100% affordable housing,” Councilmember Robin Pang-Maganaris said. “That’s something to consider. A building that is 100% affordable housing in Belmont would be amazing.”

Changes were also made to policy guidelines prioritizing county-based labor as part of the hiring process and adhering to fair wage practices based on the surrounding area income. 

“[The terms] ‘local hires’ and ‘living wages’ are very general in nature, and I think labor groups are trying to move away from that because of the general interpretation that they can have. So, for local hires, I would offer an amendment that says priority is given to San Mateo residents,” Mayor Julia Mates said. She also suggested updating language around living wages to focus on the standard area income. 

Maximum density requirements and floor area limits would also be lifted in certain areas along El Camino Real near the city’s downtown. A second reading will be conducted to further solidify the amendments in a future council meeting.