Burlingame approves housing element

Burlingame was well prepared to meet state requirements because it outlined 2,951 new housing units in its general plan, Community Development Director Kevin Gardiner said at the City Council meeting.

“We’ve been talking about housing in Burlingame for quite some time,” Gardiner said, acknowledging that providing housing in the Bay Area is an ongoing struggle for many communities. “San Mateo County is very good at creating jobs, it has a little bit of a harder time creating housing for those jobs.”

The city has been working extensively over the past year to receive feedback from residents on which areas they wish to remain the same and which could benefit from new housing developments to meet its 20% housing growth goal, Gardiner said.

Burlingame will need to meet specific regional housing needs allocations, which are based on resident income — the current area median income in the area is $122,500 for a household of one.

The allocation designates a requirement of at least 863 very-low income units, for those meeting 50% of median income, at least 497 low-income units for those meeting 60% of median income, at least 529 moderate income units for those meeting 80% of median income, and at least 1,368 above-moderate income units for those meeting 120% of median income.

Burlingame already has 2,808 housing units in the pipeline from July 22 onward, meaning housing units that are submitted for approval, approved, under construction, or finished, Gardiner said.

However, these units still leave the city with a dearth of 610 very low-income units, 263 low-income units, and 432 moderate units to be fulfilled by the eight-year mark. The pipeline project also shows an excess of 856 above-moderate income units.

But the city is making “good inroads” on affordable housing developments, including a new housing fund, the recent opening of The Village, Burlingame’s first affordable housing development and groundbreaking on another development in January, Gardiner said.

“We are in a good position to be able to support more affordable housing development in Burlingame,” he said.

The housing element document also presents sites the city believes feasible for further development, an environmental impact report for the proposed sites, community feedback and proposals for housing-related community services.

Mayor Michael Brownrigg applauded Burlingame staff for their hard work on the housing element before the council passed the resolution.

“For those cities up and down the state of California that have not gotten their reports done, there are remedies including letting a developer build whatever the heck the developer wants to build until such time they get their element approved,” he said. “So this is keeping the control of Burlingame’s fabric and its development in our hands not in someone else’s hands.”

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