Facing pressures to build thousands of new homes in the next decade, Redwood City officials have aggressively embraced the goal which they hope to achieve equitably.
“For me what I see is this is really a floor and not a ceiling and what I know to be true about Redwood City and our staff is that we’re going to continue to innovate,” Mayor Giselle Hale said during Monday’s meeting.
The city is required to plan for at least 4,588 new homes in the next eight years according to its Regional Housing Needs Assessment, determined as part of its Housing Element update, a state-mandated process that tasks jurisdictions with identifying where new housing can be accommodated.
Staff, however, is preparing for 6,880 units, or about 150% of its RHNA, making the city eligible for grant funds and giving officials flexibility if the state decides some identified areas are either ineligible or a lot is developed with a different configuration of affordability than anticipated.
Looking at the areas currently identified for potential new development, Vice Mayor Diana Reddy said one area needed to be pulled from the list, the Ferrari Pond. Developers are pursuing a 350-unit residential project on about 8 acres of the 20-acre site but environmental advocates have noted the salt pond has recently reverted into a tidal lagoon after levees began to deteriorate in 2018.
Reddy shed doubt the site would be accepted by the Department of Housing and Community Development, the agency tasked with reviewing the city’s Housing Element.
“I hate to burst the bubble but it really needs to be removed,” Reddy said. “I don’t think the HCD is going to accept it as an opportunity site so it may be best to not even offer it as one.”
No other sites were contested but councilmembers Lissette Espinoza Garnica and Michael Smith argued for taking a more “holistic” approach by reviewing zoning requirements across the city including single-family zoned areas known as R1 zones.
Staff currently plans on meetings the city’s RHNA goal by rezoning commercial areas as mixed-use, increasing zoning capacity in mixed-use zones, upzoning along Veteran Avenue and Woodside Road, building in greater protections for mobile home parks and encouraging the development of duplexes, triplexes and small apartments in areas zoned R2 and higher.
“I think we need to come with all tools in our toolkit to address this issue and that has to include looking at R1 zoning. There’s just no way around it, to be honest with you,” Smith said.
He and Espinoza Garnica both stressed the importance of environmental and resource justice in planning for housing, a sentiment shared by members of the Planning Commission last week who expressed similar concerns about placing residents near high pollution areas like highways.
Councilmember Alicia Aguirre also shared concerns for isolating housing types, like low-income housing from moderate-income housing or mobile home parks. She also highlighted the importance of missing middle housing, typically considered duplexes to quadplexes.
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Reddy said she agrees with the concept of housing justice but also recognizes the value of placing low-income housing near transit corridors, a similar concern of Councilmember Diane Howard.
Prefabricated units could also be a potential solution to meeting the RHNA goals and combatting the housing crisis, Councilmember Jeff Gee and Howard suggested. The model is cheaper than building from scratch and is being used to rapidly build the county’s new 260-room navigation center along the city’s Bayfront.
Gee said the city could help housing production by helping reduce the costs of development and Howard said the flexibility could be a benefit within mobile home zoning policies. Mark Muenzer, Community Development and Transportation director, said staff is interested in protecting diverse types of housing and is “becoming aware” of the use of modular units.
Howard also urged staff to consider giving preference to city residents first, especially when developers are using city funds to build their projects.
“I’m all for raising the bar and doing what we can but I want it to be Redwood City-centric first so that we provide for people who really live work and have an investment here and want to be here,” Howard said.
More work around housing policy lies ahead for the city. Staff plans on diving deeper into issues around zoning with an emphasis on single-family zoning starting in the coming months, preparing to discuss the effects of Senate Bill 9 and is working on a set of policies to address displacement. Staff focus will also be placed on the environmental impacts of anticipated development. SB 9 requires cities to approve up to two residential units in single-family zoned areas, like duplexes, and to provide opportunities for lot split approval.
Those public discussions will pick up once staff has submitted the draft Housing Element for state review by early April, said Muenzer who noted the city is under a tight deadline to have the document completed and turned in.
The public has until Friday, March 25, to submit comments on the draft Housing Element.
Visit welcomehomerwc.org to learn more about the process and to learn of the various ways to submit comments.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106
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