San Mateo commission critiques housing element

The 2023-2031 housing element provides policies and goals to meet current and future housing needs in San Mateo, including redevelopment and additional rezoning. The city itself does not have to build the housing, nor does it mean housing will be built, but it must provide the right zoning conditions for developers.

San Mateo must also meet housing unit requirements through the state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocation, known as RHNA, which details how many housing units and for what affordability type must be planned. The city’s RHNA number is 7,015, with San Mateo planning an additional buffer of 4,000 units to meet state requirements. Of the 7,015, 1,777 will be allocated for people with very low incomes, around 1,023 for low income, 1,175 for moderate, and 3,040 for the above market. Bridgepointe, the Hillsdale Train Station, El Camino Real and the Highway 101 and State Route 92 interchange are prime candidates for future sites and meeting RHNA allocations. The city has said it has enough capacity to meet its RHNA requirements through utilizing existing land use and zoning densities, with no rezoning necessary.

Several commissioners took issues with the site inventory list because some sites were unlikely to be developed or were concentrated near highways and could lead to environmental disparities. A site inventory list provides options of sufficient sites with appropriate zoning capacity to meet a city’s RHNA goal. Commissioner Seema Patel asked that sites whose owners were against redevelopment be removed from the site inventory, like the Target at Bridgepointe Shopping Center. Nugent found the site inventory lacking due to methodological shortcomings in its site inventory analysis that negatively affects how the city will meet its housing goals. He asked city staff to consider the realistic development capacity of sites and focus redevelopment policy on quantitative, measurable trends. He questioned how San Mateo planned to increase home building by over 300%.

“Fundamentally, I don’t see a set of programs or proposals in the draft housing element that justify the assertion that there will be a 300% increase in housing production over the next eight years. It doesn’t exist in our housing element,” Nugent said.

Housing remains a critical need in San Mateo and throughout the Bay Area. Home prices increased by 115.6% and rental prices by 74.2% from 2010 to 2020. A city staff report said San Mateo doesn’t have enough housing for residents, and housing affordability remains an issue for middle- and lower-income people. The City Council and Planning Commission has declared more housing a critical need for the short- and long-term future of San Mateo.

Nugent wanted more analysis on causes and contributing factors to housing inequalities and neighborhood disparities in the fair housing assessment part of the housing element. The fair housing assessment requires cities to take action to combat segregation and analysis of current fair housing practices.

“We need to focus on it in our goals and policies,” Nugent said.

He highlighted disparities in the North Central neighborhood. North Central faces overcrowding and high percentages of residents vulnerable to displacement at significantly higher rates than in other neighborhoods in San Mateo. The overcrowding rate in North Central south of Poplar Avenue is 27%, compared to North Central north of Poplar Avenue at 1%, Nugent said.

“This inequity between people in terms of the ability to build housing wealth through equity is one of the basic roots of the problems we face in our society,” Vice Chair Margaret Williams said.

Some residents wanted more done to increase affordable and all forms of housing, given the dire need the city faces. The Campaign for Fair Housing Elements, an advocacy group lobbying for cities undergoing a new housing element, said the draft did not meet state Housing and Community Development requirements around action steps, time frames and measurable outcomes. It said accessory dwelling units were overcounted and called for examining the methodology used.

However, some residents expressed worry about the increased water demands due to the ongoing drought and climate change. Maureen Zane, a San Mateo resident, wrote to the Planning Commission and asked how the city would handle increased water usage and demand on schools and teachers.

“I think the myopic vision of these home planners will result in insurmountable, adverse challenges in our future. Surely, someone on your committees realizes this,” Zane said.

The Planning Commission will meet May 3 for a continuation of the April 26 housing element meeting.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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