San Mateo County approves new housing goals

The county has been significantly delayed in obtaining approval of its housing element by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, after initially submitting for approval in January 2023. 

Despite concern raised about a site in El Granada by various coastside community members, the county Board of Supervisors approved the housing element in an effort to avoid repercussions caused by its submittal delay.  

Supervisor Ray Mueller, whose district oversees most of the coast in the county, said he had received notice of a possible misidentification of potential land for development. One of the sites designated for possible rezoning to a higher land use along the coast, which would contribute toward the county’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation numbers, is located at the northern end of El Granada and owned by the Cabrillo Unified School District. 

Mueller said a member of the district’s Board of Trustees did not approve for this site to be considered for rezoning, and also affirmed he had not made the effort for it to be considered, either. 

“I have real concerns about whether or not the administration leadership at the Cabrillo Unified School District is in alignment with the intention of the school board as well as with the intention of the community regarding these parcels,” Mueller said. 

He also noted that the superintendent and chief financial officer of the district resigned in February and will be leaving at the end of this school year.  

Many public comments raised concern over this location being considered for rezoning considering the community had not been involved in any discussions on the matter.  

Steve Monowitz, director of planning and building, and Mueller clarified repeatedly that the board was not making any decisions on rezoning at this meeting, but rather approving a resolution that could ultimately lead to rezoning. 

Still, Monowitz said the approval of rezoning in coastal areas will include community involvement, and could also ultimately not be necessary. 

“Because we need Coastal Commission certification for rezonings in the coastal zone, we will be proceeding promptly with the rezoning on the Bay side,” Monowitz said. “Should we be able to achieve those rezonings and have developments meet RHNA on the Bayside, rezonings on the coastside would prove to be unnecessary.”

The inclusion of the site, despite the fact that it could not be developed in the end, is maintained to provide a buffer to the county’s RHNA numbers. 

“The state will not accept our housing element without some safety margins and the larger that margin is, the better chance we have of achieving certification,” Monowitz said.

The county is already considered late on obtaining its certified housing element from the state department and is susceptible to the builder’s remedy, which allows developers to submit plans for developments without regard to local zoning regulations. This could lead to buildings that are, for example, significantly denser than others in the area or ignore minimums on available parking. 

“We have time to identify alternative candidate sites while our housing element remains provisionally certified, therefore avoiding the builder's remedy and other consequences that may come from lacking certification,” Monowitz said.

In addition to substantial rezoning proposals, the county incorporated several new fair housing programs into the housing element, including expansion and targeting of housing funding to special needs populations, funding for large family households, and various programs supporting development of farm labor housing. 

Supervisor Noelia Corzo asked if the county has the necessary staff to follow through on these programs. 

“We have long range planning staff dedicated to implementing the programs that are identified by the element, which certainly represents a lot of work for us, but we do believe we have the resources for those programs,” Monowitz said. 

With unanimous approval from supervisors, the updated 2023-31 Housing Element is now adopted within the General Plan and will be submitted for approval from the state department this week.