State gives the OK to San Bruno's housing element

The city has been tasked with building 704 very-low income units, 405 low-income units, 573 moderate-income units and 1,483 above-moderate-income units, according to its housing element. 

“We’re very excited to find ourselves where we are on this long journey,” City Manager Alex McIntyre said. “It’s very rewarding for staff’s hard work, the community’s hard work and the council’s hard work. We didn’t do this alone. It took a lot of voices.” 

The housing element aims to address disparities in housing access, according to an Oct. 29 press release from the city, including removing developmental constraints on new affordable housing and reducing displacement risks. It also prioritizes capital improvement projects in lower-resource areas, particularly east of El Camino Real. 

San Bruno has been struggling with its housing stock, with only two new housing developments fully developed in the last decade and two projects — one at 732 El Camino Real and another at 840 San Bruno Ave. W. — in the construction phase. Both took advantage of state laws that incentivize production of affordable housing in exchange for bypassing local regulations. 

The city is also moving to study why its Transit Corridor Plan — optimistically and unsuccessfully adopted in 2013 to create a more vibrant downtown — hasn’t produced results, Community Development Director Peter Gilli said. 

McIntyre pushed back on the idea that San Bruno’s housing development has stagnated, pointing to the various projects that have been approved or are under construction. He acknowledged that approval of the housing element would likely be beneficial for development, however. The approval means that San Bruno is now eligible for various state and regional funding opportunities that support housing development. 

“The housing element really is meant to clear hurdles for private development to come in and do the work, whether housing developers affordable or market-rate developers in the future see San Bruno as a desirable place to develop,” McIntrye said. “We just kind of seat that table to make that development possible.” 

The approval of San Bruno’s housing element document now removes it from the burdens of builder’s remedy, state law that prohibits cities from applying local zoning and building laws on affordable housing projects. The city is still subject to Senate Bill 35 regulations, which streamlines affordable housing production, pending a review of its RHNA production in 2027. 

The Planning Commission will meet Nov. 19 to discuss implementation of the housing element, Mayor Rico Medina said. 

“A lot of time and effort and work went into this by staff. We’re happy, I’m happy it has finally been approved,” he said “As we know now, there’s work to be done. The state has high expectations of communities.”