Input and time needed to address housing mandate

Such mixed-use development is environmentally friendly with less strain on our roads and downtown parking and can include retail and services like child care, which, together with affordable housing, effectively services four of our seven strategic city goals. For decades, our industrial districts have been zoned for significant development and several major projects are underway. It is our responsibility to ensure the transformation of our East Side into a life science hub works for all of San Carlos and not just for the commercial developers.

I know many homeowners in San Carlos believe our city is developed enough, our roads and parking are at capacity, and we should leave well enough alone. I too love the character and charm of San Carlos that has been home to my family since 1999, but I also have to ask where will my three children be able to live? And how about their teachers, our firefighters, our police officers and all our other essential workers? Are we really the community we want to be if we can’t answer these questions? With a $2.2 million median house price and school enrollment declining as young families move elsewhere, standing still is not the answer.

As far as our response to new state mandates, San Carlos is working hard to meet the latest Regional Housing Needs Allocation that requires us to upzone to allow the development of 2,735 new homes by 2031. Not easy for a city of just over 12,000 households, and our planning staff has spent the past year holding workshops and seeking community input on the coming zoning changes. Please visit SanCarlos2040.org to learn more.

This state mandated upzoning will certainly impact San Carlos but, through a proper public process and listening to our community, we determined this new, more urban scale density works best along El Camino Real and Laurel Street and in our multifamily zoned areas. We also recently embraced new state accessory dwelling unit laws and welcomed 43 new ADUs into San Carlos last year. ADUs and also mandated junior accessory dwelling units blend reasonably well into our neighborhoods and bring us much needed affordable rental units.

Now comes Senate Bill 9, which says single-family lots may be split and new houses, ADUs and JADUs built on each side. Everywhere a single-family home now stands, up to six units can be developed. That is a dramatic change and I have heard from many homeowners who are concerned. Cities must now pass ordinances to clearly define how the SB 9 requirements will apply to new housing projects.

We take new ordinances seriously in San Carlos and we have a lot of work to do to get this one right. We need to seek input, hold community meetings, hear from both our renters and homeowners, and generally take the time to fully consider this complex new mandate. For this reason, on Monday we adopted a temporary ordinance with our initial interpretation of SB 9 and our planning staff has started work on our permanent ordinance that will go into effect later this year. Although there are many strong advocates for SB 9, it is not at all shameful for the San Carlos City Council to hear from its community and work through our standard ordinance process to address a new state mandate that may well impact every neighborhood in the City of Good Living.

John Dugan is a member of the San Carlos City Council and a former chairmember of the San Carlos Planning Commission. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of San Carlos or his fellow councilmembers.