Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Steve Monowitz, Director of Planning and Building
Subject: Adoption of an Amended 2023-2031 San Mateo County Housing Element of the General Plan
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Public hearing to consider adoption of an amended 2023-2031 County Housing Element:
A) Open public hearing
B) Close public hearing
C) Adopt a resolution adopting a General Plan amendment to repeal the 2023-2031 San Mateo County Housing Element of the General Plan and adopt the amended 2023-2031 San Mateo County Housing Element of the General Plan, in compliance with State law.
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BACKGROUND:
The Housing Element is a required element of the County’s General Plan, mandated by State law. State law establishes the required contents of the Housing Element and establishes the schedule and process for updating the Housing Element.
The Housing Element must be updated every eight years, and must include: identification of existing and projected housing needs for all segments of the community; goals, policies, and programs to address housing needs; an assessment of constraints on the development of housing; assessment of how the County’s housing policies and programs and identified sites for development affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH); and an evaluation of the existing Housing Element.
Crucially, the Housing Element must also include an identification of sufficient developable or redevelopable sites to meet the County’s fair share of regional housing needs at all income levels over the next eight years. The County’s share of housing need is its “Regional Housing Needs Allocation” (RHNA), established by the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission. If the County does not demonstrate sufficient capacity from existing sites to meet its RHNA, both in total and by income category, it must commit to rezone an adequate number of identified sites to address the shortfall.
The County’s amended Housing Element must also be submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for review and for a determination of consistency with State law. Until HCD has determined the Housing Element’s consistency, the Housing Element is not considered compliant with State law.
The County’s RHNA and existing development capacity is shown below:
|
Income Category |
RHNA |
Development Capacity |
Surplus/ (Deficit) |
|
Very Low |
811 |
457 |
(354) |
|
Low |
468 |
356 |
(112) |
|
Moderate |
433 |
254 |
(179) |
|
Above Moderate |
1,121 |
802 |
(319) |
|
Total |
2,833 |
1,869 |
(964) |
As the table shows, the County was unable to identify sufficient sites to meet its RHNA without rezoning. To address this shortfall, Program HE 11.2 in the adopted Housing Element identified proposed sites for rezoning. The capacity of those sites is shown below.
|
Income Category |
RHNA |
Total Units |
Original Surplus/ (Deficit) |
Units with Rezoning |
Surplus/ (Deficit) w/ Rezoning |
|
Very Low |
811 |
457 |
(354) |
914 |
103 |
|
Low |
468 |
356 |
(112) |
680 |
212 |
|
Moderate |
433 |
254 |
(179) |
89 |
156 |
|
Above Moderate |
1,121 |
802 |
(319) |
1228 |
107 |
|
Total |
2,833 |
1,869 |
(964) |
3,411 |
578 |
The County’s Housing Element was adopted by the County Board of Supervisors in March 2025 and was determined by HCD to be consistent with State law. However, because the Housing Element was not adopted prior to the deadline in State law, HCD will not deem the Housing Element fully compliant until rezoning of the sites identified in the Rezoning Program is complete. Since adoption of the Housing Element last March, work on the Rezoning Program has been underway.
DISCUSSION:
The Housing Element Rezoning Program
Since adoption of the Housing Element, the County and HCD have sought to identify ways to speed up completion of the Rezoning Program, and more rapidly achieve full compliance with State law. Critically, while the majority of sites in the Rezoning Program are located outside of the County’s Coastal Zone, in the Harbor Industrial, Broadmoor, and unincorporated Colma areas, five sites are within the County’s Coastal Zone, in the El Granada area. Because sites in the County’s Coastal Zone require significantly more environmental review, and because rezoning within the Coastal Zone must be submitted for an entirely separate approval process with the California Coastal Commission, rezoning the Coastal sites is a much longer and less predictable process than for sites outside the Coastal Zone, which can be rezoned solely on the authority of the Board of Supervisors.
On the basis of discussions with HCD, the County now proposes raising the maximum residential densities on the rezoning sites outside of the Coastal Zone, from the current 120 units/acre to 150 units/acre. This density would address the County’s unmet RHNA solely relying on the non-Coastal sites, although without the buffer above the RHNA that is typically required for full compliance with State law. This amendment to the Rezoning Program would:
a. Allow the County to adopt zoning and associated General Plan amendments implementing the non-Coastal portions of the Rezoning Program on an expedited timeline;
b. Upon adoption, submit the adopted implementing amendments to HCD, with the goal of obtaining conditional certification of the Housing Element as a compliant with State law; and
c. The County would continue to assess the developability of the Rezoning Program parcels in the Coastal Zone, but in the interim, the County’s Housing Element would be in compliance with State Law.
To this end, the proposed amendments to the Housing Element raise maximum residential densities for all non-Coastal Rezoning Program sites to 150 units per acre. This would include an amendment to the Rezoning Program itself, and various minor amendments throughout the Housing Element to appropriately modify tables and references to the Rezoning Program. The County’s RHNA and development and redevelopment capacity with the proposed amendment is shown below, with and without the Coastal sites.
RHNA vs Development Capacity, Total
|
Income Category |
RHNA |
Total Units |
Original Surplus/ (Deficit) |
Units with Rezoning |
Surplus/ (Deficit) w/ Rezoning |
|
Very Low |
811 |
457 |
(354) |
1035 |
224 |
|
Low |
468 |
356 |
(112) |
778 |
310 |
|
Moderate |
433 |
254 |
(179) |
690 |
257 |
|
Above Moderate |
1,121 |
802 |
(319) |
1341 |
220 |
|
Total |
2,833 |
1,869 |
(964) |
3,844 |
1,011 |
RHNA vs Development Capacity, without Coastal Sites
|
Income Category |
RHNA |
Total Units |
Original Surplus/ (Deficit) |
Units with Rezoning |
Surplus/ (Deficit) w/ Rezoning |
|
Very Low |
811 |
457 |
(354) |
834 |
23 |
|
Low |
468 |
356 |
(112) |
619 |
151 |
|
Moderate |
433 |
254 |
(179) |
529 |
96 |
|
Above Moderate |
1,121 |
802 |
(319) |
1153 |
32 |
|
Total |
2,833 |
1,869 |
(964) |
3,135 |
302 |
The proposed amendments were circulated for public review from March 11, 2026 to March 19, 2026, and were subsequently submitted to HCD for review on March 20, 2026. On March 30, 2026, HCD transmitted a letter determining that the proposed amendments, on adoption by the Board of Supervisors, would be consistent with State law. HCD’s letter is included as Attachment A. The updated Housing Element, with amendments indicated in redlined text, is available here: <https://www.smcgov.org/media/158438/download?inline=>
At its regularly scheduled hearing on April 8, 2026, the County Planning Commission reviewed the proposed amendments, and recommended that the Board of Supervisors adopt the amendments.
Environmental Impact
Adoption of the updated Housing Element is a project requiring environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The County adopted an Initial Study and Negative Declaration for the Housing Element, in compliance with CEQA. The Initial Study and Negative Declaration determined that, as a programmatic document that does not directly impact the environment absent subsequent implementation actions which will require evaluation independently pursuant to CEQA as they are implemented, adoption of the Housing Element has no potential environmental impacts. Subsequent implementation of some programs in the Housing Element may require additional environmental review, which will be evaluated as those programs are implemented. The Initial Study <https://www.smcgov.org/media/143637/download?attachment> and Negative Declaration <https://www.smcgov.org/media/143638/download>? attachment were circulated for public review between May 3 and June 9, 2023. Subsequent changes to the draft Housing Element have not added any programs or actions that have environmental impacts absent further action that would require independent environmental assessment, and do not alter the scope or determination of the Initial Study and Negative Declaration, and no additional environmental review is required.
The County Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the resolution as to form.
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
The policies and programs in the County’s Housing Element are intended to increase housing availability, affordability, and accessibility for all County residents, with a specific focus on the equitable provision of housing resources for disadvantaged communities, including racial/ethnic minorities, lower-income residents, special needs communities, and other groups disproportionately impacted by the unavailability of affordable housing and housing designed for the particular needs of specific populations. As described in Housing Element Appendix G: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, the updated Housing Element includes a comprehensive assessment of the County’s current fair housing conditions and housing disparities, and the policies and programs in the Housing Element are intended to increase the equitable provision of housing across geographies and across disparate communities, to increase disadvantaged communities’ access to housing in areas with high-quality resources, and to redress inequities based on income, race/ethnicity, gender, class, family structure, language ability, disability status, and other factors. The implementation of the programs incorporated in the Housing Element will positively impact all of these communities. In addition, the Housing Element was crafted with specific outreach to these impacted communities, and took their needs, goals, and input into consideration in the assessment of housing needs and the creation of responsive policies and programs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Adoption of the amended Housing Element commits the County to implementation actions that have associated costs, such as those required to process the rezonings needed to meet the County’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation. Obtaining certification is also a matter of fiscal importance, as it is a condition of eligibility for regional and state grants that help fund housing planning, construction, infrastructure development, and other related goals.
Attachments
A. HCD Review Letter
B. Exhibit A to Resolution Adopting Amended San Mateo County 2023-2031 Housing Element
C. Negative Declaration for the Housing Element