Housing Element

Over the past two weeks, at least eight cities received housing element review letters from the state department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Thus far, not one of them has received certification deeming their housing elements to comply with state law. San Mateo, South San Francisco, San Carlos, Atherton, Belmont, Colma, Menlo Park, and San Bruno all received letters with further suggestions for improvements to their housing elements. (Thus far, HLC has only seen the San Mateo, South San Francisco, and San Carlos letters.)

Not all feedback letters have been equally critical, however. For example, HCD determined South San Francisco’s housing element complies with “most statutory requirements,” one of the agency’s subtle signals that a jurisdiction is nearing compliance. No other city received such positive language. SSF’s housing element has a number of significant programmatic commitments, most notably its commitments to rezone ambitiously (which the city has moved quickly to implement), fund new subsidy, and dedicate publicly owned land to support affordable homes.

In another letter, HCD explicitly praises San Carlos staff for diligent work planning for ambitious rezonings, fair praise even though HCD also requested further changes. Cities making substantial improvements generally receive recognition from the state regulator, though it may be indirect. 

Though no San Mateo County jurisdiction besides Redwood City has yet received certification from the state, several have adopted their housing elements anyway–essentially asserting that they are complying with the law regardless of the state regulator’s opinion. HCD recently released a letter stating cities’ housing elements are out of legal compliance so long as they have not been certified by HCD, regardless of whether or not those cities have adopted their housing elements. 

In other housing element news, the North Fair Oaks Community Council voted 6-1 at their March 23 meeting to recommend that the County Supervisors consider our policy recommendations for the county housing element. NFOCC Chair Brooks Esser invited Kalisha Webster of Housing Choices and our very own Jeremy Levine to deliver a presentation on behalf of our county housing element coalition explaining our policy goals and how they can benefit the North Fair Oaks community.

Have questions about Housing Element? Contact Jeremy at jlevine@hlcsmc.org

Events

✧Save the Date: Menlo Park Tenants Rights✧ 

Learn about available tenant resources, provide feedback on existing gaps, and to know your rights around:

• Evictions and rent increases
• Problems with the condition of your home
• Lease agreement rules

Meetings are available in English and Spanish! 

✧League of Women Voters: Affordable Housing in SMC✧

San Mateo County needs to build 48,000 new housing units by 2031. Almost 20,000 should be accessible to low and very low-income earners. The goal is clear. Are our cities prepared to meet it?

Join the League of Women Voters of North and Central San Mateo County as they explore what is happening in real time. Kate Hartley, Director, Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA), and Heather Peters, Principal Regional Housing Planner, Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will lead the program and discussion.

✧Redwood City Rental Housing Policies Updated✧

In the afternoon on Tuesday, April 4, Redwood City hosted a unique and engaging community meeting between renters, landlords, property managers, and housing advocates on the city's anti-displacement strategy. It was inspiring to see a diverse group of community members come together and have a deep conversation about the problems with the housing market and discuss possible solutions to those problems. Redwood City may be on its way to being the first city in San Mateo County to introduce and implement robust renter protections.

To get involved in the next community meeting, mark your calendars for…

HLC News

✧We are hiring a Policy Intern✧

Come intern for HLC this summer! We are hiring 1-2 policy interns to assist with our day-to-day policy research and advocacy. This is a great job for people looking to break into the affordable housing industry, whether through advocacy, development, city administration–any dimension of the process. Interns will receive unparalleled opportunities to advocate for affordable housing and learn about the inner workings of housing politics in San Mateo County.

✧Housing California✧

The policy and organizing team attended the Housing California conference last week in sunny San Diego, where we met with housing professionals from all over the state! At the conference, staff had the opportunity to meet coalition partners face-to-face, which led to many fruitful conversations. 

We greatly appreciate sharing space and learning best practices with our state-wide colleagues and coalition partners. 

No one knows everything, together we know a lot