 Housing Elements Review Right before the May 27 deadline, HLC sent in a public comment for Colma’s draft housing element. Colma is a small city (<2 square miles), but their location near San Francisco and proximity to BART stations means it is an excellent location for new housing. Furthermore, Colma has a whopping 4:1 jobs-housing imbalance, with more than 4,000 jobs in a town with fewer than 1,000 households. The cities of Menlo Park, Woodside, and San Bruno have housing element drafts currently available for public comment. Some fun facts: Menlo Park’s housing element is the longest we’ve yet seen, coming in over 700 pages. It is also only the city’s second housing element, as Menlo Park did not complete their first until 2014 in accordance with a settlement agreement. Nonetheless, Menlo Park managed to meet more than 80% of its low- and very low-income housing goals in the 5th RHNA cycle, better than the vast majority of San Mateo County cities. San Bruno, on the other hand, met about 20% of its low-income housing goals from the 5th cycle. But HLC is still excited about San Bruno’s housing element, because the city’s current draft has a series of ambitious policy proposals that would engender a significant shift in the status quo. We are excited to review the full document in the coming weeks. Opportunities to support affordable housing across San Mateo County: |
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