The State Department of Housing and Community Development ?HCD, for its acronym in English? officially approved Redwood City's newly adopted Housing Element, so Governor Gavin Newsom granted this city a Provivienda Designation.
"Under the strong leadership of the City Council and thanks to the diligent work of the staff, I am pleased to share that Redwood City is the first city in San Mateo County to officially have a housing element approved," said Melissa Stevenson Diaz, City Manager. city of Redwood City.
The local official stressed that "receiving a Pro-Housing Designation further validates our work to guarantee housing for all: only 4 percent of California cities have met this standard."
In February, the City Council adopted the Housing Element, which sets a goal of building 150 percent of the housing units needed to meet the City's Regional Housing Needs Allocation, and since then city staff have quickly turned to the implementation of the Housing Element.
The first major action, the Redwood City Council detailed, will be a set of proposed amendments to municipal and zoning codes and the Affordable Housing Ordinance that addresses various programs in the Housing Element.
Given this, updates are planned to implement Senate Bill 9, which allows duplexes in single-family areas; and changes to facilitate the production of more intermediate housing, ie, duplexes, triplexes, and small apartments, in Redwood City's multi-family zoning districts.
As well as the rezoning of the commercial office between Veterans Boulevard and US-101 to mixed-use zoning to allow housing; expansion of mixed-use zoning along Woodside Road; and the rezoning of parcels throughout the city, including mobile home parks, to correct inconsistencies between the General Plan and the underlying zoning.
Notably, the specific update to the Affordable Housing Ordinance will include proposed amendments to allow greater flexibility for new development to meet the City's inclusive housing requirements.
The proposed amendments will include modifications to the definitions of affordable rent and concurrent building requirements, as well as the addition of additional criteria for land donation options.
This package of code amendments is tentatively scheduled for a Planning Commission study session on May 10, then for Planning Commission action on June 6, followed by City Council consideration on June 26.
To help address the housing crisis, in 2019, the State of California established the Pro-Housing Designation Program, which identifies local policies jurisdictions should consider adopting to address housing needs and affordability, and identifies programs and state grants for which Prohousing-designated jurisdictions would receive preference or additional points for competitive housing, community development, and infrastructure programs.
Redwood City is also the only city in San Mateo County and only one of twenty-two jurisdictions in the entire state to achieve the State Pro-Housing designation.
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