Updated draft revises potential sites for residential development, identifies ideas to improve South Coast housing
April 10, 2024
  • Redwood City – Residents have until Tuesday, April 23, to comment on the County’s updated draft Housing Element prior to the Board of Supervisors voting on its adoption.

    The Housing Element is a state-required plan of local governments to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community. As part of the County’s General Plan, the Housing Element is tasked with identifying housing needs, resources and challenges; assessing current housing policies; and demonstrating the County’s ability to meet its share of regional housing which is determined every eight years.

    The California Department of Housing and Community Development in April 2023 sent the County’s earlier submission back with a list of revisions. This latest version incorporates those modifications. Major changes include:

    • A revised inventory of sites for residential development and redevelopment and an expanded program committing to rezoning more sites for residential development. These changes will let the County meet its housing needs over the next eight years; 
    • An expanded analysis of fair housing issues in the county and the region and a number of new programs such as creating an accessory dwelling unit resource center;
    • Various programs intended to assess housing conditions and identify strategies to improve housing in the rural South Coast, including developing farm labor housing.

    The County’s Planning Commission on April 10, 2024, voted to recommend the Board of Supervisors adopt the plan at the Board’s April 23 meeting.

    Read the entire Housing Element document and learn more here.

    Send feedback to wgibson@smcgov.org.

    Media Contact

    Michelle Durand
    Chief Communications Officer
    mdurand@smcgov.org