Emeryville planning commission forwards 2024 General Plan and housing reports to council, highlights ADU growth and slow RHNA progress

The Emeryville Planning Commission on Feb. 27 voted to forward the city's 2024 General Plan Annual Progress Report and the Housing Element Annual Progress Report, along with the Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Asset Fund report, to the City Council for review.

The reports, presented by Senior Planner Navarro Oakes and Community Development Economic and Housing Coordinator Valerie Bernardo, summarized a year of incremental progress on capital projects and housing programs and emphasized a sharp increase in ADU activity alongside modest permit and entitlement counts for other housing types. "ADU development is significant in the city and continues to be," Navarro Oakes said during the presentation.

Why it matters: the General Plan and housing reports are the city's regular compliance documents filed with state agencies and are used to track implementation of long-range actions, measure progress toward the RHNA allocation, and document the status of city-controlled affordable housing funds.

Key details reported - ADUs: Staff reported multiple ADU metrics for 2024. Bernardo said there were planning applications, building permits, and certificates of occupancy tied to ADUs: she reported 4 planning applications proposing 11 units (submitted), 4 planning applications…