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 representing 8 units with completed entitlements, 3 building-permit applications that received permits in February 2024 for 6 units, and 12 applications resulting in 22 ADU units receiving certificates of occupancy in 2024. "For 2024, we produced 6 units," Bernardo said, referring to permitted units counted toward the state permitting metric. - RHNA progress: Staff described the city's RHNA target in the presentation materials (the report references a multi-year target). Bernardo said the city remains far from meeting its RHNA goal for the cycle, and she gave the 2024 permits count as described above. - Housing programs and bonds: The city sold Measure C housing bonds in February 2023; the Measure C bond funds were reported as the source for programs such as a BMR (below-market-rate) acquisition program and a special-needs program still in development. Staff said the city has an active BMR ownership preservation program and is working with Hello Housing on monitoring resales and compliance. - Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Asset Fund: For fiscal year 2023-24 staff reported deposits of "a little over $576,000" and an ending balance of about $19,500,000. Real property assets were reported at about $17,900,000; loans and grant receivables were reported as roughly $20,400,000; and unencumbered funds were reported as about $1,600,000. The report noted that over the last five years the city expended approximately 48% of funds on extremely low-income housing (exceeding the 30% threshold) and that the city met the associated statutory tests staff must report on. - Consultant work and next steps: Staff said the city issued an RFQ for consultants to assist on affordable housing program and regulatory analyses; responses were due in the coming weeks. Staff also said an ADU Alameda County collaborative and an Alameda County website exist to help homeowners and jurisdictions navigate frequent ADU law changes.

Commission action and vote Planning Commissioner Martinez moved to forward the item to City Council; Commissioner Small seconded the motion. The commission recorded unanimous support with five votes in favor (Commissioners Martinez, Rivera, Small, Vice Chair Henry, and Chair Wax); Commissioner Chaffee was absent. The motion was recorded as "forward to City Council." The vote was taken on the record.

What commissioners asked and staff clarified Commissioners pressed staff on several items: the timing and availability of Section 8 vouchers (staff reported the housing authority indicated vouchers were not available in 2024 and not expected in the immediate future); the status and timing of Measure C-funded programs (staff said some programs will be activated in later years, possibly 2026 or 2027, but funds are available); and examples of multifamily conversions where underused parking or amenity space has been converted to residential units (staff cited a local project that converted ground-floor parking and said the city has been tracking similar examples elsewhere). Bernardo noted a trade-off: ADU conversions increase unit counts but the city cannot require affordability for ADUs created under state ADU law, and some conversions reduce previously approved amenity space.

What happens next The commission forwarded the reports to the City Council for final review and formal filing with state agencies as required. Staff said it expects additional follow-up work on consultant recommendations, ADU outreach and guidance, and potential program launches tied to Measure C funds.

Sources and attribution: Quotes and data above come from Navarro Oakes, Senior Planner, and Valerie Bernardo, Community Development Economic and Housing Coordinator, during the Planning Commission meeting on Feb. 27, 2025. The commission's vote to forward the item was made on the record (motion by Commissioner Martinez; second by Commissioner Small).