Planning Commission accepts 2024 housing-element progress report; elects Mercado chair and Rodby vice chair

The San Rafael Planning Commission on Feb. 25 voted unanimously to accept the city's 2024 housing-element annual progress report and to forward the report to City Council for submission to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Commissioners also adopted the 2025 regular meeting schedule, elected Commissioner Mercado as chair and Commissioner Rodby as vice chair, and approved public-hearing guidance for the year.

Planning Manager Margaret Cavanaugh Lynch told commissioners the annual progress report is required by Government Code section 65400 and by HCD and summarizes housing applications and progress on programs in the city's housing element. For calendar year 2024 the staff packet reported 31 housing applications submitted (not units), 440 housing units in those submittals, 227 units approved and 0 disapproved (with remaining projects pending). Staff noted a correction to an item in the packet (four previously entitled townhomes on C Street) that will be carried forward when the report goes to council.

Cavanaugh Lynch highlighted a 44-item table tracking the housing-element programs and emphasized that much of the city's pipeline activity ' including large sites such as Northgate ' consists of projects at different stages (pre-application, entitlement, plan check and building permit) and therefore may not all register as completed units in this year's report. She said the Northgate property is advancing, with demolition permits and preconstruction activity in the near term; however, entitlement vesting and issuance of building permits remain the milestones that move projects into construction.

Commissioners asked staff about vesting timeframes and code practices. Staff explained entitlements generally have a two-year vesting period after which applicants must show progress or request an extension; the specifics can vary based on conditions of approval (for example, whether vesting requires submittal for plan check, issuance of a grading permit, or issuance of a building permit). Commissioners suggested the city consider whether code amendments are needed to require certain wildfire-hardening measures on additions, noting that many neighboring jurisdictions have adopted WUI measures for remodels and additions.

On the annual meeting items the commission confirmed the regular meeting schedule (second and fourth Tuesdays), accepted the clerk's consolidated boards-and-commissions procedures and agreed to the staff recommendation to standardize most public-comment periods to two minutes, with the chair retaining discretion to lengthen or shorten time limits for a given hearing. Several commissioners raised procedural concerns about the draft guidance's order of speaking and whether allowing an applicant to respond after the public-comment period would require reopening the hearing to permit rebuttal from the public; staff said it would seek legal clarification and return with guidance.

The vote to accept the housing-element annual progress report and forward it to council carried unanimously with Commissioners Mercado, Radbih, Summers, O'Leary and the Chair voting yes; Commissioners Provatelli and Sadeh were absent. The motions to adopt the 2025 meeting schedule and to elect Commissioner Mercado as chair and Commissioner Rodby as vice chair also passed unanimously.