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Council introduces zoning-code changes and updates to inclusionary housing rules
Summary
The council introduced and approved an ordinance to amend the zoning code to streamline development review, set minimum densities for mixed-use housing and update the city’s below-market-rate (BMR) program, and it asked staff to study jobs-to-housing ratios in a future zoning update.
San Mateo — The City Council voted 5–0 on June 16 to introduce an ordinance that amends zoning rules to implement parts of the 2040 General Plan and to update the city’s below-market-rate (BMR) housing program.
Principal planner Steve Golden told the council the packet combines three categories of changes: streamlining the development-review process (including an appeals process for completeness determinations and extending the period for plan approvals), establishing minimum residential densities for mixed-use designations (with higher minimums within a half-mile of Caltrain stations), and updates to the city’s inclusionary/BMR program to permit alternative compliance routes.
The BMR revisions add two alternative compliance pathways the city is prepared to consider: off-site construction (developers build or fund comparable affordable units elsewhere, concurrent with market-rate occupancy) and developer-proposed alternatives that must demonstrably meet or exceed on-site public benefits. Golden said both alternatives would require findings by the council that the alternative meets General Plan and fair-housing objectives and has viable financing.
Golden and staff said cities elsewhere use a range of alternatives — in-lieu fees, land dedication, acquisition/rehab — but each has trade-offs. Staff recommended allowing off-site construction and developer-proposed alternatives now and undertaking a fuller BMR program revision in 2026.
The planning commission reviewed the amendments on May 13 and recommended adoption; the council approved the ordinance introduction on a 5–0 roll call. Council members also asked staff to study a jobs-to-housing ratio and consider area-specific approaches as part of the broader comprehensive zoning-code update funded under an MTC Transit-Oriented Communities grant.
What’s next: Staff will bring the ordinance back for final adoption following required public noticing and will undertake a comprehensive BMR program review in 2026; planning staff will also evaluate the jobs-to-housing ratio and area-plan approaches as directed by council.
