Council backs ‘density plus’ approach to spur affordable housing south of El Camino, asks staff to study limiting single‑family redevelopment

Mountain View City Council members on March 13 signaled support for a middle‑path approach to implement two housing‑element programs aimed at creating affordable housing south of El Camino Real, asking staff to pursue a “density plus” package while also studying ways to reduce the likelihood that those target sites are later redeveloped as single‑family homes.

The study session reviewed housing element programs 1.4 (encouraging affordable housing on religious and community assembly sites) and 2.6 (affirmatively furthering fair housing on commercial parcels). Principal Planner Diana Pancholi told the council that, under recent state laws such as Senate Bill 4 and SB 35, city staff had identified enough theoretical capacity on a small number of sites to meet the element’s unit targets but that local zoning adjustments could encourage more and different kinds of development.

Staff presented three implementation approaches: adopt standards that mirror state law (fastest), adopt state‑mandated density and explore relaxing objective standards (“density plus”), and a site‑specific approach that would…