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Commission reviews draft Housing Action Plan; asks staff for clearer problem statements to guide priorities
Summary
Staff reviewed the draft Housing Action Plan, listing near-term, midterm and long-term actions to support housing production, affordability and displacement prevention. Commissioners generally supported near-term code and process changes but asked staff to add clearer problem statements and prioritization rationale for harder-to-implement actions.
Planning Department staff presented the draft Housing Action Plan to the commission on Oct. 27, summarizing actions organized by near-term, midterm, long-term and ongoing implementation timelines and asking the commission for feedback prior to a public hearing scheduled for Nov. 10.
Staff said the plan is intended to translate the housing element into concrete actions that increase housing options, encourage affordable units and prevent displacement. Near-term items include updating permit forms, simplifying ADU permitting, revising impact-fee assessments and reviewing mobile home park standards. Midterm proposals include expanding Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) options and adopting density bonuses tied to income-restricted units. Long-term actions identified include surveying public land for possible long-term lease or land transfer to mission-driven developers and pursuing infrastructure investments to improve affordability feasibility.
Commissioner input
Commissioner Wu asked for clearer problem statements and prioritization criteria: he said the plan lists many possible actions but lacks explicit root-cause framing that would help commissioners weigh trade-offs and set an implementation order. "There's a degree of problem statement missing that makes me unsure of whether a solution is effective," Wu said. Staff replied that the plan focused on achievable near-term policy updates and process improvements while flagging the more resource-intensive actions for the mid- or long-term, and that staff could add explicit problem statements and comparative research on items such as MFTE and fee waivers before the Nov. 10 public hearing.
Next steps
Staff said an updated draft will be circulated in advance of the Nov. 10 public hearing, and staff will present to City Council in mid-December. Commissioners were invited to submit additional comments by email for integration into the next draft.
