The Millbrae City Council voted unanimously Nov. 25 to adopt amendments authorizing a city‑provided density bonus designed to spur housing development in the Millbrae Station, downtown and El Camino Real corridors, staff said. The ordinance supplements California’s state density‑bonus law so that qualifying projects can build additional market‑rate units when they include specified shares of affordable units.

City staff and consultant Sam Moran of Harris and Associates told the council the proposal targets sites where lot consolidation and small‑lot economics currently hinder new housing. Under the proposal, rental projects that provide 5 percent of units to low‑income households would receive a flat 15 percent city density bonus in addition to any state bonus. For certain moderate‑income allocations, the city would offer an added bonus designed to round unit counts upward and maximize the combined state and city benefit.

The ordinance is structured to apply only to projects that already qualify for a state density bonus; in other words, projects that do not propose affordable units would not be eligible for the city incentive. Moran and staff presented two examples: a 10‑unit ownership project and a 100‑unit rental project, showing how the city bonus could increase allowable market‑rate units while preserving the required affordable unit counts.

Council discussion focused on tradeoffs and implementation details. Council members asked whether the moderate‑income portion of the city bonus asks developers to provide more affordable units than state law requires, how the bonus would affect parking and development impact fees, and whether the city should require higher affordability in exchange for added density. Community Development Director Andy Mogensen and the consultant answered that the moderate‑income bonus is designed to incentivize projects to provide very low‑ or low‑income units beyond existing city requirements and that impact fees would still apply to additional units; staff quoted multifamily impact fees in the ballpark of $36,000 per unit.

Public commenters during the hearing urged caution about offsite impacts such as parking and infrastructure, and several council members urged an annual reporting requirement to let the council track whether the incentive is producing housing and the types of units delivered. Staff agreed to an annual update and to return for second reading on Dec. 9 with the final ordinance language and the recommended staff amendments.

The council approved the motion to adopt the ordinance with staff amendments and an annual reporting requirement by a 5–0 vote. The first and second readings will be confirmed in the subsequent meeting schedule; staff said the item will return Dec. 9 for the required second reading and formal adoption steps, if any final edits are needed.