Daly City planners told city must rezone to meet 4,838-unit RHNA; staff says city is 1,216 units short

Theresa Fapua, vice chair of the Daly City Planning Commission, opened the commission meeting and turned the floor to city planning staff to present the citys revised housing element and related general-plan and zoning changes.

Planning staff lead Michael Van Longusen said the draft housing element has been reviewed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development and that the states regional allocation process (ABAGs RHNA) assigned Daly City 4,838 dwelling units for the 20232031 planning period. "ABAG determined about 441,000 dwelling units needed to be constructed," he said, and "we come up with a 1,216 unit shortfall" after counting approved and pipeline projects, vacant and underutilized sites, and credits for accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

The shortfall matters because, Michael said, state oversight requires an "adequate-sites program" that demonstrates the city can accommodate its RHNA. He explained that sites included in that program must allow residential uses "by right," meaning the zoning ordinance must permit those uses without further discretionary approvals; he added that removing discretion generally removes CEQA review for those developments. "The zoning ordinance must allow the residential uses on those sites by right. No city discretion," he said.

Commissioners and other speakers pressed staff on where land remains available in Daly City and how the city calculates realistic capacity. Michael said the consultant PlaceWorks prepared a sites inventory and that the city counted several large pipeline projects toward capacity, including Midway Village (45 Midway Drive, about 550 units) and other approved proposals in the Bayshore area and on Geneva Avenue. He cautioned that consultant and HCD negotiations often reduce theoretical zoning capacities to what is deemed realistic for redevelopment.

Several commissioners and attendees raised concerns about impacts. One commissioner said that increasing affordable housing "makes the city less conducive for business" and asked how much acreage exists and what parking impacts might follow. Staff replied that the city does not have a large amount of vacant land and that rezoning and program strategies aim to produce needed capacity while considering infrastructure and community impacts. Staff also warned that noncompliance carries financial consequences: Michael said the city could lose state funding for affordable-housing projects and other infrastructure if it lacks a compliant housing element.

Michael described other specifics included in the staff packet: income thresholds used to allocate RHNA by affordability level (San Mateo County four-person income categories referenced in the presentation), and examples of counted projects (305 Eastmoor, 493 Eastmoor at Sullivan, 10 Park Plaza Drive, and others). He also noted AHMCs expressed interest in redeveloping certain Seaton parcels and attached a letter from AHMC regarding a proposed wellness village as evidence of developer interest for particular sites.

Next steps: Michael said the planning commission is expected to forward a recommendation to the Daly City Council that would amend the general plan and replace the 2015 housing element with the revised draft and implement rezonings needed to meet the RHNA. The commission approved procedural minutes for prior meetings during the same session. The housing element presentation continued with detailed tables and maps and questions from commissioners; the discussion recorded in the transcript ends while commissioners continue to ask about population drivers and acreage availability.