San Mateo County planning staff outline long-range work program including safety, housing and Moss Beach improvements
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Summary
Planning services manager Bharat Singh told the commission the county will release a draft safety element in early March and expects housing-element rezoning by summer; staff also updated commissioners on Plan Princeton, a potential transfer-of-development-rights program, and Moss Beach SR-1 congestion and safety improvements.
Planning services manager Bharat Singh and the county long-range planning team presented the department's 2026 work program to the San Mateo County Planning Commission on Feb. 11, outlining priorities, timelines and staffing for state-mandated updates and local plans.
Singh said the safety-element draft policies are under review and expected to be released for public comment in early March, and that consultants are drafting an environmental-justice element to be released in late spring. "We should shortly be releasing [the safety element] to the public for comment," Singh said on the record. He said the county met statutory requirements for the housing element last year and is proceeding with rezoning work to achieve compliance, with rezoning expected by summer 2026.
Singh noted state legislation requiring review of open-space and conservation elements (identified in the hearing as SB 1425 and AB 1889) and said staff has preliminarily found many of the laws'requirements are already covered by existing elements such as climate-change and safety policies; staff will attach a memo to the safety element documenting those linkages before it goes to the Board of Supervisors.
On community plans, Singh outlined Plan Princeton work including development standards and a possible transfer-of-development-rights program tied to sea-level-rise planning. He said the Pescadero workforce housing opportunity analysis has completed consultant work and is in internal review.
On transportation, staff updated commissioners on the Moss Beach State Route 1 congestion and safety improvement project. Shauna Singh, the county's project manager for the project, said a consultant team funded largely by the Transportation Authority is preparing an administrative draft environmental document and project report for Caltrans review; public release of draft environmental materials and a public meeting are anticipated in the coming months.
Commissioners asked about the county's tree-permit mapping tool, fiscal constraints for Carlos Street gap-closure work and timing for ordinance updates; Bharat Singh said staff is developing a coordinate-based tree-mapping tool to track replacement trees, is seeking grant funds for design and construction work on Carlos Street and will prioritize which new state laws to address first.
Public comment on the long-range work program came from Michelle Dragoni of Coastside Buzz, who asked the commission to revisit Outer Harbor zoning as part of Plan Princeton and to consider caretaking/workforce housing and a mixed industrial-commercial zoning category to support local businesses and employees.
The item was informational; no commission action was required.
