Council hears housing progress report; discusses AB 1033 to allow ADUs to be sold separately

Heidi (Community Development staff) and Jackson Jabroni (associate planner) presented the town’s 2025 General Plan and Housing Element annual progress reports. Jackson said the six‑cycle RHNA allocation through 2031 is 833 units; since the cycle began San Anselmo has permitted 75 units and thus has 758 remaining. In 2025, the town permitted 19 units (18 ADUs and one single‑family home), continuing a trend in which ADUs are the main source of newly permitted housing.

Staff asked whether the council wanted to explore AB 1033, a 2023 state law that allows jurisdictions to permit accessory dwelling units to be sold separately from the primary dwelling (in some ways similar to condominiumization). Jackson explained such a change would involve parcel or tentative map processes and still require compliance with building, fire and zoning standards; Heidi said the town could craft objective development standards if the council wanted to mitigate safety and neighborhood compatibility concerns.

Council members pressed staff on practical barriers to meeting RHNA (land, construction and holding costs; small parcels that make sizeable projects uneconomic) and on potential strategies including targeting identified opportunity sites (US Bank/Bank of America buildings; Greenfield and Red Hill areas), loosening overly prescriptive objective standards that developers find onerous, and exploring AB 1033 in greater depth before deciding whether to pursue an ordinance.

Planning staff said the town has initiated nearly all housing element actions and that demonstrating active implementation is the town’s immediate compliance path with state requirements; several council members requested staff return with a focused business item analyzing AB 1033 implications, public-safety considerations and examples of communities that have used the law.