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Foster City council accepts 2025 General Plan annual progress report and housing element APR for transmittal to the state
Summary
Foster City accepted its 2025 General Plan Annual Progress Report and Housing Element APR on March 2, 2026, and authorized staff to transmit the documents to state offices, finding the report exempt from CEQA. The report tallied modest housing gains and several implementation steps for 2026.
The Foster City Board of Directors voted March 2 to accept the 2025 General Plan Annual Progress Report and the Housing Element annual progress report and to authorize staff to transmit the reports to state agencies, with the council finding the materials exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.
Planning staff presented the report and highlighted program activity in 2025, including five housing units completed toward the RHNA cycle total and a cumulative 73 units credited toward RHNA Cycle 6, 24 accessory dwelling unit permits issued, 101 solar permits and 35 EV charging electrical permits, and 11 rebate awards. Staff also noted contractual work under way on a Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan and continued construction progress on the new community center.
"The APR provides every legislative body and the public with information regarding the implementation of our general plan," Planning staffer Helen Telfer said during the presentation. Telfer described housing programs the city has advanced in 2025: an RFP and agreement with Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco for a home rehabilitation program providing no‑interest loans of $25,000–$75,000 and selection of Rebuilding Together Peninsula to deliver minor home repairs through grants for very low‑income homeowners.
The staff report recapped recent code amendments, including revisions to the below‑market‑rate (BMR) inclusionary housing chapter and a new section addressing no‑fault evictions and tenant relocation assistance for BMR units. The municipal code was amended to make 100% affordable housing projects ministerially reviewable, and staff said it had issued RFPs seeking proposals to administer a loan program incentivizing lower‑income‑restricted ADUs.
Council members used the question period to press staff on RHNA accounting, whether cities receive credit for rehabilitated units or for restrictions that have expired, and the role of homeowners associations in rental availability. Staff said further analysis will be needed on HOA compliance with state rental statutes and that several 2026 programs (including site‑selection reviews and a reuse study of commercial parcels) are scheduled to move forward.
By motion and voice vote the board approved the staff recommendation to accept the APR, authorize transmittal to the Office of Planning and Research and to the state housing department, and to find the report exempt from CEQA. The council did not record opposition to the action during the recorded vote.
