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Town staff: 2025 housing‑element report shows activity but council urged broader strategies beyond ADUs
Summary
Contract planner Brandon Dilicus told the council the town’s 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report counts 13 units deemed complete and 11 building permits issued in 2025; staff highlighted ADU amnesty work and ADU ordinance updates while public commenters urged pursuit of workforce housing beyond ADUs.
Brandon Dilicus, contract senior planner, presented Portola Valley’s 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR), which staff will submit to state agencies. Staff recorded 13 applications deemed complete in 2025, 11 building permits issued during the year and 22 certificates of occupancy (including an 11‑unit Willow Commons project).
Dilicus explained how the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) counts progress toward the town’s RHNA target: building permits are the principal metric HCD uses to measure progress. He said staff is reviewing prior years’ entries to make sure projects such as Portola Terrace are correctly credited and noted a minor correction to the deed‑restriction status for two Willow Commons units.
Staff also described program implementation: the town has published ADU amnesty guidance (required by state law) on its website, established planning‑division office hours and is updating the ADU ordinance to comply with recent state law changes and AB2339/related guidance. Dilicus said staff expects additional ADUs and some pipeline projects to reach permit issuance in the coming year.
During council Q&A and public comment, residents and council members raised concerns about the limits of an ADU‑centric approach and urged stronger pursuit of workforce and deed‑restricted housing. Public commenter Dave Cardinal said ADUs alone may not yield the workforce housing the town seeks and asked the council to focus energy on results, not only on checking state reporting boxes. Other commenters supported outreach for ADU amnesty and noted some local examples of successful permitting.
Staff noted upcoming work with consultants (HART and HIP Housing) to prepare inclusionary‑housing analysis and other program‑level reports under the housing‑element implementation schedule.
Next steps: staff will finalize and submit the APR to HCD, continue outreach and ADU website updates, pursue the ADU ordinance revisions through the Planning Commission, and begin consultant work to support inclusionary‑housing analysis and related implementation programs.
