Planning Commission backs ordinance to adopt state density‑bonus rules, sends recommendation to council

The Los Altos Hills Planning Commission voted unanimously May 5 to recommend that the City Council adopt an ordinance updating the municipal code to implement California's density bonus law.

Assistant City Attorney Claire Lai told commissioners the ordinance adopts state law by reference and is intended to comply with housing element Program B3. "The big picture is that the housing element has a program that says the town needs to update the municipal code to incorporate the state density bonus laws," Lai said, describing the statute’s framework for awarding extra units, waivers and concessions.

Why it matters: adopting an ordinance preserves the town's ability to process density bonus requests under state timelines and avoids reworking the local code every time the Legislature updates the law. The state statutes the staff cited include the density bonus provisions codified in Government Code sections 65915–65918; staff said the ordinance mostly refers to…