Planning commission sends updated density‑bonus ordinance to city council

The Planning Commission voted to forward a draft ordinance updating the city’s density‑bonus rules to the City Council. Staff told commissioners the rewrite, packaged as a new Chapter 23.23, was funded through REAP 2.0 (SCAG) and prepared with consultant WSP to bring local rules into line with state law.

Planning staff framed the change as a compliance and clarity exercise. Joe, planning staff who presented the item, said the update will generally adopt state minimums and include tables showing precise percentage thresholds. “If you’re providing 10%—say you’re building 100 units and 10 of them are low income—then you’re eligible for a 20% density bonus,” Joe said, illustrating how the revised text will present the law in concrete terms rather than only citing state code.

Staff explained the city’s housing element requires an updated, compliant density bonus ordinance and that the update will allow some local enhancements in zones already permissive of multifamily housing. No members of the public signed up to speak during the hearing; the commission closed the hearing and approved the staff recommendation to adopt draft resolution PC 20‑26‑O9 and send the ordinance forward.

The commission’s vote was procedural: it recommends that the City Council consider the proposed code chapter and the associated environmental and administrative documents. If council approves the ordinance, the change would replace the city’s older density‑bonus chapter (dating to 2002) with language that lays out the benefit/eligibility tables and aligns local practice with state requirements.