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Council approves housing APR with staff direction to address impediments
Summary
Council adopted the annual housing element progress report for submission to the state and directed staff to incorporate council concerns about inclusionary zoning, permitting delays and infrastructure constraints into the city’s follow-up actions and affordable-housing strategy.
The East Palo Alto City Council adopted its annual progress report for the housing element on March 18, 2025, after members pressed staff to better document barriers to housing production.
Councilmember Lincoln urged the report to reflect local policy effects on housing feasibility, naming inclusionary requirements, permitting delays and unresolved water and sewer capacity. “We need to recalibrate, and adjust and look at, you know, how other cities have been successful at building housing,” Lincoln said, arguing the APR should call out financial and regulatory burdens that deter market-rate development.
Carne Camacho, the city’s housing manager, told the council the staff report is primarily a retrospective summary for the state’s Housing and Community Development (HCD) department and that the attached tables are the actual submission. “Changing the language in the staff report won’t make a difference to what is submitted to HCD,” Camacho said, but added staff could provide more detailed updates to Table D and the action plan for HCD where needed.
Vice Mayor Dinan and others recommended pairing APR approval with separate direction to staff to pursue policy adjustments through the city’s affordable-housing strategy and priority-setting process. The council voted to adopt the APR and provide staff direction consistent with the council’s concerns, with council members saying they want follow-up workshops and policy work to address impediments to market-rate and moderate-income housing.
The council’s action was procedural: the APR will be filed with HCD by the April 1 deadline while staff develops a follow-up plan to revisit inclusionary requirements, permitting streamlining and infrastructure investments.
