HCD Comment on San Mateo County Draft Housing Element

San Mateo County submitted its draft updated 2022-2031 Housing Element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for review on January 20, 2023. HCD reviewed and provided comment on the Housing Element on April 20, 2023. HCD’s review letter is available on the Housing Element Update website. The County is considering HCD’s comments, and will appropriately amend the Housing Element to address the comments. The County Board of Supervisors will hold an informational briefing on the comments and status of the Housing Element at its regularly scheduled meeting on June 13, 2023. 

Draft Housing Element Environmental Review 

The County has also completed environmental review of the draft updated Housing Element, and has prepared an Initial Study and Negative Declaration for the update, determining that, because the Housing Element is a policy document that does not alter any land use or development regulations or directly or indirectly cause or induce any new development, it has no potential environmental impacts. Programs and policies incorporated in the Housing Element, when implemented, may have environmental impacts, but each of those programs and policies will undergo individual environmental review at the time of implementation. The Initial Study, Negative Declaration, and Notice of Availability of the environmental documents are available on the Housing Element Update website. Any comments on these documents must be submitted to William Gibson at [email protected], or via the methods listed in the documents, by 5:00 PM on June 9, 2023. 

Housing Element Adoption

The updated Housing Element constitutes an amendment to the County’s General Plan, and on adoption by the County Board of Supervisors, will replace the existing 2014-2022 Housing Element of the General Plan. After amendments to address HCD’s comments and incorporate any other necessary changes, the Housing Element will be recirculated for public review and comment, and will then be reviewed by the County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. The first of multiple hearings on potential adoption of the Housing Element is tentatively scheduled for the Planning Commission meeting on June 21, 2023, and the Board of Supervisors meeting on July 11, 2023.