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At the June 5 meeting of the Atherton City Council, the council directed town staff to look into the possibility of Atherton becoming a charter city to gain more independence from the state, spurred by concerns about recent state housing law’s effects on local municipalities. At the meeting, council members, as well as residents, agreed that it would be beneficial to further study the possible advantages and drawbacks of charter city status for the town.
There are two kinds of cities in California: general law cities and charter cities. A general law city is bound to follow the state’s general law in all matters, including in matters of municipal affairs. Charter cities operate under a charter, which gives them “home rule,” or supreme powers over municipal affairs. A city’s charter essentially acts as the city’s constitution.
The state has the power to determine whether something is a municipal affair or a matter of statewide concern. If an issue is of statewide concern, the state legislature can override home rule.
Atherton’s council was prompted to look into the matter by a recent court ruling in southern California where five charter cities were declared exempt from California’s controversial Senate Bill 9 law, which took effect in 2022. SB 9 allows property owners to split their lots and build up to two new homes.
“We had a community group, … the Atherton Housing Coalition, send emails to the council (after the ruling) saying ‘hey you should consider this’,” said Atherton Town Manager George Rodericks.
A town staff report references land use and zoning as the most important issues for which the “100% residential, single-family town” of Atherton should restore local control.
The staff report says that “the current 6th Cycle Housing Element Update has placed the town at odds with the state’s affordable housing priorities as it forces the town to reconsider its single-family residential zoning and 1-acre parcels to conform to the state’s vision for addressing affordable housing needs throughout the region and the state.”
Currently, the southern California ruling only applies to the five cities named in the case. However, if the case were appealed and the appellate court ruled in favor of the charter cities, the ruling would apply to charter cities statewide, including Atherton.
“Becoming a charter city is not the panacea it used to be,” said Rodericks. “The state has eroded a lot of control. Back when it was more locally focused, becoming a charter city gave you that sense of independence. It’s not quite that much anymore.”
Atherton’s most recent draft of its housing element is counting on SB 9 lot splits to supply 48 out of 348 units of housing required by the state.
“We would have to identify an additional 48 units somewhere,” said Rodericks. “The good part is that the SB 9 units were all in the moderate- to above moderate-income category. So we just have to identify units in that category, not the very low or low, which is much harder for Atherton.”
Rodericks said that the topic of Atherton becoming a charter city comes up regularly. The city council established an ad-hoc committee to study the possible benefits of becoming a charter city in 2012, and also discussed the possibility in 2015 and 2017 when looking for alternate sources of revenue for the town.
The council was generally supportive of the idea of Atherton becoming a charter city.
“The possibility of becoming a charter city at this time and place … is really compelling,” said Council member Elizabeth Lewis.
Council member Bill Widmer said that he thinks becoming a charter issue is something that the town should continue to study.
“I do believe that there are definite values to us becoming a charter city, but I think we should have a committee or something to study it,” he said.
It’s not all about housing
Though the town’s staff report specifically references land use issues as the main reason for Atherton to consider charter city status, the council and residents were more concerned with restoring local control for the town in general.
“There’s a tenor in the staff report … which really focuses on, and certainly stems from the statement that the town’s most important issue for local control is land use and zoning. I think land use and zoning is an important issue, but I think there are lots of other issues that are very important for local control,” said Council member Rick DeGolia. “I’m interested in us looking into this charter city situation because I think home rule is good.”
DeGolia went on to say that SB 9 is “not a big deal for Atherton,” due to the town’s already large properties.
Residents agreed that increased local control may benefit Atherton in general, but that the town should look into the matter more deeply to make sure that there are no major drawbacks to becoming a charter city.
“We’ve seen the state become more and more restrictive toward cities. … Our motivation is not SB 9. We actually don’t think this is going to help us on multifamily. So we have to put that to the side … and look at what’s coming down the road (from the state),” said Carol Flaherty, member of the Atherton Housing Coalition, a group of Atherton residents that wrote their own proposal for Atherton’s housing element. The group’s draft proposal called for the elimination of multifamily zoning in several areas of the town, and suggested putting multifamily units on town- and fire district-owned lands.
Some council members also cautioned that becoming a charter city may have some drawbacks for the town. Widmer emphasized that writing too loose of a charter may give future council members unchecked power.
“We want to make sure that we don’t open Pandora’s box, so to speak,” he said.
Lewis also warned that becoming a charter city may increase the town’s administrative costs.
“There’s a reason why almost all the (charter) cities are larger cities than Atherton,” she said. “Because it takes a lot of staff to manage a charter city. … I just know from before when we looked at this that there are some perils associated with it, and we need to be careful.”
To become a charter city, Atherton would have to put the matter to a vote during a General Municipal Election. The town could not put the issue on the ballot until the November 2026 General Municipal Election.
Ultimately, the council directed town staff to study the matter further, and return to council with more information. Staff will return to the council with more information, likely sometime this fall, according to Atherton City Clerk Anthony Suber.
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