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Rezoning, Airbnb rentals and anti-displacement strategies were all hot topics at a Dec. 6 Menlo Park City Council meeting, as city officials weigh changes to its housing element ahead of a looming state deadline.
The meeting’s study session was just one step toward completing the city’s housing element update, a state-mandated process that occurs once every eight years. This time around, the state is strongly enforcing the regulations.
The housing element requires cities to build according to projected growth, with an eye toward balancing jobs and housing. Menlo Park’s housing target, also known as the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), requires the city to plan for close to 3,800 new housing units by 2031.
Though Menlo Park submitted its housing element to the state in July, with a prediction that the city would not only reach its RHNA requirements but exceed it by over 2,000 units, the plan was rejected by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on Oct. 9.
Many council members at the meeting said that they were hesitant to speak too in depth as council member Drew Combs was not in attendance at the meeting.
Council member Jen Wolosin said that the rezoning process is critical to the success of the housing element.
“A lot of it’s going to come down to zoning and our height and our density numbers,” Wolosin said. “It just all seems to ride on some big assumptions.”
Wolosin added that the she was concerned that the city was stepping down its affordable housing assumptions for some sites as part of the housing element update. Wolosin said this shift made her nervous, and that the City Council should focus more of its attention on housing in downtown Menlo Park.
Several council members named anti-displacement strategies as a focus in developing the city’s housing plans, and created a subcommittee in order to decide which measures would be brought to city staff at a later date.
The informal subcommittee to address anti-displacement will be made up of council members Wolosin and Cecilia Taylor.
One other topic brought up was the vacancies created by Airbnb rentals. Mayor Betsy Nash brought up the use of ADUs as Airbnb rentals instead of housing, and considered placing restrictions on such rentals. City staff will be pursuing data of Airbnbs in Menlo Park.
Menlo Park’s Housing Commission and Planning Commission will have a joint meeting on Jan. 12 to make recommendations on the housing element, followed by a Jan. 30 City Council adoption hearing. The housing element has to be submitted to the state by Jan. 31.
Menlo Park is required to revise and resubmit a housing element to the state to demonstrate it can build what is proposed. Failure to meet the Jan. 31 deadline means the city would have a noncompliant element, which could result in “builder’s remedy” and open the door for developers to build housing projects without having to comply with local zoning rules.
