The Menlo Park City Council got its housing element in under the wire, certifying and adopting it Jan. 31 on a 4-1 vote, with Drew Combs opposed.

The housing element had to be approved and submitted to the state by Jan. 31 in order to avoid penalties that could include fines and losing land use authority over proposed developments.

"It is maybe not the eleventh hour, but it's 10:59 for sure," resident Brian Shields said.

The meeting is intended to be the final step in 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 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.

Council member Drew Combs took issue with three parts of the housing element. Combs and Council member Maria Doerr introduced language to the housing element to encourage developers to use union contractors and protect workers. The motion passed unanimously and was added to the housing element for adoption.

Combs also said that he believed just-cause eviction protections and relocation measures laid out in the anti-displacement efforts would be more detrimental to renters than helpful.

Anti-displacement measures have been at the forefront of housing element discussions since December, with a subcommittee of Jen Wolosin and Cecilia Taylor that was specifically created to address displacement of residents. The subcommittee recommended expanding the state's just-cause eviction and tenant protections, which have a one-year residency requirement, to residents who have lived in Menlo Park for any period of time. These protections include a requirement that a landlord must serve a tenant with a three-day written notice to cure an at-fault reason for eviction before proceeding.

The subcommittee also recommended increasing tenant relocation assistance to four months for all no-fault evictions and offering "know your rights" education, including legal aid, at no cost.

"We have to be careful because there is a really short barrier to (single-family rented homes) being moved from the rental market and just being sold," Combs said. "The more burden we put on landlords, I think the more likely they will just sell, and then a person who could afford rent now doesn't have a home."

Combs said that he worried that the point of the suggestions was moot since no changes were being actively made, but rather planned for. He also expressed concern that sufficient outreach had not been made to landlords. Combs said that the council should be more generic in its language with anti-displacement measures.

Lastly, Combs suggested that the so-called opportunity sites, flagged as potential locations for housing growth, along Marsh Road be removed as they were less likely to be developed than other sites.

Neither of these changes were made as the other four council members were in favor of the original language.

Changes made

The council added green space to the areas protected by mitigation measures in building, a suggestion by Doerr. The language was also changed regarding city-owned parking lots, with a goal of developing 345 or more affordable housing units by 2027. City-owned parking lots have been the focus of discussion because the city has the discretion to build all-affordable housing on the sites.

The anti-displacement measures put forward by the council will be moved up by six months on the timeline, and will begin implementation in January 2024 and continue through 2026.

The city is anticipating 3,644 housing units from "pipeline" projects that are already in the works — either proposed, approved or under construction — of which 594 are designated for affordable housing. Four of those projects are already under construction, comprising 925 units and including 140 of affordable housing. Among those projects is Menlo Uptown on Jefferson Drive, which is an eight-story mixed-use building proposal with about 15,000 square feet of office space and commercial space.

Another 454 units of affordable housing are coming from projects that have been proposed but aren't yet under construction. Some notable ones include the Parkline SRI redevelopment project and Meta's Willow Village. Menlo Park has designated 85 units of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) could be built, of which 77 are affordable housing. One program introduced in the housing element encourages the city to adopt policies that incentivize the building of ADUs.

There are 3,379 units listed at on opportunity sites, where housing could be possible in the future, of which 1,953 are designated as affordable housing. One notable opportunity site is the Flood School lot, which has sparked contentious community debate during election season. Also listed as opportunity sites and the downtown Trader Joe's at 720 Menlo Ave.

The housing element and the draft environmental impact report both passed on the 4-1 vote.