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After nearly a three-year planning process, Portola Valley received news of the approval of its 2023-31 housing plans by the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) via a Tuesday, Jan. 30, letter. During the Town Council meeting on Jan. 24, the housing element draft was approved for adoption in a 3-2 vote.
The town was able to get their housing element approved just shy of the state’s Jan. 31 deadline. In total, the town council has spent a total of 148 hours and 47 meetings to discuss the housing element, according to town officials.
“The housing element process has overwhelmed our small town, staff and budget for nearly three years so it’s hard to overstate the importance of this milestone for our community,” said Portola Valley Mayor Sarah Wernikoff in an email to The Almanac. “We are now all in this together as we pivot to implementing our plan, our post-approval process, and other important priorities in Town Hall. … I’d like to thank both former and current staff for their hard work and perseverance to get us here, and my colleagues on the council, especially those who voted in support of adoption, but also those who voted in dissent and pushed our thinking.”
‘The housing element process has overwhelmed our small town, staff and budget for nearly three years so it’s hard to overstate the importance of this milestone for our community.’
Portola Valley Mayor Sarah Wernikoff
During the Jan. 24 council meeting, Jon Biggs, interim town planning director, and senior planner Adrienne Smith presented the housing element with recommended changes the town has received by the HCD starting from July 2023 to January 2024.
Vice Mayor Judith Hasko and Council member Mary Hufty voted no on the draft last week.
“This housing element as proposed significantly erodes our Portola Valley historical zoning and land use methods,” said Hasko. “Portola Valley’s plan planning approach has been held up by planning agencies worldwide as innovative, protective against many natural risks, and respectful of our natural environment.”
This housing element as proposed significantly erodes our Portola Valley historical zoning and land use methods. Portola Valley’s plan planning approach has been held up by planning agencies worldwide as innovative, protective against many natural risks, and respectful of our natural environment.’
Portola Valley Vice Mayor Judith Hasko
Biggs said the changes were made in collaboration with the HCD reviewer and “mindful of the unique characters of Portola Valley.”
HCD’s most recent comment on the housing element requested the town change the Opt-In Diversification Program’s minimum lot size to half an acre. After the town pushed back on this, the HCD approved the minimum of one acre.
“The thing that HCD is trying to achieve with this change in the Opt-In program is they are trying to achieve housing mobility,” said Biggs during the presentation. “In other words, opening up our single-family residential neighborhoods to others that may not necessarily have an opportunity to live in these neighborhoods.
HCD was pushing for the town to adopt programs that would “go beyond SB 9,” the state’s 2022 duplex law enacted in 2022 that allows property owners to split their lots and build up to four homes. The reviewer also asked to see the town’s zoning code to certify the housing element.
According to an HCD compliance report, the only jurisdictions in San Mateo County that currently have fully state-approved housing elements are Redwood City, South San Francisco and Brisbane. The state conditionally approved Menlo Park’s plan in December.
Read the housing element document online under “Housing element update for 2023-2031” at portolavalley.net/departments/planning-building-department.
View the approval letter here: