One of the missing puzzle pieces from the Piedmont Housing Element is an analysis of the potential for Senate Bill 9 (SB 9) to add new housing to Piedmont over the next 8 years.
In short, SB 9 allows property owners with lots of a certain size to subdivide and add two units on the new lot with virtually no restrictions from the municipal authority. There are many of these lots in Piedmont’s Zones A and E and their development under SB 9 could contribute significantly to meeting the goal of 587 units by 2031.
This type of housing growth is new and in March 2022 the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the state agency in charge of setting the 2031 housing goals, published guidance on how cities can develop projections for SB 9 growth to include in their 2023 Housing Elements. That guidance states:
“To utilize projections based on SB 9 toward a jurisdiction’s regional housing need allocation, the housing element must: 1) include a site-specific inventory of sites where SB 9 projections are being applied, 2) include a non-vacant sites analysis demonstrating the likelihood of redevelopment and that the existing use will not constitute an impediment for additional residential use, 3) identify any governmental constraints to the use of SB 9 in the creation of units (including land use controls, fees, and other exactions, as well as locally adopted ordinances that impact the cost and supply of residential development), and 4) include programs and policies that establish zoning and development standards early in the planning period and implement incentives to encourage and facilitate development. The element should support this analysis with local information such as local developer or owner interest to utilize zoning and incentives established through SB 9.”
Several Bay Area cities are following this guidance and including SB 9 projections in their Housing Elements. The City of Atherton projects 80 units over the next 8 years based on limited community input and a GIS analysis of large lots in their community (see page 72 of the draft Atherton Housing Element). Larkspur is conducting a survey of property owners to gauge their interest in developing their property ( Larkspur Property Owner Survey). The City of Ross is also considering including an SB 9 analysis in its Housing Element (Ross Housing Element). Housing advocates are calling on cites to include SB 9 projections in their housing elements as well. A letter sent to the City of Piedmont from East Bay for Everyone and the Greenbelt Alliance states:
Yet with all this evidence to the contrary, the Piedmont Planning Department insists that HCD will not accept SB 9 projections in its housing element. The public record says otherwise and staff should explain its position in light of the HCD SB 9 guidance. Staff does acknowledge that these SB 9 units will count towards housing goals should they develop but in so doing are losing an opportunity now to properly plan for that growth for the betterment of the community. For example, to incentivize development, the Housing Element increases densities in the multi-use zone, thereby risking the conversion of Ace Hardware to housing. Likewise, to develop moderate income housing, the Housing Element proposes using public sites in the Civic Center and Corporation Yard, important public spaces the city needs to modernize. Were the Planning Department to account for SB 9 moderate income units in Zones A and E (and incentivize that as the housing advocates suggest), the City would not need to propose housing development for these essential private and public spaces.
Fortunately, there is time for an SB9 analysis to be included in the Housing Element – the deadline for the document is May 2023. But Council will have to step up and direct staff to do so. Otherwise, the Housing Element will fail to account for a significant source of new housing potential, which staff always reminds us is the whole point of this exercise.
Garrett Keating, Former Member of the Piedmont City Council
Councilmember Betsy Smegal Andersen was appointed to the City Council in October 2017 and elected to her first term in November 2018. Councilmember Andersen grew up in Piedmont and has a long history of community involvement, including service on the Public Safety Committee and the Recreation Commission. She is a proud graduate of Piedmont High School, Duke University and the UCLA School of Law.
In November 2020, Conna McCarthy was elected to her first term on City Council. McCarthy serves as liaison to the Planning Commission and the Civil Service Commission. She serves on the Board of Directors for East Bay Community Energy. Growing up in San Francisco, in a family where advocacy, activism and participation in democratic processes was required, McCarthy spent a good part of her youth and early adulthood engaged in community organizing projects. Moving to Piedmont in 1989, she has contributed over 25 years of volunteer leadership to the Piedmont Community. McCarthy is a graduate of Santa Clara University and Santa Clara University, School of Law. She is a licensed attorney, wife, and a mother of three adult children. She takes special pride in her affiliation with The McCarthy Center for Public Service at USF where students prepare for careers of ethical public service in government, business, the environment, healthcare, and education.
