San Mateo County Housing Element Rezoning Program

The County of San Mateo Planning and Building Department (Department) seeks proposals from professional consulting services with the expertise and technical qualifications to manage all aspects of the creation and adoption, including environmental review, of new high-density residential zoning districts and associated General Plan Land Use designations to allow and require high-density residential development and/or primarily residential mixed use development in four unincorporated County areas, in order to implement the Rezoning Program in the County’s 2023-2031 Housing Element and facilitate new residential development to meet the County’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for Housing Element Cycle 6.

The Rezoning Program in the County's 2023-2031 Housing Element identifies various parcels in four unincorporated County areas which are proposed for rezoning and amendments to General Plan Land Use designations to allow high density housing, in order to address an identified shortfall in residential development capacity required to meet the County Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). In addition to the parcels directly identified in the Housing Element, a number of other parcels are also proposed for rezoning in this areas, in order to achieve consistent and contiguous zoning districts: in total, 137 parcels in four County areas, constituting approximately 50 acres are proposed for rezoning. The parcels are located in unincorporated Colma, Broadmoor (unincorporated Daly City), the Harbor Industrial area (unincorporated Belmont), and in the unincorporated Midcoast community in the County’s Coastal Zone. The parcels are shown in the attached maps.

The County’s 2023-2031 Housing Element was adopted by the County Board of Supervisors, and is under review by the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The adopted Housing Element is available here . The Housing Element Sites Inventory and Rezoning Program, describing the County’s existing residential development capacity, RHNA shortfall, and parcels proposed for rezoning, are summarized in Program 11.2 on page 41 of the Housing Element, described in greater detail beginning on page 84, and presented with full background information and analysis in Appendix E. The full list parcels to be rezoned as part of this project, including parcels not included in the Housing Element Rezoning Program, are listed in the attachments. (Note that the full list of parcels for rezoning may be refined during the early stages of the project).

The outcome of this project will be a newly created and adopted zoning district or districts, and a new General Plan Land Use designation, providing for streamlined development of high-density housing, ministerially permitted and subject to only objective design and development standards. The General Plan Land Use designation amendments will describe the basic range of allowed use types in the identified areas, and define the minimum and maximum allowed densities, consistent with County practice. The zoning amendments will comprise a full set of all other necessary development standards, including specific allowed uses, height, bulk, lot coverage, parking requirements, basic design parameters, permit and approval requirements, and all other typical elements of zoning regulations.

The selected consultant(s) will partner with County staff to manage all phases of drafting and adopting new zoning regulations and General Plan land use designations to allow and require high density residential and/or residential mixed-use development on all parcels identified in the Rezoning Program. While the regulations created and adopted through this project will constitute new zoning chapters, they may be substantially based on the County’s existing Commercial Mixed Use zoning regulations (CMU-1, CMU-2, and CMU-3), which are available in the County’s Zoning Regulations .

Because several of the parcels identified for rezoning are within the County’s Coastal Zone, California Coastal Commission review and approval of a subset of the zoning and land use designation amendments will be required. The Coastal Commission approval process will constitute a distinct and final phase of this project (described in Task 8 of the Scope of Services), to follow final local adoption of the various amendments and completion of environmental review. As such, the project will necessarily be comprised of two successive phases:

1) drafting, review, and local adoption of all zoning and General Plan amendments, in both the non-Coastal (Bayside) and Coastal (Coastside) areas, concluding with Board of Supervisors adoption of the amendments and certification of associated environmental review, and

2) all additional materials, submittals, information, hearings and other requirements for the Coastal Commission’s subsequent review of the Coastside parcels only, including any modifications, supplemental environmental review, and other work required to achieve Coastal Commission approval.

In addition, a portion of the unincorporated Colma area is included in the Colma BART Area Specific Plan. While it is not anticipated that any substantial amendments to the Specific Plan will be required to accomplish the goals of this project, review of the Specific Plan and identification of any necessary amendments will be a required component of the project.

The work is generally anticipated to include, but may not be limited to:

• Creation of draft and final zoning regulations and General Plan Land Use designations, adopting materials, and other collateral materials, including draft and final zoning and General Plan map and text amendments, and submittal materials for Coastal Commission review
• Creation of materials for public outreach and local advisory committee, Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors and Coastal Commission hearings
• Create public outreach program and manage and facilitate public outreach, both in-person and virtual
• Creation of online project materials
• Coordination with elected and appointed officials to present recommendations and obtain feedback
• Coordination with Coastal Commission staff
• Full environmental review, anticipated to include a full Environmental Impact Report, and all associated materials, noticing, scoping, and submittal of documents required by the California Environmental Quality Act

Because the parcels identified for rezoning are in four distinct County areas, ideas and opportunities for consolidation of outreach and other work on the rezonings across geographies are important considerations.

Additionally, because this project is a required component of the County’s Housing Element and is mandated by State law, the timeline of the project is critical, and the speed and efficiency of the work is also a crucial consideration. The anticipated general timeline is approximately 6 months for the first phase of the project, including local adoption of all amendments and certification of the EIR, followed by an additional roughly 4 months for the Coastal Commission review and adoption phase of the project. Periodic and recurring deliverables described in the scope of services below are assumed to be ongoing for 10-12 months at minimum.