Spurred by state requirements, Atherton is looking to update an ordinance for backyard housing units to encourage further development of such structures and help in the town’s efforts to finally get its long-range housing plan certified.
During its Feb. 21 meeting, the Town Council introduced a proposed update to its accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ordinance while noting that a key reason to ultimately adopt it would be to avoid losing local land-use control to the state.
The council is expected to consider approving the ordinance on March 20.
“I think it’s an important part of our HCD (state Department of Housing and Community Development) approval process,” said Council member Bill Widmer during the meeting. “They want to see it.”
Council member Rick DeGolia concurred, saying, “We need to get approved by them and give up as little of our town’s character as we can, and if we don’t, they’ll take over our zoning.”
DeGolia sees such a scenario as posing a serious threat to a town famously known for its large-lot, multimillion-dollar single-family properties.
“If they take over our zoning, there’s going to be multifamily districts all over Atherton,” he said.
‘If they take over our zoning, there’s going to be multifamily districts all over Atherton.’
Atherton Council member Rick DeGolia
In a report to the council, town staff pointed out that failure to revise the ordinance would permit ADU construction under “more permissive state regulations.”
But updating the ordinance to conform with state law “will allow the town to process applications with more clarity and compliance,” staff said. Currently, the town is reviewing several ADU applications.
The revised ordinance would allow ADUs to be built above detached garages. But such cases would require sufficient screening in the form of an eight-foot, solid and opaque fence or similarly compliant landscaping, City Manager George Rodericks said in his monthly newsletter.
The ordinance would also establish the Bonus ADU Program to incentivize the development and documentation of ADUs targeting low-income households.
Under this program, Rodericks said, ADUs with a minimum of two acres would apply, be subject to a limited-term deed restriction and need to comply with all setback requirements.
Although he understands the town has to proceed with the ordinance, Widmer is wary that lots in Atherton could just turn into big rental properties.
“I prefer not to see a bunch of ADUs on properties,” he said.
But DeGolia doesn’t believe an explosion of rental units will result.
“I could be dead wrong about this, but I’m not worried about having all these rental communities in Atherton,” he said. “There’s plenty of ADUs that exist in Atherton right now, and almost all of them don’t get rented. So our challenge is to find those that do get rented and be able to catalog those and show HCD that in fact we’re meeting the housing requirement that they forced on us.”
The council has also been reviewing adjusting service fees pertaining to ADUs as another way to motivate property owners to pursue those kinds of units.
Road to certification
The town seeks 35 new ADUs a year under the state Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) program for the 2023-31 period.
That rate would significantly cover the town’s goal in its housing element document of accommodating the 348 residential units mandated by the state for the current period — up from the 93 called for during the previous eight-year span.
Since 2022, Atherton has been working on updating its housing element, but earning HCD’s approval remains elusive.
“There is no ‘deadline’ per se at this point as we’ve already missed the two statutory deadlines,” Rodericks said in an email to this news organization.
The town failed to submit a state-compliant housing element by a January 2023 deadline, he said. Atherton also fell short on adopting needed land-use changes by this year’s Jan. 31, 2024 cutoff.
“Now it’s just a matter of getting across the finish line,” Rodericks said. “The town is simply just ‘not in compliance.’ We are working toward completion of our housing element and are in contact with and in collaboration with the state as we continue to move forward one step at a time.”
The town is expected to send the next revised version of its housing element to HCD by the end of June.
According to HCD, six out of 21 jurisdictions in San Mateo County are in full compliance with their housing element — Brisbane, Burlingame, Millbrae, Portola Valley, Redwood City and South San Francisco.
Others such as Hillsborough and Menlo Park have garnered conditional approval.