Why is This Important?

Land use decisions by local governments have far reaching impacts on the long-term sustainability of the county. While San Mateo County is largely suburban in its existing land use, choices such as where to locate new housing, businesses, schools, and parks can infl uence everything from how much residents drive to how healthy their diet is. With many towns and cities in the county fully "built-out," the focus of future development in the county will largely be on "in-fill" projects which bring new residents and businesses to already developed areas.

What is a Sustainable State?

A sustainable state is one where land use policies accommodate growth, protect open space and agriculture, and encourage increased development in areas that provide all residents easy access to public and commercial services, jobs, and transit.

How Are We Doing?

Land Use Policies
In early 2010 SSMC surveyed all municipalities and the county regarding their adoption of a range of land use policies. Among the major findings:
• Developable Land: Fourteen municipalities in the county report that they are more than 95% built-out, with few remaining vacant land parcels available for new development. Most of the rest of the municipalities are between 86% and 95% built-out.
• Affordable Housing: Almost all municipalities in the county have inclusionary housing policies that require affordable housing development in new residential projects. The majority of these require that 11-19 percent of new units meet affordability criteria. Four municipalities-Colma, Foster City, East Palo Alto, and South San Francisco-require that more than 20 percent of new housing meet affordability criteria.
• Mixed Use Development: A number of towns and cities in the county do not have defined commercial or "downtown"areas, and these towns and municipalities generally do not have policies that support mixed-use or transit-oriented development. However 14 municipalities with downtown business districts do allow for mixed-use development in those areas (and another is in the process of approving a new policy to support such development), and 11 of those jurisdictions also provide transit-oriented options.
• Density of New Development: SSMC asked each jurisdiction to provide information on the density of new residential development in the last fi scal year. Five cities (Burlingame, Foster City, San Mateo, Redwood City, and San Bruno) reported that the density of residential development over the last year was greater than 25 dwelling units per acre (DU/acre). South San Francisco reported density of 15-25 DU/acre for its new residential development, and East Palo Alto and Brisbane reported densities of 10-14 DU/acre. Still, six responding municipalities reported residential development densities of fewer than fi ve dwelling units per acre.