Why is This Important?

Local governments’ land use decisions have far reaching impacts on long-term sustainability. While San Mateo County is largely suburban in its existing land use, future choices about the locations of new housing, businesses, schools, and parks can influence 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 designing more sustainable in-fill projects that bring residents and businesses into already developed areas.

What is a Sustainable State?

In a sustainable state land use policies accommodate growth, protect open space and agriculture, support local businesses, and encourage increased development in areas that provide residents easy access to public and commercial services, jobs, and transit.

How Are We Doing?

Developed Land
· San Mateo County has a mix of urban, suburban, and rural land uses. According to the latest Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) data, about 1/3 of county land is urban in use (residential, commercial, industrial), while 2/3 is considered non-urban in use (forest, agriculture, rangeland, wetlands).

· About 51 percent of all urban land is residential; 25 percent is roads and other infrastructure, and 14 percent is commercial and industrial. The balance is “urban open” land, including parks, golf courses, and cemeteries. Among non-urban uses, forest accounts for about half of all land and rangeland accounts for about 38 percent.

· While only about 1/3 of the county is urban in use, most county municipalities are fully built-out, meaning all available land not otherwise restricted as open space or parks has been constructed on. In 2010, 14 of 20 cities in the county stated that they were more than 95 percent built out; the balance reported 86 and 95 percent built-out. This finding highlights the need to focus on in-fill development in areas where housing already exists.

· The overall population density of the county was 1,397 persons per square mile in 2008. This was the seventh highest population density in the state, but fourth in the Bay Area. San Francisco, Alameda, and Santa Clara all have higher population densities than San Mateo County.

Land Use Policies
As in past years, SSMC surveyed all municipalities, the county, and the community college district to gauge the adoption of a range of land use policies. Among the major findings:

Affordable Housing: Almost all municipalities in the county have inclusionary housing policies that require
affordable housing development to be included in new residential projects; the amount of this requirement,  however, varies by city. Five municipalities—Colma, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, East Palo Alto, and South San Francisco—along with the county, require that at least 20 percent of new housing meet affordability criteria. Most other cities and towns require that 15 percent of housing meet affordability requirements.

Transit-Oriented Development: Transit-oriented development generally involves locating homes and businesses in high-density areas in close proximity to transit lines. While a number of cities and towns in the county have historic central business districts that meet many of these goals, the adoption of speci c, designated zoning for transit-oriented development is an important component for locating new housing in areas that are not dependent on the automobile.   In 2010, nine cities and the county reported to SSMC that
they had formally zoned transit-oriented development within their boundaries. In total, about 1,358 acres in the county fit this description, and over 3,600 housing units have been built to date in these areas. San Bruno and the City of San Mateo lead the county in this respect, with over 1,000 housing units built in each city in transit-oriented areas.

Transfer of Development Rights: In a transfer of development rights, the owner of a property within a jurisdiction may “sever” the right to develop on that land and sell that right to another developer who can use it to increase the density of a different project in a different location. Transfer of development rights is a relatively new procedure in local governments, and is most frequently used to help preserve open space or farmland. In 2010, four municipalities—Belmont, Brisbane, Paci ca, and South San Francisco—allowed for the transfer of development rights.

Health Component in General Plan: Many cities around the country are adding a “health component” to their General Plans. A health component links land use decisions with the health impacts on residents by guiding the location and development of parks, schools, groceries, and schools. Six cities and towns in the county report having health components in their General Plans.

Urban Trails System: Urban trails can include sidewalks, bike paths, or traditional trails through parks and open space.  An urban trails system coordinates these different elements (often as part of a General Plan) to allow residents better non-motorized mobility. Urban trails systems can reduce vehicle miles traveled within a city and improve health and activity of a community. As of 2010, 11 cities in the county have coordinated Urban Trails systems.