City of Millbrae 6th Cycle Housing Element Update

Approximately 15 miles south of San Francisco and home to over 20,000, the City of Millbrae is no stranger to rising costs and competition for resources—just some of the factors that make housing people in the Bay Area particularly challenging. To tackle these issues, the City has partnered with Harris to update its Housing Element and provide adequate housing for families and individuals of all economic levels. The City’s overall goal is to prepare the required 6th Cycle Housing Element Update that is consistent with the current state law and improve affordable housing efforts to meet the needs of the community.

As of October 2022, the City also adopted the Downtown & El Camino Real Specific Plan for the area near the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station, which will provide higher-density zoning and opportunities for the redevelopment of existing commercial properties into residential-only and/or mixed-use development.

The Harris team completed the first draft of the 6th Cycle Housing Element, which incorporates extensive feedback from staff and the community. In October 2022, staff submitted this draft to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and posted it to the City’s website.

Core Elements

The Housing Element covers various aspects related to housing in the city, including:

• Housing needs and community characteristics
• Housing accomplishments and challenges
• Financial resources
• Housing constraints
• Affordable housing units at risk of converting to market rate
• Site inventory analysis
• Goals, programs, and objectives to meet fair housing requirements

The Harris team has also led community outreach efforts, developer outreach efforts, and coordination with HCD staff. After receiving the first set of comments in January 2023, Harris is working to provide the City with changes to the Housing Element for review by the Planning Commission and City Council and, ultimately, HCD.