More and more, purchasing a home is out of reach for many while renters face rent prices that are just too high. Just about every city in the region needs more housing, of all types and sizes. Portola Valley’s needs, as laid out in the Housing Strategic Plan, identify the following populations for housing support: 

• Seniors with limited options to age in the community
• Young adults who grew up in Portola Valley who do not have options to stay
• Workforce that commutes long distances and pays high rents to support the community

Housing Elements are housing plans that are one part of the General Plan – a guide to all the ways each city, town or county is planned and managed, from our roads to our parks and neighborhoods. With an update required every eight years by the State of California, this Housing Element update will create a foundation for all the policies and programs related to housing.  Learn more here.

The Ad Hoc Housing Element Committee began meeting in June/July 2021, and serve through December 2022. Committee members are anticipated to:

• Provide recommendations to the Town Council on an updated Housing Element that provides means to accommodate additional housing units
• Explore options to minimize the impacts of additional housing units on the Town’s character, safety concerns, and traffic.
• Maximize public participation in the update by encouraging residents, business owners, and the Town’s diverse workforce to attend meetings and share ideas
• Communicate information on the Committee’s progress and recommendations to residents

Affordable Housing Fund Policy - Adopted by Town Council on December 13, 2023:

The affordable housing fund and on-going funding.

1. There is hereby established by the town council an affordable housing fund (Fund). All fees collected pursuant to inclusionary housing in-lieu fee regulations and other monies controlled by the town for affordable housing shall be deposited in the Fund.

    

2. Principal and interest from loan repayments, proceeds from grant repayments, forfeitures, reimbursements, and all other income from Fund activities shall be deposited into the Fund. All monies in the account shall earn interest at least at the same rate as pooled investments managed by the Town. All interest earnings from the Fund shall be reinvested and dedicated to the Fund. Transferred monies shall accrue interest from the time of transfer.

Fund use location.

The Fund shall serve to increase the supply of affordable housing within the limits of the Town of Portola Valley.

Administration.

The Fund shall be administered by the town manager or an outside entity/nonprofit agency selected by the Town Council, subject to an executed agreement between any such outside entity, and the Town and in each case, such administration shall be consistent with this policy.

Eligible fund expenses.

Moneys in the Fund may be used to:

1. Increase and improve the supply of affordable housing through the following means:

                          

   1. Provide funding for pre-development and construction expenses necessary to create new affordable housing.
   2. Purchase land directly (land banking) or provide funding to affordable housing developers or community land trusts to purchase suitable sites to build affordable housing.
   3. Engage experts, consultants, or advisors with demonstrated experience in the development of affordable housing projects to evaluate the feasibility of potential affordable housing sites, projects, or funding programs and/or develop site and building designs that reflect an appropriate affordable housing project on such sites.
   4. Provide funding for purchase and/or rehabilitation of existing multi-family housing for conversion to deed restricted affordable housing.
   5. Support the development and construction of accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units for low or very low-income households with a recorded deed restriction of 55 years.
   6. Fund efforts to streamline affordable housing processes in Portola Valley.
   7. Provide funding assistance to other agencies or housing development corporations, through loans including, equity participation loans, grants, pre-home ownership co-investment, participation leases, or other public/private partnership arrangements.
   8. Other affordable housing opportunities as they may arise that the Town Council deems appropriate.

       

2. Cover reasonable administrative expenses not reimbursed through processing or other fees, including:

    

   1. Reasonable consultant and legal expenses related to the establishment and/or administration of the Fund,
   2. Reasonable expenses for administering the process of calculating, collecting, and accounting for in-lieu and housing impact fees, and
   3. Town administrative costs for the development, permitting, and the on-going monitoring of affordable housing projects constructed with monies from the Fund.

Funding priorities.

Funding requests shall be considered, giving priority to the following:

1. Identifying, funding the acquisition of, and funding the construction of affordable units on Housing Element Opportunity Sites, or alternative sites that contribute to meeting the RHNA obligations of the Housing Element on an equivalent basis, with input from the Planning Commission and the Architectural and Site Control Commission or other boards or commissions the Town Council deems appropriate.

    

2. Projects that would enable developers to support or increase the percentage of units in a project that are for very low- and low-income households.

    

3. Other projects for which the Town Council determines will have the greatest impact in addressing the Town’s affordable housing needs, consistent with the Town’s General Plan.

Expenditure from fund.

1. Expenditures from the Fund shall be controlled, authorized, and paid in accordance with the town’s general budgetary policies. For all funding opportunities, an application shall be submitted to the Town, reviewed by town staff, and a report prepared with input from the Planning Commission and the Architectural and Site Control Commission or other boards or commissions the Town Council deems appropriate, for approval by the Town Council.The report should contain a summary of the current Fund status, assessment of project consistency with this policy, and a review of project documentation, pro forma, and other reports demonstrating project and applicant readiness and capability.

    

2. Every recipient shall enter into a written agreement with the town which sets forth the terms and conditions of the grant or loan. At a minimum, the agreement shall describe the allowable uses of the grant or loan funds, the dollar amount and disbursement method, compliance with the applicable town standards and policies for affordable housing and periodic reporting to assist the town in the monitoring of compliance with the agreement.

Accounting of fund.

The Fund shall be accounted for in the town’s annual financial audit.

Stanford University has submitted an application to the Town to develop a portion of University owned property on Alpine Road. Additional information and plans can be found here.

Mayor Wengert mailed out a letter with an update on Portola Valley housing efforts.  There is also an overview of the efforts from 2016 until the present.

ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT (ADU) ORDINANCE GOES INTO EFFECT April 26, 2019

On Wednesday, March 27, 2019, the Town Council adopted a new ADU Ordinance. The final ordinance includes the following policies:

• ADU Size limitations
  • External ADUs (new square footage) on parcels less than 3.5 acres are limited to 1,200 SF or 50% of the existing building (whichever is more restrictive);
  • Internal ADUs (conversions of existing buildings) are limited to 1,700 SF;
• Allowing ADUs in all zoning districts and on properties less than one acre in size (with some limitations);
• Allowing a separate address and separate utilities from the main house;
• Streamlined review process that would shorten review times while preserving the opportunity for neighbor comments; and
• Second driveways, in rare cases, with ASCC approval.

The full text of the new ADU Ordinance describes all of the changes (Adopted 3/27/19)

The ADU Application Path handout describes what level of review is required for ADUs (revised 3/28/19)

Thank you to all who participated in the process. The documents below were created during the review and approval process to better describe how the new ordinance would change regulations for ADUs, and are provided here as background to the recent ADU ordinance update:  Table of Public Meetings and Documents Related to the ADU Ordinance Process 

• Table of Public Meetings and Documents Related to the ADU Ordinance Process 
• Frequently Asked Questions - Revised 3/14/19
• Side by Side Comparison of Current and Proposed Regulations for ADUs - Revised 3/14/19

For questions or comments, please contact us at housing@portolavalley.net or 650-851-1700.

Ad Hoc - Housing on Town Owned Property Committee Meetings:

• February 7, 2019 Meeting 
• December 6, 2018 Meeting