Oakland Planning Commission Meeting - May 20, 2026: Housing Element Progress, Hazard Mitigation, ADU Code Amendments
Oakland Planning Commission Meeting - May 20, 2026
The Oakland Planning Commission met on May 20, 2026, at 11:00 AM and adjourned at 5:36 PM. The meeting covered three major items: an informational report on the 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR), a public hearing on the 2026-2031 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP), and a proposal to amend the Planning Code for ADU consistency with state law and other revisions. Public comments were received on the 6230 Claremont Avenue project and the housing element.
Public Comments & Testimony
- James Van (Oakland Tenants Union) asked how the housing element report reflects residents earning far below HUD affordable thresholds (e.g., $47,000/year for a family of four in the MacArthur area) and whether housing production meets their needs. No direct response was given during the meeting.
- Open Forum Speakers (11 total) focused on the proposed 6230 Claremont Avenue project, expressing support for housing but raising concerns about traffic safety, garbage truck access, shadow impacts on Safeway Plaza, and the developer's density calculations. Speakers urged rigorous review and adherence to zoning codes.
Discussion Items
1. 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (Item 1)
Staff from the Planning and Building Department (Bibi Lagarder) and Housing and Community Development (Caleb Smith) presented the APR. Key data: 1,007 units proposed, 1,944 entitled, 712 permitted, and 1,391 completed in 2025. Only 14% of Oakland's total RHNA has been met in the first three years, with stronger performance for very low- and low-income units (19% and 25%) and weaker performance for moderate-income (9%) and market-rate (9%) units. The presentation included results of the 2025 ADU survey (low response rate) and an analysis of moderate-income rents vs. market-rate rents, finding that moderate-income rent limits have exceeded market-rate rents in most new buildings since mid-2020. Commissioners discussed methodology, the need to count non-deed-restricted moderate-income units (as San Jose does), and concerns about deed-restricted affordable unit concentration in low-resource areas. A motion was made to recommend to City Council to remove the moderate-income-only on-site impact fee category and to allow counting non-deed-restricted units for RHNA. The motion passed 4-1 (Chair Rink dissenting).
2. Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (Item 2)
Veronica Cole (Emergency Planning Coordinator) and Olga Crow (Assistant Emergency Manager) presented the 2026-2031 LHMP, which updates hazard profiles with an equity focus and includes 75 mitigation actions. The plan lists earthquake, severe weather, and fire as high risks. Approval would make Oakland eligible for FEMA funding and a potential 0% cost share for disasters. No public speakers. Commissioners praised the equity emphasis and utility for disaster recovery. A motion to recommend adoption to City Council passed unanimously.
3. Planning Code Amendments: ADU Regulations and Other Changes (Item 3)
Ruslan Philippau presented proposed amendments to align ADU regulations with state law (removing subjective visibility criteria, updating statute references, etc.), plus changes to discontinuance standards for nonconforming activities (60-day cessation period), ministerial design review in S10 zones, recreational assembly in Wood Street zone, front setbacks in the Coliseum zone, and various clerical corrections. Staff noted that findings for ADU restrictions in high-fire zones were previously adopted and reaffirmed. No public speakers. A motion to recommend approval to City Council passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Motion 1 (Housing Element APR): Passed 4-1 to recommend to City Council to remove the moderate-income-only on-site impact fee category and to count non-deed-restricted units for RHNA. (Commissioner Ahrens motion, Commissioner Lee second; Chair Rink opposed).
- Motion 2 (Local Hazard Mitigation Plan): Passed unanimously to recommend City Council adopt the plan as an appendix to the Safety Element.
- Motion 3 (ADU Code Amendments): Passed unanimously to recommend approval of the eight proposed code changes and affirm staff’s environmental determination.
- Next steps: The Housing Element APR will go to City Council's Rules Committee on May 21 and Community and Economic Development Committee on June 9; the LHMP and ADU amendments are also scheduled for upcoming council hearings. The Planning Commission will hold elections for chair and vice chair on June 3, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Yes, Planning Commission, when the planning commission and their Secretary is ready to get started. Meanwhile, if you would like to speak on any item on the agenda, including open forum, please submit your speaker card now so we can determine how we will move this forward this meeting forward efficiently. If you've already filled out your speaker card, we thank you very much. So we'll take a few more minutes just to um determine how many speakers we have today. Commissioner Lee. Chair Rink. Here. You have a quorum. All right, we'll go to commission business and we'll start with agenda discussion. Um, I'm gonna uh Catherine has a couple of announcements to make, but I wanted to just let everyone know that for today we're gonna do uh one minute per speaker. We have a big crowd and we have um three major uh items on our agenda today today. So we have a lot to cover, so we're gonna limit folks to one minute today. Um Catherine. Right. And I am letting you know if you have not already looked at your June 3rd agenda, which is published, uh, you will note when you look at it that your election is scheduled for that day. So we will be, you will be electing a chair and vice chair uh on June 3rd. Thank you. Was that it? Did you have something else? Um, I, you know, I wanted to mention that there's an article in now I can't remember if it's in the East Bay Times or OpenSide about Planning Commission. If people are curious about how the planning commission operates compared to years past, uh there's an interesting uh article for your reading pleasure. Thank you. Thank you for that. Okay. Is there a director's report? No director's report. Okay. And so that'll take us to our informational report. Right. This is item number one. Exactly. It's item number one on your agenda. And this is an information report to review and monitor the progress made in 2025 to implement Oakland's 2023 to 2031 housing element. Updated the uh update the general plan and meet the city's share of regional housing needs allocation, otherwise um uh enduringly referred to as the RENA. Staff will also present supplemental reports on the results of the 2025 ADU survey and a review of deed restricted moderate income rents in Oakland. And I see that BB is here to initiate the presentation for staff. Thank you. Great, thanks, baby. Okay, and K Top, can we have the presentation? K Top presentation, please. Thank you. Okay, I'm speaking into the mic. Okay. Um, hello, I'm Bibi Lagarder. I am a planner with the planning and building department, and I will be presenting today on the 2025 housing element and general plan annual progress reports. I'm also joined with by Caleb Smith from the housing uh Oakland HCD, um, and we'll be happy to answer questions after the presentation. Okay, so the purpose of the general plan and housing element annual progress reports or APRs is to assess the city's progress implementing its general plan and the housing programs committed to in the sixth cycle housing element. The housing element APR also tracks Oakland's progress meeting its regional housing needs allocation or RENA. In accordance with Action 5.2.11 of the adopted 2023 to 2031 uh Oakland Housing Element, a public hearing on this report was previously conducted before the ZUC, and additional hearings will be conducted before the community and economic development committee and city council in the coming weeks. So I'm first going to provide a quick overview of the content reported in the 2025 general plan APR.
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