Redwood City Planning Commission Meeting - February 17, 2026: Review of 2025 Annual Progress Reports
Redwood City Planning Commission Meeting - February 17, 2026
The Redwood City Planning Commission held a regular meeting on February 17, 2026, to review and recommend acceptance of the 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR) and the 2025 General Plan APR. Staff presentations covered housing production, RHNA progress, preservation, and general plan implementation. The commission unanimously approved both APRs for submittal to the city council and state agencies.
Consent Calendar
- No items were on the consent calendar.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made, either in person or via Zoom.
Discussion Items
- Approval of Minutes: The commission approved the draft minutes from the December 16, 2025, special meeting with a 5-2 vote (Commissioner Koch abstained; Commissioner Hunter abstained due to absence).
- 2025 Housing Element APR:
- Principal Planner John Francis presented the state-mandated APR, which reports progress on the housing element implementation. Key data: In 2025, 490 housing units received building permits (82% from two projects: 557 East Bay Shore Road and 112 Vera Avenue). The city's total RHNA obligation for the 2023–2031 cycle is 4,588 units; 1,321 units have been permitted so far (29%). The city is about 400 units behind the pace needed to meet the 2031 target. However, a strong development pipeline includes 650 units under pre-entitlement review, 750 entitled projects, and 900 units under construction. An affordable housing incentive program adopted in October 2025 offers a 25% reduction in affordable requirements for projects that pull building permits by June 2027, expected to move approximately 800 units (including 120 affordable) to construction.
- Staff highlighted preservation efforts: a $1.2 million loan for an 8-unit affordable project and preservation of 118 units (though only one counted toward RHNA due to state rules). Homeless outreach services were also noted, including a new Bayside Homeless Outreach Team and a planned two-year agreement with Life Moves.
- Commissioners asked about market conditions, the development pipeline, the tenant protection ordinance (exempts new construction under 15 years), and how the city compares to neighbors. Staff affirmed that market challenges (high costs, interest rates) persist but that the city is actively streamlining processes and e-permitting.
- 2025 General Plan APR:
- Francis also summarized the General Plan APR, covering progress on five elements: built environment, public safety, natural resources, and others. Notable: continued construction of the Veterans Memorial Senior Center (soft opening March 2026), approval of a new YMCA facility, renovation plans for Hoover Park, and $10 million in grant funds for roadway safety and bike paths. Upcoming work includes historic preservation ordinance updates and the Greater Downtown Area Plan.
- Commissioner Updates:
- Commissioner Robinson noted the March 3, 2026, regular meeting is canceled; next meetings are March 17, April 7, and April 21.
- Staff reported a city council study session on the Greater Downtown Area Plan on January 12, 2026, with a meeting summary available on the project website.
Key Outcomes
- The commission voted unanimously (7-0) to accept the 2025 Housing Element APR and the 2025 General Plan APR and recommend that the city council accept them for submittal to the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation.
- The draft minutes of the December 16, 2025, special meeting were approved (5-2).
- The meeting adjourned; the next regular meeting is scheduled for March 17, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
He can present and be the same. Let's see. All right. Good evening, and thank you for joining our February seventeenth, twenty twenty-six regular planning commission meeting. As a reminder, items will be taken in the order that are listed on the agenda. Before we get started, I wanted to briefly go over public comment procedures for the meeting for those who may be joining us for the first time. Public comments on the approval of minutes, consent items, matters of commission interest and items not on the agenda will be taken during item number three tonight. Comments on other agenda items will be taken only when the item is called. In-person speakers will be called first, followed by virtual. For in-person speakers, please fill out speakers' cards. For those joining virtually, you may raise your hand, or if you're doing teleconference, you may raise your hand by dialing star nine and star six to unmute. Please only raise your hand at a time when the item is uh called on which you're speaking, and each speaker will be allotted three minutes, but the time may be adjusted depending on the number of speakers. For in-person speakers, there will be a light on the podium that lets you know how much time you have left. Lastly, we know that we each bring different perspectives to the discussion, and we want to be sure that everyone has a chance to be heard without interruption. Planning commission welcomes public comment on items within our preview. Thank you for your attention and consideration during this process. I will now turn it over to staff for two calls to roll. Commissioner Robinson. We have all commissioners present. For the purpose of this meeting, I would also state that my name is John Francis, Principal Planner and Staff Liaison for this evening to the Planning Commission. And other city staff that are attending this meeting include Rick Jarvis, Consultant Assistant City Attorney, Alin Lancaster, Housing Leadership Manager, Liz Lang, Management Analyst with our homelessness initiative team, and Christina Mateo, administrative secretary and meeting host. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is AB 2449 notifications and considerations. Do we have any remote participation notifications or requests from the Commission to consider? Uh curly, currently we do not have any remote remote participation notifications or requests. Alright, let's move on to the next item agenda. Item number three is public comments. All right. At this time, we'll take public comments from those joining us in person through Zoom as a reminder. Public comments should be on topics within the planning commission's purview. If you have joined us in person, please fill out the speaker's card. If you've logged into a Zoom, please raise the hand button now. Or if you've dialed in, enter star nine and star six to unmute. In order to see how many speakers we have for general public, I okay. No, none of that. Do we have any speakers online? We do not have any speakers online. All right. Um, seeing that there are no in-person speakers and no online speakers. If there's no objection, I will now close the public comment and move on. Um item number four approval of minutes. Um we have the December 16th, 2025 special meeting. Uh, is there a motion to approve the draft meeting minutes? Uh motion to approve the draft meeting minutes for um December 16th, 2025. All right, moved by Commissioner Buddh. Do we have a second? Second. Sorry, second by Commissioner Robinson. Moving on to vote. Commissioner Butt.
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