On June 16, 2026, the Redwood City Planning Commission held a regular meeting at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, with participation available via Zoom. Six commissioners were present (Commissioners Bhat, Finch, Hunter, Robinson, Vice Chair Koch, and Chair Crnogorac); Commissioner Cornejo was absent. The meeting focused primarily on a public hearing to consider a recommendation to the City Council regarding Senate Bill (SB) 79, the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act. The Commission also approved minutes from two prior meetings and received updates on upcoming City Council items.
Staff Presentation on SB 79 Senior Planner Ellen Yau presented an overview of SB 79, which requires housing as an allowed use on residential, mixed-use, or commercial sites within half a mile of a TOD stop. Key standards include:
Staff noted that Redwood City has one eligible transit stop: the Redwood City Caltrain station. Many parcels already meet or exceed SB 79 standards (shown in green), while others (pink) would see increased height and density allowed. However, staff anticipates limited near-term impact due to recent development, small parcel sizes, and high construction costs and interest rates.
Staff described four implementation approaches: baseline SB 79, a local temporary exclusion ordinance, a TOD Alternative Plan, or a combination. Staff recommended allowing SB 79 to take effect (baseline) and focusing on developing a TOD Alternative Plan, which would allow the city to tailor capacity while maintaining overall SB 79 capacity. The plan could align with ongoing efforts such as the Greater Downtown Area Plan (GDAP) and MTC's Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) policy.
Commissioner Clarifying Questions and Discussion
Commissioner Finch expressed support for the staff recommendation, noting SB 79 aligns with city goals and near-term effects are likely limited. Commissioner Bhat concurred, arguing exclusions would make the rules complicated and patchwork. Commissioner Hunter initially supported a combination approach with a temporary exclusion ordinance to maintain flexibility, but ultimately supported the motion for the TOD Alternative Plan.
Commissioner Bott was recognized for his service, as this was his last Planning Commission meeting.
Okay. Good evening, and thank you for joining our June sixteent items, twenty twenty six planning commission meeting. As a reminder, items will be taken in the order they're listed on the agenda will be taken during item number three this evening. Comments on the agenda items will be taken in the or uh only when the item is called. In-person speakers will be called first, followed by virtual attendees. In-person speakers, please fill out a speaker's card at um at the front of the council chambers and bring it to staff for today as to be recognized. If you're joining us virtually, you may use the raise hand feature on Zoom to speak. If you're joining by teleconference by phone, you may raise your hand by dialing star nine and star six to unmute your microphone when prompted. Please only raise your hand at a time when the item on which you are speaking is called. Each speaker will be allotted two minutes. And for in-person speakers, there will be a light on the podium to let you know how much time you have left. Lastly, we want to know that we want you to know that we each bring different perspectives to discussion, and we want to be sure everyone has a chance to be heard without interruption. Planning commission welcomes public comment on the items within a purview. Any speaker whose comments and topics are not on the commission purview will be warned and potentially removed. Thank you for your attention and consideration during this process. I will now turn it over to staff for the roll call. Commissioner Bott. Here. Commissioner Cornejo is absent. Commissioner Finch? Here. Commissioner Hunter? Here. Commissioner Robinson. Here. Vice Chair Koch. Here. And Chair Sunagoratz. Here. So I'm Sue Xline. I'm the Assistant Community Development Director and the liaison for the meeting this evening. Tonight I have with me Rick Jarvis, our consultant city attorney. John Francis, our principal planner, and Ellen Yao, who is a new senior planner in our department. She is just joined us about a few months ago, and she is going to be working on our long-range planning team. She'll be presenting tonight. And we have Jessica Goodall, Secretary and meeting host. Wonderful. Thank you. Notification of meeting participation by teleconference due to just cause pursuant to government code 54953-8-3. Do we have any remote participation notifications or requests from the commission to consider? No, we do not. All right. Let's move on to the next item on the agenda. It's item number three, it's public comments. We will take public comments at this time from those joining us in person and through Zoom. These are um public comments should be in the topics within the co the planning commission's purview. I think we went over the procedures as to how to comment. So these are comments on the approval of minutes, consent items, and matters of commission interest, as well as items not on the agenda. So anything that is not currently on the agenda list of items. Are there any speakers?