Signing you in

“Pursuing designation now is consistent with regional momentum and positions Palo Alto to compete more effectively for state housing funding alongside peer jurisdictions,” the staff report states.

Most grants are between $500,000 and $5 million, said Senior Project Manager Julia Knight, who prepared the application materials. Knight presented the application to the Planning and Transportation Commission on May 27 for feedback and review before the item goes to the full City Council for approval in mid-June.

The application requires cities to explain how they are exceeding state standards for encouraging housing production through local policies, which are divided into four broad categories: favorable zoning and land use, streamlined permitting, cost reduction, and financial subsidies for affordable housing.

Cities then submit a draft self-scoring sheet based on these categories, with the option for “enhancement points” for policies that, for example, make additional effort to increase affordability. A score of 30 or higher is required to meet the pro-housing designation, and Palo Alto’s self-scoring totaled 41 points.

According to Knight, the state Housing and Community Development department has already provided preliminary review to Palo Alto’s application and had positive feedback.

“We think we’re very likely to get the designation, which is great,” Knight told the planning commission.

The process is noncompetitive, meaning that any city that applies and receives a sufficient score will qualify and unlock additional state grants for housing. Cities must reapply every three years to maintain the designation, Knight added.

Some of the policies that Palo Alto cites in its application include the adoption El Camino Real Focus Area, which relaxed height and density limits along a segment of El Camino Real, the implementation of SB 79, which promotes dense housing near transit areas, and the creation of the San Antonio Road Area Plan, a vision document that aims to create a new residential community in a historically commercial area in south Palo Alto. The city has also advanced several projects for vulnerable populations, including Homekey Palo Alto, Mitchell Park Place and the safe parking program on Geng Road.

In its study session, the planning commission was unanimous in its support for the effort to apply for the pro-housing designation.

Commissioner Todd James made a point that earning the designation has not just practical benefits, but reputational ones as well. Palo Alto made national headlines in 2013, when voters struck down a City Council-approved zone change that would have enabled the construction of an apartment building for low-income seniors in the Barron Park neighborhood. Until recently, the city had also required most new developers to abide by the 50-foot height limit, which generally limited new buildings to four stories. When the affordable-housing project Wilton Court opened in 2019, it was the city’s first approved development of this sort in seven years.

The tone has shifted in recent years, with the council taking a more proactive approach toward encouraging housing by enacting zoning reforms that raised height and density limits and rezoned commercial zones for residential uses. In a sign of the times, the City Council agreed at its priority-setting retreat this year to pursue the state’s pro-housing designation. And just this month, the council took a vote in favor of a three-tower development on California Avenue, with the tallest building featuring 14 stories.

“I’ve listened to talk shows where Palo Alto is a favorite punching bag of pro-housing advocates,” James said. “I think the reputational piece is important both to the world and maybe to HCD. When I look around Palo Alto, I see a very, very rich tradition of affordable housing that goes back decades.”

Recent changes to state law have made it harder for these concerns to delay projects, such as builder’s remedy, which essentially prevents cities from denying a project based on design standards, density or height, even if these far exceed local caps. Builder’s remedy only applies to projects that file during a window when a city does not have a compliant eight-year housing plan document with the state, and Palo Alto’s was not certified until about 20 months after the January 31, 2023 deadline.

One such builder’s remedy project in Barron Park was voted down by the planning commission and this year approved by the City Council, which had little leverage to outright deny the project.

Nevertheless, the commission spoke highly of the decision to apply for the designation and was eager for the funding opportunities it could bring to Palo Alto.

“We’re all really excited about the funding that would come through and supporting low-income housing in the city,” Vice Chair Kevin Ji said.

Riley Cooke is a reporter at Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Online focusing on city government. She joined in 2025 after graduating from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in political science. Her... More by Riley Cooke

I’m glad that California’s legislature has provided funds to incentivize cities to exceed state standards for encouraging construction of new homes. I’m glad Palo Alto is seeking such funds and that our Planning Commission unanimously supports this effort. Yes, Palo Alto should work to exceed state minimums.

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