Hopes of passing a rent control ordinance in San Mateo County were dealt a significant blow on Tuesday at the Board of Supervisor's meeting. The Board showed little to no enthusiasm for the controversial topic, and suggested that even if they were to end up passing such an ordinance, it would only apply to about 2,000 units located exclusively in unincorporated County territories - mostly in North Fair Oaks, southeast of Redwood City. They ultimately decided not to have any County staff research a rent control ordinance until they were presented with more information on how the policy would work, and precisely how many apartment units are located within these unincorporated territories.
The Board was presented with 10 other proposals on how to address the affordable housing crisis, many of which they did show support for. These included establishing a county-wide tenants right's education program, legalizing unpermitted second units, and putting together a prototype program that offers pre-approved plans for tiny houses.
Some people who spoke at the meeting urged cooperation with tech companies like Facebook and Google to construct more affordable housing since it is their workers that are helping drive up rents.
Facebook is already helping to fund a 394 unit apartment complex in Menlo Park, and has reached out to the city expressing their interest in helping them fund thousands of additional units. The company expects to add around 3,000 jobs at its new Menlo Park campus in the coming years.
Currently it is estimated that there is a 24,000 unit deficit of housing for low wage workers.
Housing officials will report back in June to review the progress that has been made in developing the ideas discussed at Tuesday's meeting.
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