San Mateo announces housing-element litigation resolution and more than 6,500 units in development pipeline

San Mateo City officials told attendees at the 2026 State of the City that the city resolved litigation related to its housing element brought by the Housing Action Coalition and adopted targeted amendments to secure credit for capacity created through Measure T.

Mayor Adam Lorraine said the amendments also recognize the city’s emergency rental assistance program as an important tool for residents at risk of displacement. Community Development Director Zach Doll provided a status update during the Q&A: two downtown construction projects are actively under construction — a project at Claremont and Ninth described as 120 housing units and a smaller mixed-use conversion at 435 East Third — and the city reported more than 20 major housing and mixed-use developments that together represent over 6,500 new units now in the pipeline.

Doll said rent stabilization is not a specific objective in the city’s adopted housing element, but staff have advanced tenant-protection ordinance updates and launched the emergency rental assistance program; the council will consider whether to continue the assistance program beyond its first year. The city also said it is pursuing code amendments and policy changes to streamline housing production in targeted areas near transit.

Officials framed these steps as part of meeting state housing requirements while trying to balance local planning priorities. The address did not state an exact numeric target from the housing element in the speech; transcript remarks characterized the pipeline as approaching the element’s required total by 2031 but did not specify the element’s exact numeric target in the address.