RHNA Housing Mandate — Building Homes in a City of the Dead

active• sanmateo

Colma's RHNA obligation for the 2023–2031 cycle is 202 units — modest by Peninsula standards, but significant for a town of roughly 1,500 residents whose land is dominated by 17 cemeteries and auto dealerships. Colma's draft 2023–2031 RHNA allocation of 202 units is broken down by income group, and the Housing Element Update must identify enough potentially developable land zoned for residential use to accommodate all categories — a challenge in a jurisdiction where the overwhelming majority of land is either cemetery ground, commercial, or already developed with the town's limited residential stock. The arrival of SB 79 on July 1, 2026 adds a new dimension: the nearby Colma BART station — one of the Peninsula's busiest — falls within the law's half-mile transit-oriented development radius, potentially enabling high-density housing proposals the town has not historically contemplated. The town began receiving revenues from Measure AA, a recently passed sales tax increase — new funds that could help finance the infrastructure a housing buildout would require.

Related cause: Development & Neighborhoods

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