Belvedere residents weigh in on revisions to housing plan

Residents sounded off last week about the latest revisions to Belvedere’s eight-year housing roadmap, citing concerns about feasibility, land availability, environmental impacts, prohibitive construction costs and the need for affordable housing. However, many of those wary about potential growth at the city-hosted open house Nov. 9 also acknowledged the constraints put on the city and its strategy to address them.

Some two-dozen people attended the workshop at the Belvedere Community Center, where they had the chance to hear from city officials and consultants, then visit six stations discussing the revised draft of the 2023-2031 housing element released on Nov. 3. Among those, they examined three potential strategies on how to meet the requirements: accessory dwelling units, mixed-use zoning and increased capacity in existing multifamily areas.

The 231 units in the revised draft include a buffer over the 160 that Belvedere is required to identify for potential development under its regional housing-needs assessment. That allocation is part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to develop 2.5 million new homes statewide over the next eight years, 1 million of them affordable.

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