By J. K. Dineen : sfchronicle – excerpt

For the past year, cities throughout California have grown accustomed to bad news from the state agency charged with enforcing an ever-growing list of laws aimed at increasing housing production.

But this week the small San Mateo County city of Brisbane actually got some good news from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, known as HCD.

The agency ruled that Brisbane, which has fewer than 5,000 residents, did not violate state housing element laws by missing a deadline related to the massive redevelopment of the Baylands, the 660-acre railyard and former landfill planned for 4,000 housing units.

Two pro-housing groups filed a complaint over the delay, but after an investigation, HCD sided with the city, not the YIMBYs, an unusual turn of events.

HCD had required that Brisbane include a detailed timeline of when project milestones would be completed because the project is expected to deliver 90% of the homes mandated by the state in the next 8 years. That timeline said the city would publish an environmental study by October, but the city failed to do so.

But HCD determined that the city still has time to publish an environmental study on the project. While the city missed the October “milestone” it has until January of 2026 to complete all the approvals and changes needed to make the Baylands a reality, HDC said…(more)