Mountain View is taking steps to strengthen its Below Market Rate Housing Program with updates designed to improve clarity, support affordable housing production, and encourage small-scale housing development.
Mountain View is taking a fresh look at one of its key affordable housing policies. On March 4, the City’s Environmental Planning Commission reviewed a set of proposed updates to the Below Market Rate (BMR) Housing Program and, after deliberation, voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council adopt the changes. The proposed amendments reflect the City’s ongoing effort to evaluate how its housing policies are performing, and where targeted adjustments can help ensure they continue delivering affordable homes.
The BMR program is one of Mountain View’s primary tools for producing affordable housing through new development. First adopted in 1999 and updated in 2019, the program requires most residential developments to include affordable homes integrated alongside market-rate units. The latest amendments focus on strengthening how the program works in practice. Proposed changes include increasing accessibility requirements for affordable units, establishing clearer pathways for developers proposing alternatives such as off-site affordable housing or land dedication, updating in-lieu fee calculations to better reflect construction costs, and introducing a graduated fee reduction designed to encourage small-scale infill development.
City staff noted that these refinements are intended to make the program clearer, more responsive to current housing conditions, and better positioned to support continued housing production. By clarifying requirements and creating incentives for smaller projects, the City hopes the program can remain a reliable tool for expanding housing opportunities while ensuring affordable homes continue to be delivered alongside market-rate development.
After extensive discussion, the Environmental Planning Commission voted unanimously to move the recommendations forward. The City Council is expected to take up the item later this spring, where the proposed updates will receive further consideration.
Stay tuned as this proposal moves to the Mountain View City Council, SV@Home will share updates as the discussion continues.