Find answers to frequently asked questions about Opportunity Housing here:  

1. How would Opportunity Housing foster housing affordability?

Opportunity Housing units are usually smaller than a single-family home and they leverage the existing land and infrastructure, saving on the significant costs associated with materials, land, and the laying in of utilities and water/sewer mains. So, by design, they foster affordability.

Supply is also a key factor in housing prices. In their article, Alleviating Supply Constraints in the Housing Market, researchers cite findings from Freddie Mac that nationwide, the number of new homes constructed below 1,400 square feet — typically considered “entry-level” homes — is more than 80 percent lower than the amount built in the 1970s. Entry-level homes are currently representing less than 10 percent of all newly constructed homes starts.

Wherever we can increase the housing supply — and particularly the supply of smaller units — helps drive affordability.  

2. How did the conversation about Opportunity Housing arise in San José?

The current exploration of Opportunity Housing is part of a Council-approved scope of work in 2020 for the General Plan 4-Year Review Task Force. Planning staff provided the Task Force with information and a recommendation to consider and discuss across several meetings (find  recorded presentations at the Meetings page).

3. What does “Opportunity Housing” and “upzoning” and “exclusionary zoning” mean?

When discussing single-family zoning, “upzoning” is the common term for the idea of allowing denser development on single-family parcels. The specifics of an upzoning proposal vary from one city to the next. For example, Seattle approved the upzoning of 27 neighborhood hubs and required that developers who build in upzoned areas include below market-rate units in their buildings or contribute fees to an affordable housing fund. 

Upzoning does NOT ban single-family homes. Some people or news stories may state that “single-family zoning is being banned” — but since single-family housing is allowed to continue, urban planners typically prefer to say it is “exclusionary zoning” that is being banned, meaning the zoning goes from allowing exclusively single-family homes to allowing a greater variety of housing types that include single-family homes. Up until about World War II, most cities did not have exclusionary single-family zoning.

In San José, “Opportunity Housing” is the term for a specific concept of allowing up to four units per parcel while generally maintaining zoning setbacks and heights. This means that a parcel that currently has one single-family home could be remodeled or redeveloped to up to four dwelling units. The parcel could be developed with a single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex.

4. Where is the Opportunity Housing concept being proposed in San José?

The recommendation that staff brought to the Task Force in 2020 and is bringing to the Planning Commission and City Council in late 2021 is: 

• Allow Opportunity Housing within an approximate half-mile area around transit-oriented urban villages and/or on parcels that share a property line with lands that allow multifamily development.

By vote at the August 20, 2020 Task Force meeting, the Task Force recommended:

• The City Council should approve exploring Opportunity Housing citywide for properties with a Residential Neighborhood land use designation.

Both recommendations will be presented to the San Jose Planning Commission and City Council in late 2021.

5. Which cities and states have already approved a form of upzoning?

In 2018, Minneapolis became the first city to adopt upzoning. Among several cities that have approved a form of upzoning are Berkeley, New York, Portland, Sacramento, and Seattle.

In 2019, Oregon was the first state to approve a statewide form of upzoning. The state allows for “middle housing” lots—those with duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and cottage clusters—to be subdivided for individual sale regardless of local lot-size minimums. Nebraska approved a measure in 2020. Other states considering upzoning legislation are Maryland, Montana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.    

California approved a form of upzoning in September, 2021, through the signing of Senate Bills 9 and 10.

6. When will the Planning Commission and City Council next discuss Opportunity Housing?

At the November 2021 Planning Commission meeting and December 2021 City Council meeting, decision-makers will consider whether to continue with exploring the concept. Links to these meetings with date and time details will post on the Meetings page.

7. What information will staff present to the Planning Commission and City Council in late 2021?

As part of the Conceptual Framework stage, staff drafted:

• Opportunity Housing preliminary objectives and parameters;
• Conceptual maps for applicable areas; and
• A work plan that includes short- and long-term steps to continue exploring Opportunity Housing, as shown below:

8. Is City Council approving an Opportunity Housing policy or just the continued study of it?

The City Council is scheduled in December 2021 to consider continuing the study of Opportunity Housing. If they direct staff to continue with the study, it would only be after implementing the long-term steps in the previous graphic that staff would come back to the Council for a hearing on possible approval of the policy. Such a hearing would likely be no sooner than 2023.

9. How do the new state laws, SB 9 and SB 10, affect the City's consideration of Opportunity Housing?

These laws were signed by Gov. Newsom on September 16, 2021, and staff at many cities have questions about their implementation. We are currently working to better understand the laws, which go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, and we're preparing processes to address them. We have created a comparative chart of the new laws compared to San Jose's Opportunity Housing concept -- you can see the chart in our Info Memo.