Daly City | Three or more homes

Daly City, California Three or More Homes: Apartment Zones, Objective Design Standards, Inclusionary Housing, the Density Bonus and SB 79

A building of three or more homes is a "multiple-family dwelling" in the Daly City code. Between December 2023 and November 2024 the City Council rewrote the rules for these buildings to carry out a new housing plan: it created the C-MU zone, raised the R-3 height limit from 36 to 120 feet and replaced case-by-case design review with written standards. Two older chapters still shape every project of five or more homes, the inclusionary housing chapter and the density bonus chapter. And since July 2026 a state law, SB 79, sets minimum heights and densities near BART. This page covers each. The Daly City overview has the summary.

Where Three or More Homes Are Allowed

Sources: Daly City Municipal Code 17.12.010, 17.13.010, 17.18.010, 17.20.010, 17.21.030, 17.28.020, 17.29.060, 17.58.030, 17.58.040 and 17.58.110 (Supplement 38).

The zoning districts page describes each district. Two points decide most projects. In R-3 the number of homes comes from the General Plan land use map; the R-3 table itself only says "Refer to General Plan Future Land Use Map." And the Housing Element reports that "there is no land currently zoned R-4 in Daly City," so the R-4 chapter is unused.

Why the Rules Changed in 2023 and 2024

The state assigns each city a number of homes to plan for, the Regional Housing Needs Allocation or RHNA. The City's Housing Element, the housing chapter of its General Plan, says Daly City "must plan to accommodate a total of 4,838 housing units between June 30, 2022, and December 15, 2030": 1,336 for very low income households, 769 low, 762 moderate and 1,971 above moderate.

The recitals of Ordinance No. 1476 tell how the plan was adopted. "The City of Daly City did not adopt the sixth cycle update to its housing element by the January 31, 2023 statutory deadline." On February 14, 2023 Californians for Homeownership, Inc. "served the City with a lawsuit and writ of mandate to adopt the housing element." The City sent a draft to the state in December 2023. On November 12, 2024 the Council adopted the Housing Element and, the same day, Ordinance No. 1476 as an urgency ordinance, one that takes effect at once. The ordinance says it was needed "to allow for increased density, increase maximum allowable height, and amend maximum lot coverage restrictions," and that a city with no certified plan risks "Builder's Remedy projects," which are projects a city cannot deny for not matching its zoning.

The vote was four to one. Whether the state housing department has since found the adopted Housing Element in compliance was not confirmed for this guide.

Design Review and the Objective Design Standards

Section 17.45.130, rewritten by Ordinance No. 1476, reads: "Residential projects consisting of two or more dwelling units shall be subject to objective design standards (ODS) established by city council resolution. Projects determined by the planning division to comply with ODS shall be deemed in compliance with the zoning ordinance, with no further regulation as to this chapter, and shall be considered non-discretionary in nature for the purpose for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)." An objective standard is one that can be checked with a ruler or a count. CEQA is the state environmental review law, and a non-discretionary approval falls outside it.

The standards are in a 48-page document, the Citywide Objective Design Standards of September 2024. Its multifamily part covers "triplex, quadruplex, cottage court-type developments, condominiums, apartment buildings, and multiple-building developments" and applies "to all multifamily projects in any zoning district." A sample of what it asks:

• Building at the street. "At least 85 percent of the total building facade length shall be located on or within 10 feet of the front or street-side yard setback line."
• Parking out of view. "parking shall be located to the rear, side, or under the building," and "Corner parking lots are prohibited."
• Driveways. "For parcel street frontages less than 300 feet, no more than one curb cut at 25 feet width maximum is allowed."
• Open space. "Common usable open space on the ground level shall have no horizontal dimension less than 15 feet," and roof decks no less than 10 feet. "All common open spaces shall include seating."
• Play areas. "Developments that include 15 or more units of two bedrooms or more shall include children's play areas."
• Breaking up large walls. "Buildings three stories or greater" must change the shape of the wall, for example by setting upper floors back at least five feet "for at least 75 percent of the facade for floors above the fourth floor."
• Next to house lots. A building that abuts an R-1 or R-1/A lot and is "over three stories or 30 feet high (whichever is lesser), shall be designed with one or more horizontal step-backs" at a 45-degree angle, "to a maximum depth of 30 feet from the adjacent property line."
• Privacy. Windows facing existing houses within 15 feet of the property line need one of four treatments, such as "translucent or obscure window glass."

The document describes the review: "Projects will be processed administratively by staff and reviewed for conformance with these objective design standards." If a project misses a standard, "the City's Planning Manager can administratively approve minor deviations," and for larger ones "the applicant can apply to amend the objective design standards to the City Council."

The older design review text remains in the chapter. Section 17.45.120 still says "Major design review approval shall be required for" "Residential projects consisting of four or more dwelling units," reviewed by a design review committee that Section 17.45.020 describes as "a committee appointed by the mayor." The Housing Element says that committee "consists of the two City Council members appointed by the Mayor," and that the City would "eliminate the requirements for Design Review Committee approval for all residential development." Section 17.45.130 is the later text. Confirm with the Planning Division that a compliant project of four or more homes goes directly to building permit.

R-3 Projects

• Use. The R-3 table lists "Multiple-family dwellings, upon compliance with Objective Design Standards" with "No" under use permit.
• Size limits. Maximum height 120 feet, with "Fifteen additional feet" allowed "for elevator shafts and rooftop mechanical equipment." Maximum lot coverage 100 percent. Front and rear yards of 15 and 10 feet apply "unless complying with Objective Design Standards."
• Open space. Section 17.38.020: "Usable open space shall be provided on the basis of one hundred and fifty square feet for each dwelling unit." Roof decks and balconies count when they are "at least five feet" in their least dimension.
• Windows on open areas. Under Section 17.38.030, in R-3 and R-4 at least one room of each home must face a street, a wide yard or a court of "at least twenty-five feet in every horizontal dimension."
• Sites in the housing plan. Projects on the Housing Element's Priority Housing Sites must reach "a minimum density of 20 dwelling units per acre," and those "providing at least 20% of the total units in the development as affordable to lower income households are eligible for by-right approval as defined in Government Code Section 65583.2(i)." By-right means approval with no hearing and no use permit.
• Airport height. "All allowable heights shall be subject to additional height limitations imposed by the SFO ALUCP," the land use plan for San Francisco International Airport.
• What the City tested. Before the 2024 changes, the Housing Element modeled two R-3 sites of 10,200 and 19,855 square feet under the 36-foot limit and found they reached 83 and 86 percent of the permitted 87.1 homes per acre, with parking as the limiting rule.

C-MU Projects on Mission Street and Geneva Avenue

Ordinance No. 1469 of December 11, 2023 created the C-MU zone. Section 17.58.030 permits "Multiple-family dwellings (two or more units), when constructed in conjunction with retail, office, or other non-residential uses at the street level." The zone has its own design document, the Commercial-Mixed Use Objective Design Standards; the copy on the City website is marked "City Council Draft | November 2023."

• Height. A maximum of "15 stories or 175 feet" and a minimum of "three stories or thirty feet."
• Open space. Section 17.58.070 keeps the 150 square feet per home and lets it "include private open space for the dwelling unit (i.e., decks and balconies), shared open space for the building's occupants (i.e., terraces, roof decks, etc.), and publicly accessible open space on the ground floor."
• Sidewalks. The front yard must be deep enough "to create a minimum of a ten-foot sidewalk" on Mission Street and Geneva Avenue, and the building "shall be set back no more than ten feet from the property line."
• Conformity review. Section 17.58.110: "Not less than one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the submittal of any building permit for construction subject to the ODS, the applicant shall request conformity review from the planning division staff." Staff reply "Within forty-five calendar days of the submittal," and within thirty days of each resubmittal.
• Appeal. An applicant who disagrees "may appeal the specific recommendations" to the City Council, "which shall consider the appeal within thirty calendar days. This consideration shall occur without public notice to adjacent property owners. The city council may not itself request review of the project."
• What the City tested. The Housing Element modeled a 10,000 square foot C-MU lot at nine stories and found 40 homes of 900 square feet, a density of 174.2 homes per acre.

Inclusionary Housing: Projects of Five or More Homes

An inclusionary housing rule makes a market-rate project include homes priced for lower incomes or pay a fee. Daly City's is Chapter 17.47, replaced in full by Ordinance No. 1423 on December 10, 2018 and operative from July 1, 2018.

Sources: Daly City Municipal Code 17.47.030, 17.47.070 and 17.47.120 (Supplement 38); City of Daly City, Resolution No. 18-174, Exhibit A, adopted November 26, 2018.

• Who is covered. Section 17.47.030 defines a residential development as a project "that would create five or more new additional, or modified dwelling units," including "the conversion to for-sale residential use from rental residential use."
• The percentages. Section 17.47.070: "Twenty percent of the dwelling units in the residential development shall be sold at an affordable sales price to households whose annual income does not exceed moderate income," and "Ten percent of the dwelling units in the residential development shall be made available for rent at an affordable rent to households whose annual income does not exceed low income." Density bonus homes are left out of the count.
• Small projects pay. "Residential developments with fewer than twenty rental units or fifteen ownership units will pay the required in lieu fees."
• The fee amounts. Resolution No. 18-174 lists a required in-lieu fee of $45 for ownership projects and $35 for rental projects, and an alternative in-lieu fee, for rentals only, of $48. Each is "applied to the total square feet of the livable space in the residential development." A ten-unit rental building with 8,000 square feet of livable space would owe $280,000 at the 2018 rate (VanPlex arithmetic: 8,000 times $35).
• When fees are paid. Alternative in-lieu fees "shall be payable in full at the time of issuance of building permits."
• Timing of the affordable homes. Under Section 17.47.090 they must be "constructed and made available for occupancy prior to or concurrently with the market-rate units."
• Same quality. Under Section 17.47.100 inclusionary homes "shall have a comparable square footage and the same bedroom count and bedroom count ratio as the market-rate units."
• Local preference, 2026. The City's press release of October 1, 2026 reports that on September 28 the Council "adopted amendments to the City's Inclusionary Housing Ordinance." Under the new Section 17.47.200 in Ordinance No. 1493, "Seventy (70) percent of the applicable affordable units in each development subject to this section shall be made available with a preference to households living or working in Daly City."

The 2018 fee resolution was the document posted on the City's Affordable Housing Ordinance page on October 10, 2026, and the Housing Element of 2024 repeats the same three amounts "As of 2018." The FY 2027 Master Fee Schedule does not list these fees. Ask the Housing and Community Development Division for the rate in force.

Density Bonus

The state density bonus law, Government Code 65915, gives a project more homes than zoning allows, along with relief from some standards, in return for affordable homes. Chapter 17.52, adopted in 2014, is Daly City's version.

• Who qualifies. Section 17.52.020 covers "the construction of five or more housing units" where "At least ten percent of the total units are designated for low income households," or "At least five percent of the total units are designated for very low income households," or the project is senior housing, or ten percent of for-sale units are for moderate income households.
• Amount. The chapter defines the bonus as "a density increase, in the amount prescribed by Government Code Section 65915." It gives no table of its own.
• Incentives the City accepts in advance. Section 17.52.040 lists reduced setbacks, more lot coverage and more height as incentives "deemed not to have the adverse impact" that would let the City refuse them, so long as the project stays consistent with the General Plan and design guidelines.
• What the City will not give. "The city will not, however, provide any direct financial assistance, waive fees or dedication requirements, or provide publicly owned land for a housing development as an incentive or concession."
• Agreement. Before a building permit, "the developer must enter into the city's standard density bonus agreement," which is recorded.
• With inclusionary homes. Section 17.47.080 lets a developer who builds the required inclusionary homes on site ask for a density bonus for the same homes.

The chapter has not been amended since 2014, and the statute has changed many times. The Housing Element says "the City will amend its guidelines to ensure compliance with current State law." Where they differ, the statute controls.

SB 79 and the BART Stations

SB 79 is a 2025 state law that makes housing an allowed use near major transit stops and sets minimum heights and densities there. The state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) wrote in its advisory of March 20, 2026 that the law's provisions "will take effect on July 1, 2026, in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and San Diego Counties." Daly City is in San Mateo County. The advisory's table of rail types puts Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) under "Heavy Rail," except for the eBART stations at Pittsburg Center and Antioch, and it defines a Tier 1 stop as one "within an urban transit county that is served by heavy rail transit or very high-frequency commuter rail." The Housing Element names two stations that serve the city: "the Daly City and Colma BART stations."

Source: Government Code 65912.157, subdivisions (a) and (e), as amended effective July 16, 2026.

• Which lots. The statute covers "any site zoned for residential, mixed, or commercial development within one-half or one-quarter mile of a transit-oriented development stop." Distance is "measured in a straight line from the nearest edge of the parcel containing the proposed project to a pedestrian access point" of the stop.
• Project size. A project "shall include at least five dwelling units" at "A minimum density of at least 30 dwelling units per acre," and the homes may average no more than "1,750 net habitable square feet."
• Affordable homes. A project of more than 10 homes must dedicate 7 percent of its homes to extremely low income households, 10 percent to very low income or 13 percent to lower income households. Where a local rule "mandates a higher percentage of affordable units or a deeper level of affordability," the local rule applies in its place.
• What it adds in Daly City. R-3 already allows 120 feet and C-MU 175 feet. The state minimums of 75 and 65 feet are higher than the 30-foot limit in R-1 and R-1/A, the 36-foot limit in R-2, C-1 and C-2 and the 45-foot limit in BRM.
• Airport. An SB 79 project "shall be consistent with the height, noise, and safety standards of an adopted airport land use compatibility plan."
• A stop outside the city limits. The advisory says SB 79 does not apply in unincorporated county areas until a later housing cycle, but "the portion within the TOD Zone of a qualifying jurisdiction is eligible for provisions under SB 79," and this holds "even where the TOD Stop is located in an unincorporated jurisdiction."
• City action. A city may adopt its own ordinance or alternative plan. A search of 53 City Council and Planning Commission agendas from February 10, 2025 to October 6, 2026 found no item that names SB 79.

The law has each regional planning agency map the stops and zones, and the advisory says those maps "carry a rebuttable presumption of validity." The Bay Area map was not read for this guide. Check a lot against that map and ask the Planning Division how it handles an SB 79 application.

Replacing Existing Homes and Tenants

• No rent control chapter. A search of the code text read for this guide found no mention of rent control or rent stabilization, and the chapter lists of the titles checked show only two chapters with "rent" in the name: the Mobile Home Rent Review Commission and Short-Term Rentals.
• Mobile home parks. Chapter 2.52 lets more than fifty percent of the tenants of a park of more than 25 spaces petition a commission to review a rent increase.
• Tenant protection resolution. On December 8, 2025 the Council adopted Resolution 25-168, "Affirming Its Support for the Goals of a Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance," by three votes to one. The staff report says "formal adoption is not recommended at this time" for the ordinance itself.
• State replacement rule. Government Code 66300.6 bars an affected city from approving a housing project that demolishes homes "unless the project will create at least as many residential dwelling units as will be demolished." The state's list of affected cities includes Daly City. The City's SB 9 forms cite the same rule: "Any units rented by lower income households in the past five years that are to be demolished must be replaced."
• Statewide rent cap. See the rent and tenant rules page.

Where the Code and City Documents Differ

• Design review for four or more homes. Section 17.45.120 requires major design review. Section 17.45.130, the later text, says a project that meets the objective design standards needs no further regulation under the chapter.
• Housing Element and design standards. The Housing Element of November 2024 says "The City does not have adopted objective design guidelines." The Citywide Objective Design Standards are dated September 2024, and the code refers to them from the same month the Housing Element was adopted.
• Draft label. The C-MU design standards on the City website are marked as a City Council draft of November 2023. Chapter 17.58 treats them as adopted.
• Density bonus. Section 17.52.020 uses the 2014 thresholds of Government Code 65915 and old Civil Code section numbers.
• Inclusionary cross-reference. Section 17.47.120 says in-lieu fees go to the trust fund "established pursuant to Section 17.47.150." The trust fund is in Section 17.47.160.
• Use permits in C-1 and C-2. The Housing Element commits the City to remove the use permit for homes in C-1 and C-2. The Supplement 38 tables still require it.

Limits of This Page

The code text is Municode's Supplement 38. Ordinance No. 1493 was read from the City Council agenda file, and its adoption on September 28, 2026 comes from a City press release; the minutes were not posted. The General Plan land use map, the BART Station Area and Sullivan Corridor specific plans, the inclusionary housing guidelines, any update of the 2018 in-lieu fees, the state housing department's letters on the Housing Element and the regional SB 79 map were not read. The objective design standards were read by optical character recognition from a PDF. Ask the Planning Division, 650-991-8033, which standards and fees apply before you price a site.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Daly City overview, the California SB 79 page and the lot size and subdivisions page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)