Barry prepared the City of Piedmont’s Housing Element for three consecutive cycles: Cycle 3 (1999–2006), Cycle 4 (2007–2015), and Cycle 5 (2015–2023). He worked closely with reviewers at the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to secure the City’s first Housing Element compliance determination in 2001. The subsequent two Elements were also found compliant, following extensive coordination with HCD staff.

Each Housing Element focused on meeting Piedmont’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) through the use of accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The City’s RHNA ranged from 40 to 60 units per eight-year cycle. Because Piedmont is a small, built-out community with little vacant or underutilized land, the City relied on innovative ADU-based strategies to accommodate its housing obligations. These included encouraging small, “affordable-by-design” ADUs, as well as rent-restricted units in exchange for relief from parking requirements and other development standards.

As a result, many previously unpermitted ADUs were legalized, and the City experienced a significant increase in ADU production beginning in the 2010s and continuing thereafter.