The reason this meeting was a stinker was that it seemed the decision had been made by all but Hudes prior to the start of the meeting. It felt like the objective was to get this off their desks and onto the HCD for their comments. Keep in mind that the Town is in this situation because of the Mayor’s and Town Manager’s decision to do the HE after they finished the GP instead of before. As you know, the Housing Element had severe penalties if not certified by the HCD. The Town lost valuable time when management made that decision and now they’re under their own gun with the potential .
Moore did his usual high fiving of the staff and delved into how racist Los Gatos is and has been. He also accused the public (including the LGCA) of trying to kick the decision to approve the draft down the road. However, if the mistakes brought up in the meeting get corrected, it might avoid another rejection from the HCD. Janoff, Hansen, Moore and the rest of the HEAB (excepting Hudes) didn’t want to change the numbers as it may involve more questions from the HCD and slow down the process. But they had absolutely no problem raising the numbers by 227 units when they allowed double counting of these units from the 5th cycle. A stinker of a decision.
Staff made the comments that when the consultant, Tam and Associates raised the issue, they (two different staff members) were “surprised” and the reasoning was “counter-intuitive”. We agree and showed them the proof that the numbers were double-counted from the 5th cycle and they can check their own records to see that the applications put the 227 into the 5th cycle rather than the 6th. You would have thought that was “substantive” information and at least create enough doubt for them to extend the process one more week to talk to HCD and see who was absolutely correct that they could double count, or not But expediency and eagerness to put the document in front of the HCD won out.
Does common sense tell you that if Los Gatos can double count, what prevents the other 482 cities and 58 counties from double counting also? Their decision didn’t pass the sniff test.
CONCLUSION BY THE HEAB – Ignoring our findings, all but Councilmember Hudes voted to approve the draft and send it off to HEAB asap. They also opted not to give the public another 7 days to respond to HEAB comments/concerns – time which could have been spent simply checking out who was right when it came to counting, or not counting, the 227 units.
CONCLUSION BY LOS GATOS COMMUNITY ALLIANCE: This should never have been passed. In our findings, the Town has not met the requirement for Affordable Housing by falling ~189 units short in the combined very low and low categories. That would necessitate finding roughly another ~30 acres of land. This puts the Town in the unfortunate position of a possible fourth rejection. Another rejection letter would keep the Builders Remedy open much longer.
We are not attorneys. We do not have access to information the Town has. Our information is found in Town HE documents; ABAG; HCD and the city of Del Mar. Unfortunately, the Town has kept the new Consultant out of meetings where we might be able to ask clarifying questions. The Town has had private conversations with the Housing and Community Development for which they have not divulged any information to the public as to what was discussed in those meetings. We are dumbfounded by the lack of transparency. We all have the common goal of producing a certified Housing Element as soon as possible. Why waste time on public input if it is ignored or potentially important information is kept secret by the Town?
Go HERE to read the full version with all details
Go HERE to read the abridged version.
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