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Portola Valley posts 'affordable' housing info

by Dave Boyce

The town of Portola Valley has posted a new page on its website with answers to questions about the town's housing policy, including plans to build homes that would be affordable to people of moderate incomes.

The town is negotiating to purchase a 1.68-acre site at 900 Portola Road, the former site of Al's Nursery, with plans for about eight homes there that would fulfill some of the town's affordable housing obligations under state law.

Go to tinyurl.com/Housing-714 to see the new page, which has answers to 41 "frequently asked" questions, links to relevant sections of the town's general plan and municipal code, and resources from regional and state agencies. The light green box on the right of the page links to an online form for comments and questions.

The homes at the nursery site would be intended for people who live or work in town — teachers, firefighters and residents with changed circumstances — but who have "moderate incomes" and cannot afford the multi-million-dollar homes in Portola Valley. In San Mateo County, a moderate income is around $86,500 for an individual and $123,600 for a family of four, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

The town is planning to finance the purchase of the site through the sale of four parcels designated for affordable housing in the Blue Oaks neighborhood. Plans to build homes in Blue Oaks have run aground on the high cost to the developer of preparing the topographically complex site.

Posted by PV Resident, a resident of the Portola Valley: Central Portola Valley neighborhood, on Aug 13, 2012 at 4:42 pm

Very hypocritical of the PV town leaders to talk about open space and the environmental and historical pride they have for their town on certain pages of their website while devoting a section to the Below Market Rate Housing issue -- and by the way, the state has NOT required or mandated that PV build these units at all (referencing question 1.8 in the document Compliance with Affordable Housing Laws that is posted on the PV website).