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At a four-hour-long public hearing on Sept. 18, the Atherton City Council reviewed the latest version of the town’s housing element, which has been making its way through public review, staff review and commissions all summer. Yet some Atherton residents are still asking the town to postpone approving such plans.
Atherton is on a tight deadline to get the newest version of their housing element approved. City Attorney Mona Ebrahimi confirmed that the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) had given the City Council until its Oct. 16 meeting to finalize the town’s housing element.
“(HCD) gave us an initial warning and advised us that if we do not stay within this new stated timeline, given the fact that we are about two years post deadline, that we will be found in violation of our (housing) requirements,” said Ebrahimi.
On July 2, the California Department of Housing and Community Development warned Atherton town staff that the town is “in violation of housing element law” by not providing the department a definitive timeline for finalizing its 2023-31 housing element, which is far past its January 2023 deadline for state approval.
Ebrahimi said that not adopting the housing element at the council’s Oct. 16 meeting could result in serious consequences for Atherton. Having a housing element that is out of compliance with state requirements would result in the town being ineligible for state funds for programs such as Caltrans grants for road improvements in town.
The town could also be fined between $10,000 and $100,000 a month for noncompliance with state housing law, with those fines tripled after three months out of compliance, and increased by a factor of six after six months out of compliance. Atherton also risks losing all local land use authority if it does not submit an updated housing element to the state by Oct. 16.
Ebrahimi said that having a noncompliant housing element past the new deadline that HCD has imposed on Atherton also opens the town up to being sued by the California Attorney General’s office, or any other housing advocacy group. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday, Sept. 19, that he had signed a package of new laws the increase accountability for local governments in the housing element update process. The laws strengthen enforcement and penalties for cities that fail to adopt housing element revisions or approve developments, and by creating stricter timelines for cities to report on housing progress to the state.
One public commenter during the meeting said that these threats are unfounded, and that Ebrahimi was “scaremongering” in order to push the housing element through. However, Ebrahimi said that the state is now pushing harder than ever to bring towns into compliance with state housing law.
“In the past year, HCD and the Attorney General’s Office have been given greater funds through the Governor’s office to (sue noncompliant towns),” said Ebrahimi. “I am not aware of a single jurisdiction that has prevailed.”
Resident pushback
Despite the looming threat of a state crackdown on the town, the council received dozens of emails in advance of the meeting, and several comments at the meeting, from residents asking them to postpone the reading and discussion of the housing element. Residents said they weren’t adequately notified of the meeting, and were not able to read and understand the 1,700-page long agenda packet for the meeting.
“The City Council should postpone the first reading of the housing element and proposed amendments to the Atherton municipal code/zoning rules until after you hold a special meeting to explain the proposed changes in the zoning code,” wrote resident David Haynes. “Atherton residents should be given adequate time to review and comment on the latest draft of the housing element.”
In a blog post following the meeting, Atherton City Manager George Rodericks detailed the extensive public engagement process that the town has gone through regarding its housing element.
“Because this process is daunting and the information can be data-heavy, detailed and complex, the town has had numerous public engagement opportunities over the past four years,” Rodericks wrote.
Several residents also told the council to go back to the drawing board and decide on different parcels of land to designate for multifamily housing, and that the upcoming deadline from HCD should not prevent the council from deciding on different properties.
“It is never too late to ‘change course,’” wrote resident Ken Frederick. “A deadline is no reason to ‘do the wrong thing.’”
Several commenters specifically questioned why the council removed properties along the El Camino Real thoroughfare from consideration for multifamily housing, when that is the area of the town that is closest to public transit and other amenities.
“HCD has indicated to us that they do not view lots that are (smaller than) a half acre as good opportunity sites for multifamily, and all of the lots on (El Camino Real) and close to Caltrain are … a third of an acre,” said Council member Stacy Miles Holland. “That’s why those sites were not included in our CEQA analysis.”
In August, the planning commission unanimously recommended that the council remove four properties along Bay Road and Ringwood Avenue from the housing element plans. The Planning Commission said that putting multifamily housing on these four sites would constitute “bad urban planning.” The council did not have time to comment during the Sept. 18 meeting on whether or not they plan to follow the commission’s recommendation to remove the four properties.
Following the discussion, the council opted to continue the public hearing to another meeting on Oct. 2 at 4 p.m. to allow the council members and the public more time to digest the materials. It will also allow the council more time to provide feedback on the plans to town staff.
Rodericks said that the properties under consideration for multifamily housing will be on the docket for council deliberations at the upcoming Oct. 2 meeting.
Additionally, the council said that their discussion at the Oct. 2 meeting will focus on the housing element document itself, the proposed objective design standards for multifamily housing and other municipal code amendments.
The council will revisit the housing element, and members are expected to make a final decision on whether or not to approve the housing element and associated general plan, zoning and municipal code updates and send the town’s housing plans to the state at its Oct. 16 meeting.
View all documents related to Atherton’s housing element update process at ci.atherton.ca.us/627/Housing-Element-Update.
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Imagine if the residents of East Palo Alto acted so entitled to be a law unto themselves this way. I guess that this is because laws are meant to be written by the privileged to control those who are not privileged.
Jon Silver
Former Mayor, Portola Valley
Former SM Country Planning Commissioner