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On July 23, the Woodside Town Council was met with contention on future housing plans during a five-hour long meeting. By midnight, the council had only taken action to approve the environmental impact report and to adopt changes to its state-mandated housing element.
Council also voted to continue the discussion on approving additional housing element resolutions in a special meeting on Tuesday, July 30. The housing element is required by the state for all local governments to develop a plan to meet housing demands across California every eight years. The town of Woodside has been out of state compliance since Jan. 31, 2023 and is required to develop 328 new housing units between 2023-31.
After three years of revising the housing element, the council is feeling pressure to get its housing element approved by the state as soon as possible. Residents expressed concerns that plans for increased multifamily housing would change the natural scenery that Woodside embraces and are calling for the council to take more time to consider other options.
The housing element includes plans for multi-family zoning for 773 Cañada Road, High Road, Raymundo Drive and at Cañada College. The town owns the sites on High Road and Raymundo Drive, which gives them control over how the sites are developed.
The housing element plans for high density developments with 16 units on 773 Cañada Road and High Road and 17 units on Raymundo Drive. The Cañada College development plans for approximately 75 units for faculty and staff housing.
As the town prepares to have its housing element certified, the council needed to approve the EIR which “supports the housing element and all of its implementing programs, including rezoning,” said Town Manager Kevin Bryant.
Following the EIR, the top priorities are to adopt the housing element, adopt the resolution to rezoning the four properties, adopt the changes of the general plan on the High Road parcel and review High Road’s objective design standards.
EIR: Residents concerned over evacuation, wildlife, pollution and sewer lines
The EIR is necessary to evaluate the environmental impacts of proposed plans within a housing element and identifies alternative ways to minimize the effects. The draft of the EIR was previously open for a 45-day public review period from May 4 to June 17.
After the town’s Planning Commission reviewed and responded to all public comments, the commission decided to forward a recommendation to council to adopt the EIR draft, according to a presentation by Andrew Hill, principal with planning firm Dyett and Bhatia.
Residents’ main concerns were over the impact on special status plants and wildlife species, traffic and evacuation, landslides, noise, changes in rural characteristics and the capacity of utilities to accommodate new developments.
Based on an analysis of the draft housing element, impacts related to air quality, biological resources, construction noise and tribal cultural resources could be mitigated but there would be unavoidable impacts like increased greenhouse gas emissions and increased traffic because of construction.
Hill clarified that these unavoidable impacts are “not uncommon for long range development plans.” He also presented two alternatives to reduce significant impact. The first is a no project alternative which would not adopt the housing plan and continue with the town’s general plan. This would result in fewer impacts but not achieve certification. The superior “infill” alternative was to look at building developments in the town’s commercial areas but Hill added that it would not support the project’s objectives and identifying sites would be less feasible.
Woodside resident Ken Stasun called for the council to limit the size of the development at 773 Cañada to 16 units and one acre rather than the current plan for 1.6 acres. He said that the amount of soil that will need to be removed to build the development will lead to pollution, fire risk, erosion and the release of asbestos from the rocks in the area.
Other residents against the Raymundo parcel are worried about the lack of a septic system and other infrastructure to support these new developments.
“We don’t have the capacity to add septic to our area without contaminating the groundwater,” said resident Alysha Messmer.
Planning Director Sage Schaan responded that all sites except for Cañada College will need to be connected to sewer lines by the developer and will have to get approval from the council. If new impacts are found once the exact location of where the building will be constructed is identified, another analysis will be required.
The Raymundo parcel is also a center for concern around safe evacuation during emergencies. “At the proposed project, it’s just asking for a disaster to have everybody from upslope surging in terror down Raymundo Drive,” commented town resident John Hughes. He describes the roadways in the area as windy and narrow.
The community is also concerned about the lack of mention of wildlife in the EIR, when many witness coyotes and bobcats roaming the area. Hill explained that impacts only apply to threatened or endangered species which do not apply to these specific mammals.
“I think what we’re dealing with here is a rushed process,” said Council member Paul Goeld who called the council’s move to approve the EIR “rubber stampy.”
Council member Ned Fluet clarified that the EIR is not intended to examine each specific site and that there will be an opportunity later on to look into specific issues within each development.
The council voted 4-1 to approve the EIR draft with Goeld voting against. As a resident on High Road, Council member Dick Brown recused himself of any discussions and votes related to the High Road parcel.
Adopting the housing element draft
The council approved to adopt the housing element with changes made to increase the amount of accessory dwelling units allowed on properties that are one acre or larger up to four ADUs. This would be enough for the housing element to be compliant with the Department of Housing and Community Development standards.
Woodside resident Steve Lubin proposed that the town “develop a vision of a compact town with increased density concentrated a walk or a bike ride away from town center.” He added that allowing more ADUs based on lot size will continue “to spread out new housing and contribute to sprawled habitat destruction, unnecessary vehicle miles and greenhouse gasses.”
Talia Lubin suggested that the town explore different housing types and increase the sizes of the ADUs, using duplexes as an example. Town Manager Kevin Bryant agreed with the suggestion to take a more creative approach to ADUs.
Other residents want to fight the state on the housing element mandate.
“We need to vote out the California Legislature that’s created this mess. We need a promise from this council that we will reject the future projects that come down the line that are violating our zoning and all of our property rights and this beautiful town of Woodside that we love and we’ve lived in we fought for for all these many years,” said town resident Chris Canellos.
If a local government does not meet the state’s required housing element, towns and cities can face fines from $100,000 per month according to the Association of Bay Area Governments.
Council member Goeld expressed similar sentiments to Canellos against adopting the housing element, sharing more concerns over the potential lawsuits that will come from Woodside residents rather than the fines that will be imposed by the state. He believes that there are other ways to negotiate with the state on housing requirements.
“I don’t want to pay $10,000 a month, but I’d rather be at conflict with Sacramento than at conflict with my neighbors,” said Goeld.
He also discussed ideas on eliminating multifamily housing development plans if the number of ADUs will be increasing every year. As of 2023 the current run rate of additional ADUs is 22 units per year, according to Schaan. Over the eight year cycle of the housing element, Goeld argues that the total number of ADUs that will be built over the years is enough to “get rid of two sites.”
The housing element estimates a production of 15 ADUs annually. If the town fails to reach that number the town will need to identify the rezoning of other locations with plans for a minimum of 20 units per acre.
All council members acknowledge that the privilege of home ownership is one that they would like to embrace. Council member Brian Dombkowski proposed an adoption of a statement in the housing element that emphasizes the town’s goals and commitment to creating affordable housing.
“The town of Woodside is committed to creating affordable home ownership at the very low and low-income levels on parcels owned by the town of Woodside. Home ownership allows residents the opportunity to build personal wealth through ownership, creates housing opportunities closer to employment and services within the town of Woodside, and will contribute to building greater equity and diversity in our community,” Domkowski reads.
Mayor Jenn Wall is hoping that adopting the housing element and getting closer to certification will allow for the town staff to focus more on other important issues.
“We’ve been devoting tons of time and staff energy into coming up with a housing element. And so one thing I’m really looking forward to is being able to move on and focus on other things, like our town center plan project,” Wall said.
The council voted 4-1 to adopt the housing element with Goeld opposing. Again, Brown recused himself from the vote as a resident of High Road.
During the upcoming special meeting on July 30 at 7 p.m. the council will continue to discuss the remaining agenda items to vote on amendments to the general plan for parcels on High Road and Raymundo Drive and introduce an ordinance to add and change development standards for multi-family zoning districts.
They will also vote on a resolution to add new objective design standards for multi-family housing on all parcels and vote on a resolution amending the Emerald Lake Hills plan for multi-family zoning and sewer expansion.
