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Editor’s note: During the special Town Council meeting on Sept. 10, the council voted to not approve the tolling agreement. Majority of council members voted in opposition and Council member Paul Goeld abstained.
A group of Woodside residents have hired lawyers to challenge the town of Woodside after the Town Council voted to approve updates to its housing element during a council meeting on July 23 and 30 despite public disagreement. Greenfire Law sent a letter on behalf of the residents to the council on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 4, asking the town to consider including the group’s proposal on the agenda of the Sept. 10 Town Council meeting to allow residents to challenge the environmental impact report after the final approval of the housing element.
According to Town Manager Kevin Bryant and Mayor Jenn Wall, the proposal will be considered by the Town Council in a closed session during a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 10.
“The town’s decision to phase-in its approval of the housing element is indefensibly opaque and seemingly designed to thwart administrative and legal challenges to the town’s actions,” states the letter. “There can be no doubt that approving a project in a piecemeal fashion, moreover, violates CEQA. … CEQA’s prohibition on piecemealing is meant to ensure the public has notice of project approval at the time of complete project approval, to eliminate confusion and facilitate public review and legal challenges where appropriate and necessary.”
The group which calls itself, Neighbors to Protect Open Space for the Preservation of Natural Resources in Woodside, has united out of a shared concern for the preservation of the town’s open space following the council’s approval of the environmental impact report tied to the town’s state-mandated housing plans. The report included an analysis and mitigations on the environmental impacts of moving forward with the four project sites — High Road, Raymundo Drive, 773 Cañada Road and Cañada College.
The residents have hired Jessica Blome, an attorney at the Berkeley-based law firm Greenfire Law, to represent them. The firm also represented residents who recently sued the city of Belmont over alleged mismanagement of Waterdog Lake Open Space.They are asking the town to consider a tolling agreement which would give residents more time to file a lawsuit on the EIR after the final approval of the housing element.
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.
On July 25 and Aug.1, the town posted two separate notices of determination on the California Environmental Quality Act website despite the housing element not being fully approved. The NOD serves as a public notice that an agency approves a project and allows the public 30 days to challenge the project. Another NOD is expected to be submitted after the final approvals on the housing element during the Town Council meeting on Sept. 24.
The residents argue that this was a “misguided attempt to comply with CEQA’s public notification requirements.” The timeline for a legal challenge to be made under CEQA begins with the posting of the NOD, but with two separate notices, residents are confused.
The tolling agreement would clarify that the statute of limitations to sue will begin after the final approval of the housing element and the final NOD is submitted to CEQA.
Hank Upton, who has lived on Todo El Mundo for 43 years, said that the proposed site on High Road has unstable soil that has a history of landslides and a PG&E pipeline running through the front of the property. Upton is also concerned about how the project will impact traffic and how parking along the roads will affect access for emergency vehicles.
“I’m sure if the members of the Planning Commission and Town Council lived on Todo El Mundo, they would have voted against this and found a more appropriate place such as Town Center,” said Upton.
On Sept. 24, the Town Council will be holding a second reading and adoption of two zoning ordinances, according to Bryant. This will be the final-phase of approval for Woodside’s housing element.
If approved, the ordinances will add new multi-family zoning district development standards, change zoning map designations for High Road and Raymundo Drive from open space to multi-family. The ordinances will also change zoning designations for 773 Cañada Road from suburban to multi-family and amend zoning map designations for Cañada College.
Many residents spoke against the first two phases of approving the housing element during the Town Council meetings on July 23 and 30 but the council voted to move forward. “Residents were heard and very valid arguments were made but it made no difference,” said Upton.
