BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
State housing officials have weighed in on a ballot measure to preserve downtown parking lots in Los Altos.
Los Altos City Council would need to consider new places for housing if voters approve Measure D on Nov. 3, according to a letter from state housing official Brian Heaton.
That’s because council listed 10 downtown lots as a place where 124 homes could get built in its 2023-2031 Housing Element, Heaton said.
“If voters adopt the ordinance, the city will be required to amend its Housing Element to analyze the ordinance as a potential governmental constraint on housing development, including, but not limited to, whether the parking plazas are still appropriate to include in the site inventory,” Heaton said in an Aug. 28 letter to Development Services Director Stephanie Williams.
Housing mandate
The Housing Element is a state-mandated plan for where more than 1,958 homes could be developed throughout the city by 2031.
Cities are also required to list programs that make housing easier to build. For example, Los Altos committed to incentivizing downtown lot consolidation.
Heaton said the city could get fined or lose local control if the plan isn’t followed or certified by the state.
Council members have warned that new housing could go in residential neighborhoods if downtown lots are no longer an option.
“In my conversations with residents, there’s very little enthusiasm for that solution,” Vice Mayor Larry Lang said at a meeting on July 24.
Lang said the city will also consider commercial areas like the Lucky supermarket at 2175 Grant Road or Andronico’s Community Markets at 690 Fremont Ave.
Residents want a say
Residents gathered over 2,600 signatures from registered voters in April to qualify Measure D for the November ballot.
Measure D would require council to get voter approval before developing the parking lots, except for two lots set aside for affordable housing. City Council’s plan to put a performing arts center on the parking lots fueled much of the momentum behind the petition drive.
“Residents and business owners are not opposed to thoughtful change. But we’re asking that the public have a meaningful say before public land is permanently altered,” resident Cindy Andrews said in a statement for the campaign.
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