Current Issues

Resident's Use of Builders Remedy In Los Altos Hills

Resident's Use of Builder's Remedy in Los Altos Hills Deserves an "Off-side - Penalty" !
In football, if players on defense move across the line before the ball is snapped, the referee calls an off-sides penalty. Hills 2000 --- Friends of the Hills suggests that Sasha Zbrozek is off-sides in jumping to invoke the “builder’s remedy” before the Housing Element, submitted on time by Los Altos Hills, is reviewed.
(https://enewspaper.mercurynews.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=fbc08f07-15a1-4194-bac6-5be66797d63c)

The “builder’s remedy” was designed to punish cities if, after four years of an eight-year housing cycle, the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) found the cities to be substantially non-compliant in bringing to fruition the housing described in their Housing Element. Among the punishments for non-compliance is that cities lose control of planning and zoning. These functions are essentially handed to developers, provided the developers set aside 20 percent of their new units for affordable housing.

All this might be acceptable if the Regional Housing Allocation Numbers (RHNA) for the 6th cycle were accurate and if putting housing for very low, low and moderate-income people could be placed randomly, anywhere with equal success. The RHNA numbers are not accurate. In March 2022, the Acting State Auditor found the RHNA numbers wildly inaccurate with numerous errors due to faulty math and faulty methods. Scattering housing for people with limited incomes in semi-rural areas, with little in the way of expandable infrastructure and no services, is a recipe for failure.

Mr. Zbrozek may enjoy being disruptive but applying to build an apartment complex on a steep, residential lot served by a narrow road only proves how little he understands about limits. If, as he apparently claims, his project pencils out, a profit can only be achieved if everyone else in Los Altos Hills pays for water, sewer and electricity upgrades, not to mention schools, hospitals, as well as police and fire protection for the greater density his project would bring. That the neighbors are outraged is understandable.

The rest of us should not wait for the unacceptable project to pop up next door. Instead, let our City Council know how important it is for them to uphold the town’s founding principles. Passage of SB 9 encouraged lot splits and the sacrifice of open space without any demands that housing built on the new lots be affordable. The RHNA numbers come with threats but no money to do the actual building. In this adversarial climate, lawsuits seem like the only answer.

There’s still time to join a lawsuit to stop HCD from imposing its faulty RHNA numbers. If Los Altos Hills were to join, it would likely cost $20,000-30,000. That’s far less than the $219,296 the town has already spent just on consultants and attorneys to prepare its Housing Element.

A lawsuit is already in progress to stop SB9 from causing additional damage to the character of cities throughout California. What’s really at stake in both lawsuits is local control. Hills 2000 --- Friends of the Hills believes in giving residents a voice in how their communities develop.

The Challenges of Growth: SB 9 & SB 10

Dear Friends:
With pleasure, we’d like to share with you the JUNE 2022 Los Altos Hills OUR TOWN NEWSLETTER. The impact of SB 9 & SB 10 is the lead article.

While we started out with a simple concept for the Our Town Newsletter – to introduce the negative aspects of SB 9 and SB 10 and its egregious impact on our rural community – that initial concept had to be modified.
Why you may ask?
Because for all the reasons we love Los Altos Hills it could not possibly be complete without providing the history of why we chose to live here and the importance of the planning process and local control.
Our goal is to preserve, protect and enhance the Town. Not unlike what our founders chose to do 66 years ago. The new generation of residents, may not know or grasp the importance of our history nor wish to understand it.
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t share it with them. Thanks to editor, Alex Atkins – who is also an excellent historian and writer, we have a much more balanced article that will serve the Town today and in the future.
The article is balanced and reflects both supporters and opposition. Members from Hills 2000 – Friends of the Hills have been great to contribute some ideas to this comprehensive documentation. Grateful thanks to Susan Kirsch, president of Catalysts CA for her insightful contributions.

We hope that today’s citizens & city council members and those in the future will be well-served by it.

Kind thanks,
Duffy Price, Secretary
Hills 2000 – Friends of the Hills
650-948-0596