Info on Housing in Los Gatos:

In response to many questions I have received recently, I want to provide an informational update regarding housing development in town. As your Town Councilmember, I believe it is my duty to ensure you have as much information as possible at your disposal to understand and positively influence future developments in our community. As with all of my communications, this is my personal perspective and is neither legal guidance nor any official stance of the Los Gatos Town Council.


Background:

In the past six months or so, the Town of Los Gatos has received more than a dozen substantial development applications and pre-applications. While none of these applications are approved, they demonstrate the interest and intentions of what property owners and developers are hoping to build in Los Gatos. Without prejudging what the final applications will look like, I think some of these pre-applications are good, and others are not.

To contextualize the reality of the housing situation in Los Gatos, major changes to state law have significantly reduced the control cities have regarding proposed development. Laws like the Builder’s Remedy, SB 330, and Density Bonus allow developers to build above and beyond what a town like Los Gatos would usually allow. These tools greatly reduce the Town of Los Gatos’ ability to shape the design and architecture of these developments. It is important to understand that when there is an agreement between a property owner and a developer to redevelop a site, the site is almost surely going to be redeveloped in some form.


The Town’s Role in the Development Process:

The Town Council is doing everything we can to set rules, regulations, and processes that ensure new development is acceptable to our community. All projects (including Builder’s Remedy, SB 330, and Density Bonus applications) will still go through the town’s permitting process. Staff will still assess the projects in all the ways that state law permits, including assessing objective design and architecture standards. However, under new state regulations, developers have the opportunity to use state laws to waive certain development standards that would normally apply. While we will continue to do everything possible to ensure development projects are appropriate for our town, because of the changes to state law, the Town of Los Gatos’ hands are likely to be tied when it comes to some aspects of the development. You can also view this presentation from the Town of Los Gatos outside legal counsel about the current legal framework around housing law for cities in California. I share more information on this topic under "Resources" below. 


Your Role in the Development Process:

I have met with most of the developers of the major housing proposals in town with the goal of ensuring that the developments look and feel like Los Gatos. But, because the Town Council will have less discretion over proposals due to changes in state law, the role of residents in influencing the development process has become more important than ever. Directly lobbying developers is very effective, and even more so when you can do so with groups of like-minded individuals who can push for changes together. These pushes can be for things like traffic improvements, the inclusion of “mixed-use” retail or commercial spaces, increasing the number of affordable housing units, reductions in height, the addition of green spaces, or architectural improvements.

The advice I have been giving to individuals when I speak to them about how to best influence the development process is to approach the developer with 2 to 3 specific, well-thought-out aspects of the proposal that you would like to see changed. I have seen this method work several times in the past few months. In my experience, this approach has been much more successful in improving the end outcome than simply saying “no, I don’t want anything built.” Starting at “no” leaves little room for compromise, and frankly, developers can and will ignore you. Residents will, of course, still have the opportunity to speak at Planning Commission and Town Council meetings during development hearings, but the most impactful time to get involved is likely to be directly to developers early in the process.

Long story short: if you see proposed projects in Los Gatos that you have concerns about, get involved now, talk with your neighbors, and contact the developer and architect directly. You can find the contact information for the developers and architects for particular proposals at this link. The contact information is found on the "Development Plans" pages. If you need help doing this, please let me know and I would be happy to assist.


Myths and Misconceptions:

I’d also like to dispel some myths and misinformation that I have heard about how we got here. I have seen posts online and an op-ed in the paper claiming that the town is receiving these proposals because certain Councilmembers support unconstrained growth or don’t care about the character of the town. This is not accurate.

Regarding the Builder’s Remedy, it is important to know that not one of the 15 cities in Santa Clara County had their Housing Element approved in time to avoid the Builder’s Remedy. And, while the Builder’s Remedy is getting much of the attention, there are many new state laws that are allowing developers to go beyond local standards.

As of a few months ago, Los Gatos officially has an approved Housing Element which means developers can no longer submit new Builder’s Remedy applications. Throughout this process, I made it my top priority to pass a compliant Housing Element as expeditiously as possible. I voted to send our draft Housing Element to the state for review every time I believed it was ready. Unfortunately, the Council was not united on this front. Some Councilmembers have not voted to send drafts of the Housing Element forward to the state when we have had the opportunity to, which has created significant delays and issues with obtaining certification. Ultimately, only 3 out of 5 Councilmembers (myself included) voted to approve the document and end the possibility of new Builder’s Remedy applications in Los Gatos.

I believe the Town Council is now largely on the same page and is united in the goal of bringing the best new developments possible to our community. Reasonable minds can disagree about the best way to approach these housing challenges, but I do feel an obligation to explicitly state that I have always tried to protect Los Gatos from development that is out of step with the character of our community and I will continue to do so.


Resources and More Info:

If you would like to see a map of the proposed developments in town and a list where you can sort proposed developments by street address, you can follow the links here for the proposed development map, here for SB 330 pre-applications, and here for all pending applications in Los Gatos. You can sort by street address to see if developments are being proposed near you.

Town Council held a study session on this exact topic in September. This session featured attorney and housing legal expert Barbara Kautz who shared a presentation with the Town Council and the community about the impact of state housing laws on Los Gatos. The presentation broadly confirmed what the Town Council already knew: the State of California has changed state law to allow developers to subvert substantial portions of Los Gatos’ development standards. The silver lining of the presentation is that there are important areas where the Town of Los Gatos will retain control and I am optimistic that the Town Council will find ways to work with developers to achieve the best possible outcomes given the constraints we face.

One question the Town Council is often asked is “Why doesn’t Los Gatos sue the state” or “Why doesn’t the Town Council just deny these applications?” This question was answered during the study session. Quoting directly from the presentation, Ms Kautz shared that in general, the courts have been “very pro-housing, they uphold housing approvals, and overturn housing denials.” The risks to the Town of Los Gatos are significant, including “significant attorneys fees exposure, high legal defense costs, and possible [compensation for] damages.” The Cities of Berkeley and Huntington Beach each took up these sorts of legal housing battles recently, and now each city owes about $4 million in legal fees after losing in court. If you’d like to see the presentation that Ms. Kautz prepared on the topic of how state housing laws will impact Los Gatos, you can view it here.

I hope you find this information to be helpful and I’m grateful to be able to serve you on the Los Gatos Town Council,

Rob