Consultants Hired By LAH to Assist with MultiFamily Housing Need Greater Supervision By the Town Council

By Michael Grady, resident of Los Altos Hills
Published September 5, 2024

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​​​In May of 2023, the Los Altos Hills Town Council adopted its Housing Element document which had been drafted by the Town’s outside consultants and the Town’s staff with virtually no input from Town residents (see: Twin Oaks Court hushed building proposal receives pushback in Los Altos Hills ).  Despite a crowded Council Chamber full of residents who vociferously complained that they had not previously received adequate notice of, and an opportunity to provide input regarding, the proposed Housing Element, the Council voted to approve the Housing Element.  In doing so, the Council members emphasized that they needed to approve the Housing Element as presented at that May meeting, or else the Town would miss the State imposed deadline for certification, by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (“HCD”), that the Housing Element substantially complied with State mandates for facilitating the construction of multi-family housing in Los Altos Hills.  Council members emphasized that failure to obtain HCD’s certification by the State deadline would have resulted in the Town being subjected to the “Builder’s Remedy,” under which the Town’s existing zoning and land use ordinances would be nullified, and developers would be able to develop high density, high rise buildings anywhere in Los Altos Hills.

 

In response to numerous residents’ expression of alarm at a >300 unit development plan which the owners of the property at Twin Oaks Court (located off Arastradero Road between Stirrup and Purissima) had submitted to the Town, Mayor Mok and other Council Members sought to assure residents that in voting to approve the Housing Element, the Council was not approving the 300+ unit development proposal at Twin Oaks Court, nor did they expect the Town would ever approve any development of that number of units in the area of Twin Oaks Court.  Indeed, the Housing Element which was presented to Town residents, and which the Council approved at the May 2023 meeting, expressly stated that the Twin Oaks property, together with an adjacent parcel at the corner of Arastradero and Stirrup had only “a total projected capacity of 92 units.”  The Housing Element projected that the majority of the Town’s RHNA allocation of new multifamily residential units would be built on Foothill College property, which has four lane road access and other nearby infrastructure more suitable for construction of a large number of multifamily housing units.

 

At the May 2023 meeting, I had urged the Council to modify the proposed Housing Element to provide that only a portion of the Twin Oaks property (in particular, lots 4, 5 and 6, which total 4.5 acres) would be rezoned for multifamily housing, rather than the total of 14.5 acres which the Housing Element, as presented to the Council, proposed to be rezoned for multifamily housing at a density of between 20 and 30 units per acre.  I pointed out that rezoning only lots 4, 5 and 6, which are the flattest portions of the property, to allow between 20 and 25 units per acre would still easily accommodate the 92 units which the Housing Element expressly stated was the “projected capacity” of this area of the Town, and so would be sufficient to satisfy the Town’s RHNA allocation.  But because of the impending deadline for HCD certification, and its fear of the Builder’s Remedy, the Council was unwilling to tinker with the Housing Element as drafted and presented to the Council by the Town’s consultants and staff.

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Despite their previous assertion, in the May 2023 Housing Element which they drafted and presented to the Council for approval, that the “total projected capacity” of the Twin Oaks and adjacent Arastradero parcels was 92 units, these very same Town consultants presented, at an August 1, 2024 Planning Commission hearing, development plans showing how over 300 new residential units could be built on the property.  Clearly, in presenting the Town’s residents and Council with a draft Housing Element which asserted that the “total projected capacity” of the Twin Oaks and Arastradero parcel was 92 units, the Town’s consultants grossly misled the Council, and Town residents, given that these same consultants now apparently consider a development of 300+ units to be a feasible capacity.  Fraud is a strong word, and one which I don’t use lightly, but if it wasn’t fraud, it certainly seems like malpractice on the consultants’ part.

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Whether the consultants’ previous representation regarding the 92 unit “total projected capacity” of these parcels was fraudulent, or just negligence, it is certainly a proper basis for the Council to amend its Housing Element to narrow the scope of rezoning at Twin Oaks.  There is no longer the threat of the “Builder’s Remedy” hanging over the Council, because the Town met its deadline for HCD certification of the May 2023 Housing Element.  Now that the Council, and the Town residents, have been notified that proceeding to rezone all 14.5 acres as contemplated in the Housing Element which the consultants drafted could allow a 300+ unit development, not just a 92 unit development, it would be irresponsible for the Council not to amend the Housing Element to reduce the area to be rezoned multifamily to encompass only lots 4, 5 and 6 of the Twin Oaks subdivision.  Such an amendment would still provide 4.5 acres of multifamily zoning and at a density of 21 units per acre would still accommodate the previously projected 92 units of “total capacity” that the Town needed to meet its RHNA allocation, while avoiding the catastrophic traffic, visual, and other adverse infrastructure impacts that a 300+ unit development would inflict on Town residents.  (Furthermore, reducing the size of the area to be rezoned to just the 4.5 acres needed to accommodate the previously projected “92 units” would be consistent with the State’s preference that multifamily zones be under 10 acres.) 

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Arastradero Road between Page Mill and Deer Creek Road is a narrow, one-lane each direction road that is a critical fire and emergency evacuation route.  With the CalTrans 280 easement on one side, and steep hillsides and ravines on the other, Arastradero is unsuitable for the kind of widening which would be required to accommodate the increased traffic that a high density housing project of more than 100 units would entail, particularly in the event of a fire, earthquake, or other emergency requiring mass evacuation of Town residents.

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Reducing the size of the area to be rezoned will also allow the Town to avoid costly litigation with a developer who would undoubtedly seek to construct as many units as possible over the entire rezoned parcel, irrespective of the steep slopes (substantial portions of the other lots at Twin Oaks are steeply sloped) and adverse visual impact on the Town’s character.  Once a parcel of property is rezoned for high density multifamily construction, that creates a degree of entitlement in the property owner to build high density housing on that parcel.  By refraining from rezoning a given parcel to multifamily, no such new, expanded entitlement is conferred upon the owner, so no developer would be able to push the limits of the expanded entitlement.  In addition, if the Council does not reduce the size of the are to be rezoned, the Town will incur very substantial litigation expenses trying to defend the adequacy of the Environmental Impact Reports, and the sufficiency of mitigation measures to address the extremely adverse impacts of rezoning the entire 14.5 acres to enable a 300+ unit multifamily housing development on the narrow Arastradero Road traffic and emergency evacuation corridor.

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It is clear from the events described above that the consultants which the Town hired have not been looking after the interests of homeowners in Los Altos Hills. It also seems clear that the Council needs to exercise greater supervision over the consultants (and to direct Town staff to ensure that the consultants are protecting the interests of Town residents, rather than the interests of developers seeking to maximize their profits).  The Town’s consultants negotiated, drafted, and presented the Town Council with a Housing Element which was materially misleading to the Council, and to the Town residents, in its assertion that the “total projected capacity” of the 14.5 acres of property which they proposed to be rezoned in the Twin Oaks area was only 92 units.  In fact, as evidenced by these consultants’ subsequent presentation at the recent August 1, 2024 Planning Commission hearing, if the Town proceeds to rezone all 14.5 acres, it will be creating an entitlement under which a developer can seek to construct over 300 dwelling units on steep, highly visible hillsides, with inadequate road and other infrastructure capacity.  Such a development is not only unnecessary to meet the Town’s RHNA allocation, it would be extremely detrimental to the interests of the Town’s residents.  Accordingly, the prudent and appropriate course of action is for the Town Council to amend its Housing Element to provide for the rezoning only of lots 4, 5 and 6 of the Twin Oaks property.

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