A wealthy Silicon Valley town twists environmental regularions to thwart affordable housing

[Ex Lurker]

A wealthy town in Silicon Valley has declared itself a "mountain lion habitat" in order to halt new affordable housing projects in the area.

The state's new law, known as Senate Bill 9, allows up to four housing units to be built in a single-family lot, but Woodside, California blocked the building of new housing projects.

In a January 27 memo, the town declared that all housing projects started under SB 9 would be indefinitely paused as of January 25 after a petition to consider Woodside a habitat for mountain lions — a species that is a candidate to be considered endangered in the state — was brought before the town council.

The town council was able to identify a clause in SB 9 that prohibits building on "land identified as habitat for protected species," according to the memo.

"Given that Woodside – in its entirety – is habitat for a candidate species, no parcel within Woodside is currently eligible for an SB 9 project," the memo reads.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/wealthy-silicon-valley-town-blocked-155024728.html

[jimfields33]

1. Good. Build elsewhere. Either we care about animal welfare or we don't.

If they need protection from extinction then this is the right course of action.

[haele]

2. Hmmm...my instinct is that the town is using the mountain lions...

To ensure property values don't go down and developers don't build more affordable and dense housing that would have lesser worker types living next to their fancy upscale homes, instead of as live-in servants that can be paid less for "housing and board", or drive miles in from another, affordable town just to work at the local chic stores and businesses.
They might be concerned about mountain lion habitat, but I don't see them moving the town, I see it more as them trying to keep "those people" out, even if "those people" might be making close to six figures themselves.

Haele

[Mr.Bill]

3. I agree.

They are actually presenting an argument against any houses ever being built there.

[pecosbob]

4. Well then let's bulldoze your McMansion and plant redwoods in it's place

Here's a photo of a home in Woodside that sold recently...