Cupertino and other cities back local housing initiative
With several controversial state housing bills going into effect Jan. 1, Cupertino has joined a growing list of cities to endorse a potential ballot measure that would wrest back some of the local control over land use decisions that the new laws would remove.
The initiative, backed by a group called Our Neighborhood Voices, would amend the state Constitution to enable cities to decide whether to implement new state laws related to zoning, development or land use.
Paperwork for the potential measure was filed earlier this year in response to several new state housing laws that have been cast by opponents as an attack on single-family neighborhoods. One of the main targets is Senate Bill 9, which will allow property owners to build a second home on their lot or split it into two and place duplexes on each.
The proposed initiative “provides that city and county land use and zoning laws (including local housing laws) override all conflicting state laws, except in certain circumstances” involving the California Coastal Act of 1976, siting of power plants or development of water, communication or transportation infrastructure projects.
The initiative also would prevent the Legislature and local legislative bodies “from passing laws invalidating voter-approved local land use or zoning initiatives.”
In addition to Cupertino, the cities of Saratoga and Monte Sereno also have endorsed the measure, as have Los Altos Mayor Anita Enander,
Palo Alto Councilwoman Lydia Kou, Saratoga Councilman Rishi Kumar, Los Altos Councilwoman Lynette Lee Eng and Milpitas Vice Mayor Carmen Montano.
The League of California Cities has decided to not take a stance on the initiative, however. In its website, the league said concerns were raised that it “may have significant, unintentional consequences, including pitting local jurisdictions against each other, and that additional feedback from cities is needed prior to taking a position.”
Supporters need to gather nearly 1 million signatures by the end of June to get the initiative on the November ballot.
San Jose Council member and mayoral candidate Dev Davis has been leading signature collection efforts.
“Our state is absolutely way too big for the politicians in Sacramento to know what’s happening on the ground in individual towns and cities,” Davis said. “We have so many different neighborhoods and needs that we really need to have land use decisions at the local level, which they have historically been.”
Cupertino’s decision to support the initiative sprung from a Dec. 10 legislative review committee meeting; the committee is comprised of Vice Mayor Liang Chao and Councilwoman Kitty Moore.
Chao said the initiative fits within the city’s 2021 legislative platform but did not elaborate further.
In advocating for local control, Cupertino Mayor Darcy Paul said that some recent state housing laws, like Senate Bill 35, have created more problems, such as exacerbated traffic congestion. The law takes away local discretion and requires cities that aren’t building enough housing to approve and fast-track projects.
Because of SB 35, the old Vallco shopping mall is being transformed despite the opposition of many residents into a development of 2,402 new homes, 400,000 square feet of retail and 1.8 million square feet of office space. Some council members, including Paul, argue that it will create a jobs to housing imbalance by adding more workers in the city than can be housed.
“We are coming up against a lot of aspirational legislation without a way to pay for it and without a way to justify what’s being done because down the line a lot of this legislation seems to have an effect of making this housing crisis worse,” he said.
Not everyone on the council agrees with the city’s position on the initiative. Councilwoman Hung Wei said it will “produce unintended consequences.”
“Though local control on land use issues is much desired by local municipalities, passing an initiative that is not well thought out will do more harm than good,” she said.
Michael Lane, the state policy director at the urban policy nonprofit SPUR, said though it’s disappointing that Cupertino endorsed the initiative, it’s not surprising given the city’s track record of resisting state housing mandates. Lane called it an “effort to roll back the clock.”
“It’s just more proof of why we need state intervention,” he said. “Left to their own devices, they won’t approve housing.”