Dear neighbors,
Our Housing Element submission to the state is in jeopardy. The feedback from California’s HCD is that our housing sites were not distributed throughout the city. This was one of the reasons why I couldn’t fall behind the Housing Element plan - explained here.
Hundreds of neighbors who spoke had asked for a FAIR and EVEN distribution of sites throughout Saratoga. Fairness in our process is as important as transparency! To do the job right, the Council needed to consider ALL possible sites early in the process. And we clearly did not, playing the whack-a-mole game. The game ended with a majority of sites packed north of Cox - no change to the original plan. This left neighbors north of cox feeling undermined - their voice was ignored!
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT’s feedback to our city (July 27, 2023): “The element should either identify additional sites to better promote inclusive neighborhoods throughout the City or clearly recognize and evaluate the isolation of the lower-income RHNA and add or modify significant and meaningful actions to promote housing mobility (e.g., housing choices and affordability) throughout the City, including lower density single-family areas.“
My take - if our city council really want to submit a judicious housing element, we have to play by the rules of engagement and not play politics.
Send your feedback to the city council by emailing saratoga_cc@saratoga.ca.us