Measure D Would Trigger Millions in Legal Fees
Measure D locks up all ten downtown parking plazas from any change “for any reason,” colliding with commitments the city already made in its state-certified Housing Element. YIMBY Law has notified the city in writing that it is “prepared to sue Los Altos the instant this measure is adopted.” The firm has filed roughly twenty such lawsuits without ever losing one. Under the Housing Accountability Act, a losing city must pay both its own legal fees and the winning side's, and because Measure D can't be amended by the Council, there's no way to settle except another costly ballot vote. Millions in legal fees are a virtual certainty.
Measure D Risks Losing Local Control Over Zoning
Parking plazas are committed housing sites in the city's certified Housing Element, and California's "No Net Loss" law bars removing that capacity without an immediate, adequate replacement. If Measure D takes those sites off the table, the city risks Housing Element decertification, opening the door to builder's remedy, letting developers bypass local zoning anywhere in Los Altos. A measure sold as protecting local control could end up stripping it citywide.
Measure D Would Eliminate Over 200 Parking Spaces, the Opposite of Its Goal
Measure D carves out Plazas 7 and 8 for affordable housing, and if they're developed, especially as affordable housing, the parking on those sites disappears. Replacing it would require another costly ballot measure, and affordable development typically generates no revenue to fund a parking structure anyway. The result is a net loss of 200+ parking spaces with no realistic path to replace them.
Once Passed, Measure D Can Only Be Fixed by Another Costly Vote
Regular ordinances can be revised by future councils when problems emerge. Measure D can only be adjusted by another costly ballot measure. Ballot measures have a long history of unintended consequences, and what governs enforcement is the text, not the intentions behind it. Any unforeseen problem becomes effectively permanent unless residents mount and win another expensive campaign to change it.
The city has spent over a decade engaging residents on downtown's future, balancing housing obligations, merchant parking needs, and community gathering space. Measure D forecloses that balancing process, locking in one outcome “for any reason” with no way to adjust as circumstances change. Change is coming to downtown, driven by changing consumer behavior, vehicle technology, and state housing law. The real choice is whether it happens through adaptable planning or a rigid measure that can't respond to what's learned along the way.