Los Altos city staff presented a report to the City Council at its Sept. 8 regular meeting, alerting the group to the multiple impacts that will come should the Measure D ordinance pass at the Nov. 3 election. 

State housing officials have weighed in on a ballot measure to preserve downtown parking lots in Los Altos.

Los Altos City Council would need to consider new places for housing if voters approve Measure D on Nov. 3, according to a letter from state housing official Brian Heaton.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development Aug. 28 issued a letter to the city of Los Altos stating the city will be required to amend its housing element should Measure D pass at the Nov. 3 election.

If Measure D passes, it will cost Los Altos taxpayers millions of dollars in pointless lawsuits. The measure locks up all 10 downtown parking plazas from any change “for any reason,” except for a narrow carve-out for two of them. That directly collides with commitments already made in our state-certified Housing Element, and housing advocates have put the city on notice. YIMBY Law has informed Los Altos in writing that it is “prepared to sue Los Altos the instant this measure is adopted.” This is a firm that has filed roughly 20 such lawsuits against California cities, and has never lost one.

The August 6th Planning Commission meeting provided Los Altos with a cautionary tale about what happens when a city loses control over its own land-use decisions. The project at 349 First St. was submitted under California’s “Builder’s Remedy,” a provision of state housing law that severely restricts a city’s ability to apply its normal zoning standards when its Housing Element is not in compliance with state requirements.

At six stories and 85 feet tall, the result will be the tallest building in downtown Los Altos. But height tells only part of the story.

State housing officials have weighed in on a ballot measure to pre-serve downtown parking lots in Los Altos.

Los Altos City Council would need to consider new places for housing if voters approve Measure D on Nov. 3, according to a letter from state housing official Brian Heaton.

Measure D, the “Downtown Parking Plazas” ballot measure, comes wrapped in an appealingly simple message: “Just let voters decide.”

Who could object to that?

The problem is that Measure D is not nearly as simple as its slogan suggests. What may sound like a straightforward vote to preserve downtown parking could have consequences extending well beyond Parking Plazas 7 and 8, potentially affecting housing, zoning, state compliance, parking, litigation and the city’s finances.

Los Altos City Council Vice Mayor Larry Lang urged residents to look beyond the question of downtown parking when considering a citizens’ initiative that would restrict how the city can use its downtown parking plazas.

Speaking at a recent Los Altos Community Coalition meeting, Lang said he was participating as a private citizen rather than representing the City Council. He argued that the measure could have consequences extending well beyond parking.