02-17-2022 - Minutes - HEAB DRAFT
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
HOUSING ELEMENT ADVISORY
BOARD REPORT
MEETING DATE: 04/21/2022
ITEM NO: 1
DRAFT
MINUTES OF THE HOUSING ELEMENT ADVISORY BOARD
FEBRUARY 17, 2022
The Housing Element Advisory Board of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Regular Meeting on
February 17, 2022, at 7:00 p.m., via teleconference.
This meeting was conducted utilizing teleconferencing and electronic means consistent with
Government Code Section 54953, as Amended by Assembly Bill 361, in response to the state
of emergency relating to COVID-19 and enabling teleconferencing accommodations by
suspending or waiving specified provisions in the Ralph M. Brown Act (Government Code §
54950 et seq.). Consistent with AB 361 and Town of Los Gatos Resolution 2021-044 this
meeting was not physically open to the public and the Advisory Board Membe rs were
teleconferencing from remote locations. Members of the public were able to participate in
the meeting by joining the Zoom webinar (log in information provided below).
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Melanie Hanssen; Vice Chair Kathryn Janoff; Council Member Maria Ristow,
Commissioner Emily Thomas; Board Adam Mayer; Board Member Todd Jarvis; Board Member
Joseph Mannina; Board Member Steven Piasecki; Board Member Ryan Rosenberg; Board
Member Susan Burnett; Board Member Randi Chen; and Board Member Rob Moore.
Absent: Council Member Marico Sayoc.
Staff present: Erin Walters; Jocelyn Shoopman; Jennifer Armer; and Joel Paulson.
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
Kylie Clark
A resident of Los Gatos and reaching out on behalf of West Valley Community Services who
will continue to participate in the Housing Element Update process to advocate for an
equitable and impactful Housing Element process. West Valley Community Services is
hosting an event on the Los Gatos Housing Element on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, and
invites all Board members to attend.
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Jeffrey Suzuki
It is important that the sites that are selected for the Housing Element Update best
encourage affordable housing development and I will be attending the continued meetings
to provide input.
CONSENT ITEMS (TO BE ACTED UPON BY A SINGLE MOTION)
1. Approval of Minutes – December 16, 2021
MOTION: Motion by Board Member Piasecki to approve adoption of the Consent
Calendar. Seconded by Board Member Moore.
VOTE: Motion passed unanimously.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
2. Review and Discuss Housing Element Site Inventory Analysis Process
Presentation by Erin Walters and Ande Flower from EMC Planning Group.
Housing Element Advisory Board (HEAB) member’s comments and questions:
- What does it mean to add a parcel to the Site Inventory list, does this require a re-
zoning for the parcels included in the Site Inventory list;
- Will the Balancing Act tool be available to the HEAB prior to it being made available to
the public;
- Does the Balancing Act tool allow the user to choose the affordability levels;
- The objective criteria for selecting a site in the Housing Element should be made
available;
- Will the Balancing Act tool have a sliding scale for choosing the density for a
development;
- Visuals to accompany the proposed density would be helpful to see what higher density
projects could look like;
- Does the Town have information on sites that developers are interested in developing
for housing projects;
- What is the Town doing to ensure that the future community meetings for the Housing
Element Update process have a high attendance rate from the public;
- Is the Town looking at reducing the parking requirements for housing projects;
- The Balancing Act tool will be an important instrument to the p ublic that the Town’s
Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation has to be dispersed throughout
the Town;
- Do you have to be a resident to use the Balancing Act tool or can outside members of
the public participate;
- Higher densities on specific sites needs to be offered in exchange for more affordable
housing units, including other subsidies to encourage affordable housing development;
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- What are the assumptions for redevelopment that have been included for the North
Forty; and
- Who should the HEAB be emailing to spread the word about providing public input on
the Balancing Act tool.
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
Lee Quintana
Is density or intensity more important to the Town? Consideration of a maximum square
footage or volume should be given to allow the density to be modified depending on the
square footage of the housing unit. Equitable distribution of affordable housing t hroughout
the Town should be considered.
The Board further discussed the matter and provided the following comments:
- If the Board will be talking about what density looks like, examples of existing buildings
in Town should be used to illustrate what that density is;
- Other examples of density in neighboring jurisdictions that are familiar could also be
helpful in illustrating density;
- Providing definitions for housing terms is important and should be provided for the
general public;
- The goal for this process should be to achieve the Town’s RHNA obligations while
maintaining the community;
- The public can react negatively to massing examples of a project so images of a finished
project to articulate the density would be more helpful;
- How can the Board best communicate with the public how to be an ambassador for the
Housing Element Update process and what the positives are for adding densit y in the
Town; and
- Testimonials provided from those serviced by West Valley Community Services could
help the Board understand the positives of increased density and housing affordability
opportunities.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true
and correct copy of the minutes of the
February 17, 2022 meeting.
/s/Joel Paulson, Director of Community Development
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