06-16-2022 - Minutes - HEAB
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
HOUSING ELEMENT ADVISORY
BOARD REPORT
MINUTES OF THE HOUSING ELEMENT ADVISORY BOARD
JUNE 16, 2022
The Housing Element Advisory Board of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Regular Meeting on
June 16, 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 Members 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;
Council Member Marico Sayoc; Board Member Susan Burnett; Board Member Joseph Mannina;
Board Member Adam Mayer; Board Member Rob Moore; Board Member Steven Piasecki; and
Board Member Ryan Rosenberg.
Absent: Commissioner Emily Thomas and Board Member Randi Chen.
Staff present: Erin Walters; Jocelyn Shoopman; Jennifer Armer; and Joel Paulson.
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
CONSENT ITEMS (TO BE ACTED UPON BY A SINGLE MOTION)
1. Approval of Minutes – May 5, 2022
2. Approval of Minutes – May 19, 2022
MOTION: Motion by Board Member Piasecki to approve adoption of the Consent
Calendar. Seconded by Board Member Rosenberg.
VOTE: Motion passed 9-1 with Board Member Mayer abstaining, Board
Member Jarvis absent during this vote.
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DISCUSSION ITEMS
3. Discussion of Policies and Programs
Presentation by Erin Walters.
Housing Element Advisory Board (HEAB) member’s comments and questions:
- Can staff provide examples of certified Housing Elements for the HEAB to review;
- Are there specific sections of the Draft Housing Element that the HEAB should be the
most concerned with and paying extra attention to;
- How detailed of an examination needs to be done to understand why the Town did not
meet its last cycle of Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers;
- The high cost of parking is an impediment to housing development;
- Los Gatos does not have access to public transit like other larger jurisdictions and a
further examination of new programs targeted at reduced parking minimums should be
considered;
- How can the HEAB find out directly from local developers the specific constraints to
housing projects;
- Who is responsible for implementing the goals and policies in the Housing Element ;
- Documenting the outreach that has been done to individual property owners during this
Housing Element cycle is new and would assist in showing that effort has been made by
the Town;
- The City of Campbell’s Draft Housing Element provides a narrative that ties into each
Goal, Policy, and Implementation Program that could be useful to utilize as part of the
Town’s Draft Housing Element;
- A verb should be added to Goal HE-5 for consistency;
- Re-word Goal 1 and Goal 3 to make their intent more clear;
- Preservation of existing multi-family housing is important;
- Add a sentence under each Goal to frame their purpose;
- Does HCD look at infrastructure requirements as a barrier to housing;
- The Housing Element should incentivize construction of very low- and low-income units;
- Consider a program related to a commercial linkage fee;
- Consider a program which allows an all-residential project in the Mixed-Use General
Plan Land Use Designation if it is for a 100 percent affordable development;
- Consider a program which provides density and height incentives for an affordable
development; and
- Re-order Goal 1 and Goal 3.
Opened Public Comment.
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Lee Fagot
- Good discussion by the Board this evening. Agrees with the suggestion to add a
description under each Goal. Can the Draft Housing Element be provided to the
Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) for their input.
Lee Quintana
- Based on the Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) comments
on Housing Elements for Southern California jurisdictions, it was my impression that to
get your Housing Element accepted, it should not contain statements that studies will
be completed; rather they should have already been completed.
Closed Public Comment.
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:49 p.m.
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true
and correct copy of the minutes of the
June 16, 2022, meeting.
/s/Joel Paulson, Director of Community Development