Staff Report.General Plan Study Session
PREPARED BY: Jennifer Armer, AICP
Planning Manager
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Finance Director
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
STUDY SESSION AGENDA
MEETING DATE: 12/07/2021 ITEM NO: 1
DATE: December 2, 2021
TO: Town Council
FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Discuss Housing Growth Options and Related Analyses for Planning
Commission and Town Council Consideration of the Draft 2040 General Plan.
RECOMMENDATION:
Discuss housing growth options and related analyses for Planning Commission and Town
Council consideration of the Draft 2040 General Plan.
BACKGROUND:
At the October 19, 2021 Town Council meeting, two Council Members requested an agenda
item to discuss the following question:
Should staff prepare the following analysis for the Planning Commission hearing on the
Draft 2040 General Plan:
• Analyze the impact of SB9 on assumptions about housing capacity. Identify how the
Draft General Plan could be affected by SB9’s stated right to subdivide and build ADUs,
and how that might eliminate the need to rezone our existing low density residential
areas, since the state has already effectively done that for us; and
• Analyze an alternative based on the RHNA allocation of 1,993 units. Identify what
aspects of the current Draft 2040 General Plan would change and whether the Draft EIR
would have to be modified if we were to just meet the RHNA allocation with a minimal
buffer.
This Study Session provides an opportunity for the Council to discuss housing growth options
and identify additional information for the Planning Commission’s consideration. As a Study
Session, no action on the General Plan is on the agenda in conformance with State law as
discussed later in this report.
PAGE 2 OF 6 SUBJECT: Draft 2040 General Plan DATE: December 2, 2021
DISCUSSION:
The following information has been prepared in response to the requested agenda item. The
Town Council should discuss what information and analyses should be provided to the Planning
Commission to assist with its recommendation regarding housing growth and other policy
questions associated with the Draft 2040 General Plan and Final Environmental Impact Report
(EIR).
A. Senate Bill 9
Senate Bill 9 (SB 9), signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 16, 2021, and
effective starting on January 1, 2022, allows all properties within a "single-family residential
zone" to develop two units on an existing lot and/or to be subdivided into two parcels with
up to two units on each lot through ministerial review, irrespective of existing zoning,
General Plan, or subdivision standards.
At this time, there has been no direction or guidance from the State Department of Housing
and Community Development (HCD) on how new housing units produced as a result of
these new regulations might be able to be counted in the Housing Element update towards
meeting the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) requirements. HCD is preparing a
SB 9 guidance document, expected to be available in February 2022. Until HCD provides
guidance, it would be premature for Town staff or the consultant to speculate as to the
effects of SB 9 on the Draft 2040 General Plan. Given that we expect HCD guidance in early
2022, the Housing Element update will likely include SB 9 units based on HCD guidance.
Additional information about the implementation of SB 9 will be considered by the Town
Council when an urgency ordinance is considered on December 21, 2021. Additionally,
consideration of SB 9 programs will be part of future discussions by the Housing Element
Advisory Board.
B. Housing Growth Options
The staff report materials for the Planning Commission’s review of the Draft 2040 General
Plan and Final EIR are expected to include information in response to public comments that
have been received on the Draft 2040 General Plan via email, community meetings, Farmers
Market conversations, other outreach meetings, and other mechanisms. In particular, the
concerns about the housing capacity of 3,854 housing units in the Draft 2040 General Plan
necessitate that the staff report include, at a minimum, information about the alternatives
that have been previously considered by Town Council:
• Preferred Land Use Alternative Framework (2,939 units) adopted by Town Council on
April 7, 2020;
PAGE 3 OF 6 SUBJECT: Draft 2040 General Plan DATE: December 2, 2021
DISCUSSION (continued):
• Draft Land Use Element (3,425 units) reviewed by Town Council on November 17,
2020; and
• Draft 2040 General Plan (3,854) recommended by the General Plan Update Advisory
Committee on May 5, 2021.
In addition, per the Council agenda item request, staff can add a growth option for only
1,993 units which is the Town’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation.
For each growth alternative, the staff report to the Planning Commission would identify the
potential modifications to the Draft 2040 General Plan to achieve the target housing
capacity.
For example, the Draft 2040 General Plan could be revised so as not to increase the
residential densities of the Low Density and Medium Density Residential General Plan
designations from the current 2020 General Plan. In other words, Low Density Residential
would remain 0 to 5 units/acre compared to 1 to 12 units/acre in the proposed 2040
General Plan and Medium Density Residential would remain 5 to 12 units/acre instead of 14
to 24 units/acre. Retaining the 2020 designations would remove an estimated 606 units
from the Draft 2040 General Plan capacity. Other changes to the Draft 2040 Plan would
also be needed with respect to missing middle housing and the Community Design Element.
Another approach would be to modify the implementation of the Opportunity Areas
contained in this early Land Use Alternative Framework by including an overlay zone for
different housing densities and height limits for properties depending on whether they are
inside or outside of that zone. Additional specificity of which properties are within the
overlay zones would be required since the Preferred Land Use Alternative Framework
showed these areas with a general circle that crosses through numerous properties.
To achieve the Draft Land Use Element option (3,425 units), the Draft 2040 General Plan
could involve removal of housing densities from the Office Professional and Service
Commercial designations (313 units) and other modifications such as removal/reduction of
certain Community Place Districts.
Similarly, the report to the Planning Commission can include an option for 1,993 units (or
2,392 including a 20 percent buffer) with associated modifications needed to the Draft 2040
General Plan to achieve this lower housing capacity.
PAGE 4 OF 6 SUBJECT: Draft 2040 General Plan DATE: December 2, 2021
DISCUSSION (continued):
C. Housing Element Implications
The 6th Cycle RHNA is 1,993 units and the 6th Cycle RHNA plus a 20 percent buffer is 2,392
residential units. To ensure that the increases in housing capacity in the Draft 2040 General
Plan Land Use Element are sufficient to allow the Housing Element update to meet State
requirements and the HCD recommendation of a 20 to 30 percent buffer in the number of
housing units. This aligns with the best practice of developing a General Plan with capacity
for multiple different methods for meeting the Town’s RHNA in recognition of the fact that
HCD may not certify a Housing Element if it disagrees with the assumptions, housing sites,
and/or programs. A certified Housing Element is essential for the Town to receive State
infrastructure dollars.
The following table lists the example housing growth options from above and provides both
the number of units from the Draft 2040 General Plan 20-year residential capacity and the
portion of the capacity that is potentially eligible for the current Housing Element update.
Residential Capacity for 2040
General Plan (20-year plan)
Potentially Eligible Units for Housing
Element Update (8-year cycle)*
Preferred Land Use
Alternative Framework
2,939 2,239
Initial Draft Land Use
Element
3,425 2,725
Draft 2040 General Plan 3,854 3,154
* Residential Capacity minus 700 units [400 existing project units (those likely be issued Building Permits
before the start of the 6th RHNA cycle) and 300 new ADUs that would be built outside the 8-year 6th RHNA
cycle].
CONCLUSION:
While the Draft 2040 General Plan contains a housing growth number, the Planning
Commission, after conducting a public hearing, has the latitude to recommend to the Town
Council a lower housing number with commensurate changes to the document as described
above. The staff report to the Planning Commission will lay out those options and staff will be
available at the public hearing to explore them in more detail with the Commission.
The Council has the same housing growth choices for its consideration when it conducts its
public hearing on the Draft 2040 General Plan and evaluates the Planning Commission
recommendation. The Town Council is the final decisionmaker for the adoption of the General
Plan.
PAGE 5 OF 6 SUBJECT: Draft 2040 General Plan DATE: December 2, 2021
CONCLUSION (continued):
The public is welcome to continue to submit comments on the Draft 2040 General Plan,
including any preferences for growth options and related changes to the Draft 2040 General
Plan to achieve the reduced numbers.
Staff looks forward to additional public input and the Town Council discussion at the Study
Session regarding materials that should be provided to support the Planning Commission’s
review of the Draft 2040 General Plan.
Per State law, the Town Council cannot act on the draft General Plan until environmental
review is completed and until the Town Council receives a recommendation from its Planning
Commission.
NEXT STEPS:
The next steps in the General Plan update process include:
• Planning Commission meeting to receive verbal comments on the Revised Draft EIR via
teleconference at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. No action will be taken
at this meeting.
• Completion of the reopened public review period on the Revised Draft EIR at 5:00 p.m.
on Friday, January 7, 2022.
• Preparation of Final EIR.
• Planning Commission review and recommendation to the Town Council on the Draft
2040 General Plan and Final EIR, tentatively expected in February 2022.
• Town Council consideration of the Draft 2040 General Plan and Final EIR.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Public comments submitted for this Study Session are included as Attachment 1.
COORDINATION:
This report has been coordinated with the Town Manager’s Office and Town Attorney’s Office.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
A Draft EIR analyzed the Draft 2040 General Plan as required. Preparation of a Final EIR will be
completed and provided for consideration by the Planning Commission and Town Council along
with the Draft 2040 General Plan.
PAGE 6 OF 6 SUBJECT: Draft 2040 General Plan DATE: December 2, 2021
Attachment:
1. Public Comments