12-01-2022 - 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: 02/16/2023
ITEM NO: 1
DRAFT MINUTES OF THE HOUSING ELEMENT ADVISORY BOARD
DECEMBER 1, 2022
The Housing Element Advisory Board of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Regular Meeting on
December 1, 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.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Melanie Hanssen; Vice Chair Kathryn Janoff; Vice Mayor Maria Ristow; Council
Member Marico Sayoc; Board Member Joseph Mannina; Board Member Adam Mayer; Board
Member Rob Moore; Board Member Steven Piasecki; and Board Member Ryan Rosenberg.
Absent: Planning Commissioner Emily Thomas; Board Member Todd Jarvis; and Board Member
Randi Chen.
Staff present: Jennifer Armer; Joel Paulson; Jocelyn Shoopman; Erin Walters; and Gabrielle
Whelan.
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
CONSENT ITEMS (TO BE ACTED UPON BY A SINGLE MOTION)
1. Approval of Minutes – October 20, 2022
MOTION: Motion by Board Member Rosenberg to approve adoption of the
Consent Calendar. Seconded by Board Member Moore.
VOTE: Motion passed unanimously 9-0.
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DISCUSSION ITEMS
2. Discuss anticipated comments on the Town’s Draft Housing Element based on comments
other jurisdictions have received from the California Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD) on their draft Housing Elements.
Rescheduled by staff from the November 17, 2022, meeting due to the meeting being
cancelled as a result of the Town’s website being down and the agenda being unavailable to
members of the public.
Presentation by Erin Walters.
Chair Hanssen provided clarification that this meeting is to review comments that other
jurisdictions have received from HCD and how they may be applicable to the Town’s draft
Housing Element, which is currently under HCD review. The results of this meeting will also
provide information to the Town Council as they work to provide direction for next steps in
the Housing Element process.
Housing Element Advisory Board (HEAB) member’s comments and questions:
• Can staff provide the public an updated timeline or key dates to ensure the Town is
meeting all required Housing Element deadlines?
• There have been suggestions to approve our Housing Element without it being certified
knowing that it is largely in compliance.
• Do we need to worry about Racially Concentrated Areas of Affluence (RCAA) since it
wasn’t mentioned in Staff’s list though it was brought up in several public comments.
• HEAB agrees that modifying our Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance to follow the
State law is needed.
• HEAB agrees that modifying our Density Bonus Ordinance to comply with Assembly Bill
1763 is needed as it was last modified in 2012.
• Is providing a more definitive implementation program timeline and quantified
objective for each implementation program going to be realistic to have this much detail
for each program, or will staff be doing it only for some based on the HCD feedback?
• Do we expect to have a more detailed timeline for the two programs that will rezone
the properties that are in the Sites Inventory in order to facilitate meeting the Town’s
RHNA requirements following the General Plan 2040 Land Use referendum?
• Defining the objectives for each of these programs seems to be an important piece that
HCD keeps commenting on in many of the other jurisdiction letters. We need to ensure
our objectives are extremely clear for HCD.
• HCD provided a comment to Menlo Park stating that the Housing Element could utilize a
minimum density methodology for the Sites Inventory, and this would be accepted by
HCD without the need for further analysis. What are the tradeoffs using one
methodology over the other?
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• Lower density will help with parking and transit, and will make it easier to obtain
housing rather than increasing the density and running into potential issues.
• Will the Town be using the 15 percent buffer, or will that need to be increased?
• Will using lower density in the Sites Inventory preclude the Town from allowing a higher
density project from happening?
• How will the Town estimate the number of SB 9 projects for the Sites Inventory as SB 9
is new?
• Does HEAB have a meeting schedule moving forward?
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m.
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true
and correct copy of the minutes of the
December 1, 2022, meeting.
/s/Joel Paulson, Director of Community Development