07-20-2023- Minutes - HEAB SPECIAL DRAFT (PDF)
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: 08/24/2023
ITEM NO: 1
DRAFT MINUTES OF THE HOUSING ELEMENT ADVISORY BOARD
JULY 20, 2023
The Housing Element Advisory Board of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Special Meeting on
July 20, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Melanie Hanssen; Vice Chair Kathryn Janoff; Council Member Rob Moore; Board
Member Randi Chen; Board Member Joseph Mannina; Board Member Adam Mayer; Board
Member Steven Piasecki; and Board Member Ryan Rosenberg.
Absent: Council Member Matthew Hudes; and Planning Commissioner Emily Thomas.
Staff present: Jennifer Armer; Joel Paulson; Jocelyn Shoopman; and Erin Walters.
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
CONSENT ITEMS (TO BE ACTED UPON BY A SINGLE MOTION)
1. Approval of Minutes – June 15, 2023
MOTION: Motion by Board Member Rosenberg to approve adoption of the
Consent Calendar. Seconded by Council Member Moore.
VOTE: Motion passed unanimously 8-0.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
2. Review and Discuss Portions of the Town’s Interim Working Draft Revised Housing Element
Addressing the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD)
Findings/Comment Letter Received by the Town on May 30, 2023.
Presentation by Erin Walters, Associate Planner.
Housing Element Advisory Board (HEAB) member’s comments and questions:
• Does the Town need to adjust the Sites Inventory based on the Senate Bill 330
preliminary applications that have been received?
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• Did HCD provide comments to the Town on the Sites Inventory?
• Is it fair to say that HCD has not questioned the sites selected in the Sites Inventory?
• Can staff explain what the appropriate density and default density section of Appendix
D means?
• Commend staff for adding information on the Town’s website for the timeline of the
Housing Element.
• What was the reasoning for going with a new Housing Element consultant?
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
Alberto Lustre
• Representing the local carpenters union. Would like fair labor standards included in the
Housing Element to provide livable wages and health insurance to workers.
Lee Quintana
• The Town does not have a good understanding of all the possible consequence s based
on the referendum and what the initiators of the referendum will choose to do. The
response to comments provided in Appendix I are incomplete and do not fully address
the comments and potential outcomes based on new housing legislation that was
passed and how it effects the Housing Element. Check any appellate court rulings and
how that will also apply. The Housing Element as it is currently written tends to be
project proponent. I think that the State is concerned with the tone of the Housing
Element. The first sentence of Sunnyvale’s Housing Element is much different than the
Town’s and provides more of a commitment.
HEAB member’s comments and questions (continued):
• The Town may want to add an implementation program to provide for education on
Senate Bill 9.
• The new consultant should provide a diagnosis of what the Town has been doing wrong
and what needs to be done to get the certification.
• Commend staff on the new Town History section in the Housing Element which matched
with other certified Housing Elements.
• Consider language and tone tweaks to the current version of the Housing Elemen t.
• The Town should consider an educational system on h ow to use the Town’s online
portal for application submittals.
• Revise the introduction sentence of the Housing Element to be like the Town of Los
Altos Hills’ which is more direct about the objectives of the Housing Element and has a
tone of commitment to achieve the Town’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation.
• When is the rezoning deadline?
• Will the new Housing Element consultant be reviewing the Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing comments from HCD?
ADJOURNMENT
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The meeting adjourned at 7:41 p.m.
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true
and correct copy of the minutes of the
July 20, 2023, meeting.
Joel Paulson, Director of Community Development