Housing – Page 3 – Palo Alto Matters – Community voices for sustainable solutions

New accessory-dwelling units law brings hope, confusion

by paloaltomattersJanuary 15, 2018January 23, 2018Leave a comment

City’s 2017 ordinance sparks big questions about little dwellings

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / January 15, 2018

The city has seen some modest successes with the new law since its passage in April. Traditionally, the city has seen only about four accessory-dwelling units constructed per year, according to staff. Last year, planners had issued permits for nine new ADUs. Another 14 applications are currently under review, according to a report from the Department of Planning and Community Environment.

But as the commission learned on Wednesday, the new law is also riddled with kinks and ambiguities, which at times lead to confusion and unintended consequences.

New mayor signals heavy push on housing

by paloaltomattersJanuary 12, 2018January 23, 2018Leave a comment

Liz Kniss proposes new housing committee, senior-housing complex

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / January 12, 2018

In a rare departure during an annual meeting typically devoted to pomp and plaudits, Kniss proposed on Monday establishing a special council committee to focus exclusively on housing. She also called out housing for seniors as a particularly urgent need and pointed to long waiting lists at all of the city’s senior-housing complexes. A new development for this population, she said, is a “serious project we can do this year.”

Housing crisis spurs Berkeley to consider a fast track for affordable housing

by paloaltomattersDecember 8, 2017January 23, 2018Leave a comment

Mercury News/Bay Area News Group – by Katy Murphy / December 8, 2017

BERKELEY — Responding to growing concerns about the lack of affordable housing for low-income residents, Berkeley is inching toward a solution that would dramatically speed up approvals for subsidized housing developments.

In a departure from its famous embrace of civic engagement for matters large and small, the Berkeley City Council late Tuesday unanimously directed the city’s planning commission to rewrite the rules so projects meeting Berkeley’s zoning requirements will be automatically issued permits — without any public hearings.

City braces for impacts of new housing laws

by paloaltomattersDecember 5, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / December 5, 2017

Palo Alto council members, planning staff say recently passed bills could reduce local control, spur major change

For Palo Alto’s housing advocates, the broad package of bills that Sacramento lawmakers signed into law this fall are exactly the type of disruption that the city needs after years of sluggish residential construction and a deepening crisis of affordable housing.

But for the Palo Alto City Council, which has made housing one of its top priorities for the year, the Sacramento-administered medicine comes with a host of unpredictable side effects. The new laws could upend the city’s policies on everything from parking requirements to architectural reviews. And with the new laws kicking in on Jan. 1, City Hall staff are scrambling to understand the implications and come up with new procedures and policies to address them.

City seeks more protection from Stanford expansion

by paloaltomattersDecember 1, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / December 1, 2017

Palo Alto officials, residents question university’s plans to manage anticipated traffic and housing problems

The City Council plans to approve on Monday night a comment letter on the project’s voluminous draft Environmental Impact Report, which assesses likely consequences of the expansion. The letter takes issues with Stanford’s assumptions about traffic, groundwater and fire-service demand, among many other things.

We found which Bay Area cities aren’t pulling their weight on housing

by paloaltomattersNovember 8, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Curbed San Francisco – by Scott Lucas / October 12, 2017

An exclusive analysis of regional jobs and housing with surprising conclusions

When you look at the data, the cities that score the worst in building enough housing units for their workers aren’t Palo Alto and similar cities. It’s our biggest cities, like San Francisco and San Jose, that really drive the problem.

Here’s what we found.

Palo Alto may ease parking rules to spur housing

by paloaltomattersOctober 29, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / October 29, 2017

Three council members propose eliminating off-street parking requirements for ‘car-light’ projects

In the latest effort to combat Palo Alto’s housing crisis, three council members are proposing significant revisions to the city’s parking regulations, including eliminating parking requirements altogether for “car-light” developments that offer transit amenities to their tenants.

The proposals in the memo target a wide range of disparate regulations — including ones relating to floor area ratio (FAR), building heights and expanded “pedestrian transit-oriented development” zones, which give developers near transit nodes more flexibility on density and parking. One recommendation would establish “housing minimums” for new developments in residential zones so that a project would be required to provide at least 80 percent of the units that its land use designation can accommodate.

Plan to boost renter protections fizzles

by paloaltomattersOctober 17, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / October 17, 2017

Palo Alto officials opt not to explore rent stabilization measures

Palo Alto’s foray into rent stabilization blew up at the starting line Monday night after the City Council majority struck down a proposal from three council members to strengthen the city’s tenant-protection laws.

After a marathon discussion that featured philosophical clashes, procedural disagreements, personal attacks and testimony from nearly 70 public speakers, the council voted 6-3 to reject a recommendation from council members Tom DuBois, Karen Holman and Lydia Kou to consider rent-protection measures such as limitations on rent increases and restrictions on no-cause eviction. The vote means that the proposals in the memo will not be studied.

Cottage clusters becoming a thing of the past?

by paloaltomattersOctober 13, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Sue Dremann / October 13, 2017

Advocates: Lacking city protection, eight bungalows could be razed

Palo Alto could soon lose two more cottage clusters, small groupings of bungalows built between the 1930s and 1950s that some people say are a vital part of the city’s diverse housing stock.

According to City Councilmember Karen Holman, “Cottage clusters provide housing for many who otherwise would not be able to live in Palo Alto due not only to their size typically being smaller, and thus somewhat less expensive, but also because they expand the types of housing opportunities that exist.”

Palo Alto looks to firm up renter protections

by paloaltomattersOctober 10, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / October 10, 2017

Three City Council members propose limits on rent increases, restrictions on tenant evictions

As rising rents continue to drive longtime residents out of Palo Alto, city officials are preparing to adopt regulations that would offer renters greater protection.

The regulations are the latest attempt by the City Council to address the city’s shortage of affordable housing, a problem that council members identified as a top priority this year. The proposals include an annual cap on rent increases for apartment buildings and measures to protect tenants from eviction without just cause, according to a memo submitted by council members Tom DuBois, Karen Holman and Lydia Kou.