Alameda County's very tardy housing element
Sunol school trustee believes video of recent meetings have been edited without board's knowledge; critics of county registrar worry ranked choice supporters are being named to election commission
COUNTY NEWS
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—HOUSING ELEMENT—Alameda County’s Housing Element is not expected to be approved by the state until January, nearly a year after it was due to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.
—According to a state database, Alameda County is the only jurisdiction remaining in California that has not submitted at least a draft of its housing element.
—Every city in Alameda County has had their housing element adopted by the state, except Newark, which remains under review.
—The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Thursday approved a draft of the housing element for submittal to the state and for a public comment period.
—The county expects to bring the draft housing element to local decision-making bodies such as the Municipal Advisory Councils in unincorporated Alameda County.
—The current timeline foresees the county’s housing element being adopted by the state sometime in January, a county staff said on Thursday. The document was originally due last Jan. 31.
—A reason given for the county’s tardiness in completing its housing element is a reduction of county staff since the pandemic. However, there are no real sanctions for the housing element being late.
—The state expects unincorporated Alameda County to create 4,711 new housing units by 2031, a 166 percent increase over the prior eight-year period.
—“The lion’s share” of the county’s potential new housing sites, said Supervisor Nate Miley, are in his district. Miley’s District 4 includes Ashland, Cherryland, and Castro Valley.
—Another possible site for the list is the large Rite-Aid property on Castro Valley Boulevard. Miley asked county staff to add it to the list of housing sites, despite the property’s owners, who live in Florida, being more interested in attracting a large retailer like Target, he said.
—“It would be a shame to see that site be developed just for retail,” Miley said. “The first incentive is to let them know this is what we want.”
—“I think that would be a colossal missed opportunity,” Miley added, if the parcel is never developed as a mixed-use housing development.
—Under the housing element, the cities and counties can identified potential sites for new housing, but can’t compel developers to actually build the units.
—Despite a housing boom in recent years, unincorporated areas like Ashland, Cherryland, and Fairview—some of the most impoverished in the county—have been overlooked for development.
— “It has more to do with the market and people willing to risk their capital to do it,” Supervisor David Haubert said of housing and community development in the county.
—“Dublin is booming,” Haubert said, primarily because of so much open space in the Tri-Valley. Despite a strong economy, he added, “the market has decided not to build in the unincorporated areas.”
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