Gilroy
– The city has won a second round of legal fighting over its
efforts to provide affordable housing.
Gilroy – The city has won a second round of legal fighting over its efforts to provide affordable housing.
The California Court of Appeals’ Sixth Appellate District ruled last month that Gilroy made adequate provisions for affordable housing, despite arguments by a nonprofit housing advocate that the city’s General Plan falls short of state requirements.
“There is substantial evidence in the record of the positive effect that … rezoning and the Neighborhood Districts program will have on the supply of higher density, lower-income housing and that it will satisfy the regional housing need in all income categories,” the court ruling states.
The decision caps a four-year legal battle between the city and Public Advocates Inc., a San Francisco nonprofit that claimed, among other things, that the city’s General Plan did not pre-zone enough land for “high density” housing. Allowing more units per acre typically translates into a larger number of small homes priced within reach of low-income families.
The attorney who has handled the case for Public Advocates was out of the country and could not be reached for comment. The case was originally filed in 2004 on behalf of Norman Fonseca and Terry Wilson.
“The city has always felt it was complying with all of the provisions in state law, and this validates that,” said City Administrator Jay Baksa, adding: “We’ve been very active in trying to do a lot of good things in trying to encourage affordable housing.”
Gilroy’s saving grace was a process that allows developers to fast-track projects serving low-income residents, and a sweeping set of regulations known as the Neighborhood District Policy, which calls for planning broad stretches of land to include a variety of housing types serving various income levels.
Such housing strategies are typically spelled out in the Housing Element portion of Gilroy’s General Plan. State officials have refused to sign off on the city’s Housing Element since 2002, when the General Plan was last updated and Public Advocates filed suit.
The city is approaching the end of a five-year cycle for revising its Housing Element, according to Housing Planner Regina Brisco. New numbers on the amount of housing Gilroy must provide are expected to be handed down at the end of the year by the Association of Bay Area Governments. Rather than seek state approval of the Housing Element validated by the court, Brisco said the city will “start fresh” and submit a new plan, likely by June 2009.
The city currently has about 13,000 homes, of which about 15 percent are considered affordable units. Some of those are restricted in price by deed, while others are “affordable by design,” Brisco said, pointing to apartments and other small units.
This is the second time in a decade that the city’s Housing Element has been challenged in court. The city won a 1998 lawsuit over its previous Housing Element.
It remains unclear if Public Advocates will petition the state Supreme Court to hear the latest case.
