Who mandates how much low income housing is required in one
city?
“Who mandates how much low income housing is required in one city? Also why is it that Morgan Hill’s low income housing quota is rising while cities like Los Gatos have little or no low income housing?”
Red Phone: Dear Who Mandates, Red Phone contacted Garrett Toy, Business Assistance and Housing Services director, who said the best way to answer the question is to visit the Association of Bay Area Governments Web site at www.abag.ca.gov, which states in part that “the California Department of Housing and Community Development determines the total needs for a region, and it is ABAG’s responsibility to distribute this need to local governments … this allocation of need shows local governments the total number of housing units, by affordability, for which they must plan in their Housing Elements for the period 2007-2014.”
The regional housing needs allocation for Morgan Hill is not a quota, but rather a planning goal established by the state through ABAG, Toy said.
“State law requires cities to adopt land use and regulations to provide opportunities for housing development to meet these targets. There is no requirement that the units actually get built. Using Los Gatos as an example, ABAG established an overall allocation of 562 units of which 154, or 27 percent, of the units should be targeted toward very low income households. In comparison, Morgan Hill has 1,312 total units allocated of which 317, or 24 percent, should be allocated to very low income households. Morgan Hill has a higher overall total of units because Los Gatos is more built out as a community. However, you’ll note that Los Gatos would need to provide opportunities for more very low income units as a percentage of their total.”
There you have it, good caller. Hope that helps.
Old fence belies AIM’s goals
“Red Phone, I read the Sept. 29 story, ‘Castle Comes with Cachet.’ Well, I have a question for Manny Valerio: If Fry’s is so interested in prestige, why is the main face along Foothill Avenue chicken wire and rotted four-by-fours left over from the old Flying Lady?”
Red Phone: Dear Why The Old Fence, Red Phone contacted Manny Valerio, community relations manager for Fry’s Electronics, Inc. He said the wire and wood-post fence is a short-term, temporary barrier designed to keep deer and other animals out of the property. “It (the fence) will be there only until such time as the cypress trees have matured sufficiently to act as a natural barrier to the animals traversing the property,” he said. “In the meantime, we will endeavor to maintain the present fence structure in the best condition possible.”
Good caller, let’s just hope it doesn’t take those trees to long to grow.
