Santa Clara County Land Use & Development Digest

What happens when voters take to the ballot to thumb their nose at state housing law? Courts haven’t offered a clear answer.

California Forever’s announcement July 22 that it has decided to pull a ballot measure that would have let voters decide on a controversial planned city in rural Solano County drew swift reaction from political leaders and opponents.

On July 22, California Forever announced it was withdrawing its initiative to amend the Solano County General Plan off the November ballot and would instead begin working with the county through the normal, though less expeditious, process.

The so-called " builder's remedy" was applied to the Creekside Inn project in Barron Park, updating the proposal to include 231 housing units and a new 135-room hotel.

San Jose announced a $6.7 million state grant will be used to finance a 100-unit tiny house site on Cherry Avenue.

Cupertino and Vallco developers have reached an agreement over fees associated with The Rise housing development.

To meet its state mandated housing element obligations, the Saratoga City Council approved changes to zoning in its July 3 meeting.

A request by the developer of the 90-unit all-affordable housing project on Distel Circle to reduce parking requirements was approved by the Los Altos City Council.

A seven-story housing development has been proposed for an under 2-acre site on Los Gatos Boulevard, but will require the demolition of a longtime community fixture.

Online rental site RentCafe released a report indicating 12 people compete for every listed rental in the Silicon Valley area.

Nearly every major environmental group in California opposes a bill that would modify the state’s signature environmental law to speed up upgrades to power lines. Supporters say it would help free the state from fossil fuels and make the grid more reliable, but opponents fear it would damage state parks.

A 15-story 220-unit affordable housing project is being proposed for development on South Market Street in downtown San Jose.

A push to bolster housing production in California's coastal communities in recent years has led to heated battles over potential state reforms. Below, a veteran elected official believes the debate has created a false choice between housing and protections. The opposing view: A former attorney for the Coastal Commission says the state Coastal Act has failed to deliver on what it envisioned.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved contributing $10 million in funding for a proposed housing development of 100% affordable units in Los Altos.

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District board voted to move forward with a $38 project to provide a safe crossing of Highway 17 near the Lexington Resrvoir for both people and wildlife.

On June 19, California YIMBY announced support for the California Forever project going to the Solano County ballot in November.

Local real estate development company Lakeside Community shared feedback collected over several sessions expressing local resident input about desired uses for the 114-acre former golf course.

The San Jose City Council approved a new land-use category to protect the 58 mobile home parks and tens of thousands of residents in the city from future displacement.

A proposed new housing development of 25 single-family homes on a 72.45 acre site on Pierce Road has raised concerns from local residents about traffic and blocked wildfire evacuation routes.

A new round of litigation began when environmental groups opposed to the Sites reservoir in Colusa County filed an appeal on a ruling which dismissed their suit seeking to halt the project from proceeding.

A recent court ruling exempted five charter cities from a controversial housing law. That’s given anti-density advocates across California an idea.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held June 14 celebrating the start of construction of the $13 billion 6-mile BART extension to Silicon Valley.

The Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury released a report finding the county Housing Authority at fault for a $16.2 million loss over two years in a failed office building deal.

On June 12, a pre-application was submitted by philanthropic organization Emerson Collective for a 300-unit affordable housing mixed-use development in East Palo Alto.

The Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury released a report on Measure J and the City of Santa Clara's deal with the San Francisco 49ers, finding the city was "outplayed."

Effective July 18, ADUs may be sold as condominiums separate from the homes to which they are attached in San Jose.

On June 11, Solano County elections officials announced the verification of necessary signatures for the California Forever sponsored initiative to amend the county General Plan to be on the November ballot.

The two-day CalMatters Ideas Festival wrapped on June 6 with more than a dozen events examining critical policy issues impacting the lives of millions of Californians.

A rendering for a Solano Sports Complex development with facilities for baseball, basketball, football, swimming, tennis, volleyball, pickleball and other sports was released as part of the California Forever project in east Solano County.

The Sunnyvale City Council approved $23 million to move forward with construction of a new library in Lakewood Park.

On June 6, the Solano Land Trust announced its opposition to the California Forever project to build a new community housing up to 400,000 people in the county.

In his June 1 State of the City speech, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan asserted a need to find clean and safe places to move over 1,000 homeless from unsafe conditions on the streets and along waterways in the coming 12 months.