Editorial

Does the town really mean what it says?

The town often pays lip service to the importance of affordable housing. In the housing element of its General Plan, Los Gatos committed to a proactive plan to rezone appropriate sites to accommodate proposals for apartment buildings and other affordable units.

The town agreed to these terms because it had tried for five years to get its required housing element approved, but the state would not approve until the town made the promise to try to rezone.

To date, the only major success has been the development of the Miles Avenue apartments near the town's corporation yard. The opposition was fierce, but the town stood firm.

More recently, the town agreed to contribute $250,000 to the Housing Trust Fund of Santa Clara County, a fund that uses contributions to leverage other available funding and thus encourage the development of affordable housing, as a key element of its mission. What's more, the town asked that its contribution be put to work within its borders.

The town has a history of good intentions, but if it is to be taken seriously, it needs to take the high road on the proposal by the Sobrato Development Companies to build a research park at a site that is so clearly more appropriate for high-density, affordable housing.

Not only is it appropriate, the arrival of the Vasona light rail extension will trigger a change in the General Plan to convert the land use there to housing.

This is very much in keeping with regional planning. Apartments have successfully been built along the light rail corridor--some even right in the parking lots at light rail stations.

It's true that the proposal now before the town is for a research facility that would provide jobs for up to 800 people--not a proposal for an apartment complex that could actually help house the growing number of people who can't find housing anywhere in Silicon Valley, much less Los Gatos.

Peggy Marcucci, the newest member of the planning commission, suggested that a research facility employing 800 people might provide more ridership than housing in that location would, and thus satisfy the goal of increasing transit use.

It's true that given the town's current concept of what constitutes high density--20 units per acre--housing might not provide a lot of transit ridership. But isn't it possible, given all the reasons why this is an ideal location for affordable housing, that the town might rethink what constitutes high density in this location? Isn't that in keeping with the spirit of its housing element?

The lack of affordable housing in the area is a major crisis. Building a research park for 800 employees in a location made for affordable housing is an idea that should be put to rest as quickly as possible.

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