Alameda Mayor Trish Spencer has requested the city consider removing the city’s multi-family housing overlay incorporated as part of its 2015-2023 Housing Element. The City Council is scheduled to discuss the mayor’s proposal at its meeting on March 20, 2018, where BIA will voice opposition and warn of the potential negative fiscal consequences. The city adopted the overlay after California Housing and Community Development Department officials accurately characterized the city’s 1973 voter-approved ban on new multi-family development an unacceptable constraint on housing production and required the city to mitigate its impacts. A new law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018, authorizes HCD officials to revoke a housing element certification if a city’s actions are found to be out of compliance with the element’s adopted tenets and policies. If Alameda strips the overlay from its books, it could lose its Housing Element certification along with tens of thousands of federal and state dollars for transportation projects tied to the state’s seal of approval. Click here to view the agenda. For questions or comments, contact BIA’s Lisa Vorderbrueggen at 925-348-1956 or lvorderbrueggen@biabayarea.org.
