Los Gatos residents attempt repeal of 2040 General Plan
Los Gatos Town Council narrowly approved its 2040 General Plan in June, and now a group of residents is attempting to repeal it.
The Los Gatos Community Alliance filed a referendum in July against the town’s recently approved 2040 General Plan — a document that serves as the town’s blueprint for future development — saying it calls for an unnecessarily high number of housing units and needs specific incentives for affordable housing and a fiscal impact analysis.
If the alliance meets certain criteria, a portion of the General Plan could be put to Los Gatos voters.
The referendum addresses two of the nine elements in the plan: The land use and community design standards focus on the physical structure and appearance of the town and establish the image and character of Los Gatos.
The 2040 General Plan concentrates the majority of new housing growth in mixed-use and higher-density developments, like apartments with shops on the ground floor. It keeps the town’s low-density neighborhoods and allows more housing types in high-density residential like small, multi-unit housing.
“What makes Los Gatos special is its small town atmosphere, unique physical setting, history and vibrant community character that projects the town as a safe, charming, and aesthetically pleasing place to call home,” a post on the alliance’s website reads.
“This will require a balanced approach to planning for growth which is focused on keeping the town unique, vibrant and livable on the one hand, while addressing future development in a thoughtful way where residents can have access to affordable housing, employment, transit and retail services that can meet their daily needs.”
The group must gather 2,200 valid signatures, which is 10% of registered Los Gatos voters, by Aug. 18 in order for the referendum to move forward. A representative from the alliance could not be reached in time for publication.
“If they meet the threshold of the 2,200 or so, then the land use and community design elements are suspended per the referendum, because they are only referending those two sections of the General Plan,” town manager Laurel Prevetti said.
At that point, council would have three options: put the question on the November 2024 ballot, hold a special election in 2023 or rescind the elements in question and start their development over.
It’s not possible to put the question on this year’s general election ballot because the deadline falls during the signature gathering period. If the council chose to hold a special election in 2023, it could cost around $100,000.
Town staff are working on the Housing Element, which is due at the end of the year and accounts for the 2,200 Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) units Los Gatos must plan for under state law.
“The state is going to be looking to make sure that our council is committed to making sure that we have no barriers for the production of affordable housing, and we do that by making sure the General Plan is consistent with the Housing Element,” Prevetti said.
If council chooses to wait until the 2024 general election, the 2040 General Plan could already be amended to reflect concerns cited in the referendum.
“There would likely be additional changes to the General Plan before we got to 2024, and so then the voters would have to decide if this referendum is even necessary since the council has taken subsequent action,” Prevetti said.
The alliance called for reducing planned growth to account for the current RHNA cycle plus a 20% buffer, resulting in 2,392 new units. The town’s General Plan calls for 3,196 housing units to be developed over the next 20 years.
Under California’s Housing Element, Los Gatos must add 1,993 new housing units between 2023 and 2031 to meet the needs of people across all income levels. However, there is no guarantee that these units will actually be built.
“The state of California plans new housing in eight-year cycles. The General Plan should reflect this eight-year planning cycle (i.e., 2023-2031) and be amended every eight years when new information and future RHNA allocations become known,” reads a statement from the alliance. “This thoughtful approach assumes that incremental change is best and is made only when new information is available.”
The town council approved the General Plan on a split vote in June, with Mayor Rob Rennie, Vice Mayor Maria Ristow and Councilmember Marico Sayoc voting to approve it and councilmembers Mary Badame and Matthew Hudes voting against it for adding an “excessive” number of housing units.
Of the 3,196 units outlined in the plan, just 2,221 of them are designated as new developments. Five hundred units are designated as Accessory Dwelling Units, and the plan includes 475 units currently in the works.
“I think it’s a compromise,” Rennie said of the plan at the June 30 meeting. “Eight years from now, I guarantee we’re not going to have built 2,496 units, it’s just a planning goal; most of it’s not going to happen, so I wouldn’t get that excited about it, and a lot of it is a semantic discussion, anyway.”