Palo Alto's Mayor Kou: “Builder's remedy” sullies local democracy, doesn't improve housing affordability
Image by Geof Wilson
In her Medium blog, Mayor Lydia Kou breaks down builder's remedy provisions, which sidestep local communities' approval of new construction as long as they qualify as “affordable” housing developments. Kou argues these provisions ignore true causes of housing inaccessibility, weakening local elected leaders' voices while barely—if at all—making SCC homes, yep, affordable.
Over the past several years Sacramento politicians have written a “blank check” to big developers — taking away the power of local governments to shape their own communities.
Now in Menlo Park that “blank check” is being cashed by a Russian oligarch, who is planning to build four massive high-rise towers at the site of the former Sunset campus on Willow Road, including one tower taller than both the iconic Hoover Tower at Stanford and the Statue of Liberty. The second tower will only be a few feet shorter.
As reported by the Palo Alto Daily Post, the oligarch and son of a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is using the so-called “Builder’s Remedy” to win the right to build this destructive project, without any real give and take with the local communities so dramatically damaged by his plan.
The massive project will mean even more traffic jams, which will be felt many miles away from this already congested intersection. And thanks to the policies adopted in Sacramento, local governments have no power to require the developer to dedicate new funds for traffic, transit, schools, safety or any other service the new residents will require.
The developer will reap massive profits, and leave us with the bill (and traffic nightmares).
It is time for this insanity to end. It is time to bring back local democracy when it comes to community planning. And most of all, it is time your voice is heard.
The Sacramento politicians say they passed these new laws in the name of creating “affordable housing.” And many of them call you names like “NIMBY” if you believe you should have a say about what happens in your own community.
The name-calling is a mask for their terribly flawed policies, which takes away local democracy and allows for-profit developers to damage our communities, without making any significant contributions to truly affordable housing.
This article originally appeared in Medium. Read the whole thing here.
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