Housing Element Consideration by the Piedmont Council Postponed Again
The City Council meeting of October 3, 2022 was cancelled because the City Administrator had a family emergency. Now, the previously announced October 17, 2022 City Council consideration of the Housing Element is not on the Council agenda for the meeting.
The Housing Element adding 587 new dwelling units in Piedmont is one of the most pressing issues facing Piedmont’s future as a city, but has apparently, though unannounced, hit another snag.
Many Piedmonters had not realized the importance of the issue until recently. It appears both the Piedmont Planning Department and the City’s planning consultants misunderstood the State’s Housing Element deadline. Piedmont and its costly consultants failed to realize January 2023 may be the deadline rather than May 2023 for submittal of the Housing Element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development for consideration.
Upon hearing from the public, the City Council required the Administration and Planning staff, along with the $1M consultant to answer a number of questions prior to further consideration of the Housing Element. Information was to be presented and considered at the Council meeting on October 17. There has been no announcement or information on when the Housing Element will be publicly considered.
October 17, 2022 AGENDA HERE.
Hopefully learning that the city has less time, not more time, should motivate the city to accelerate the schedule, not slow it down.
One may wonder about the competence of the consultants. They were unaware of the HCD Fact Sheet on how to implement SB9, and now they appear to have not known the state’s submittal deadlines.
This has been a mess from start to present.
Where is the logic? Who is dragging this? Why aren’t we united w/ other small cities like Atherton, Tiburon, Kensington?