At least five development applications have been filed in two Peninsula jurisdictions under the so-called “builder's remedy” provision of state law, which kicks in when jurisdictions don't have housing plans approved by the state.
Another Los Altos Hill property owner, Sasha Zbrozek, proposed redeveloping an existing single-family on a 1.84-acre property at 11511 Summitwood Road into 15 apartment units and five townhomes. A second application for the same property simply proposed raising the five townhomes and leaving the existing home intact.
Linebarger's Mountain View proposal would replace an existing application for a 33-unit project he submitted in the spring of last year. He’s owned the half-acre Tyrella property since the early 1990s, and, like with the Mora Drive sites, has struggled to move its redevelopment forward. Todd Williams, chair of Fennemore Wendel’s land use group, told me in early February he believed the provision would be most used in the places where builder’s remedy projects pencil most easily — places where land values are high enough to make the projects profitable even given that all builder’s remedy projects must designate 20% of their units for low-income households.
But both Linebarger and Zbrozek told me in respective interviews they know the fight is far from over. Los Altos Hills confirmed in an email it was reviewing the builder’s remedy applications and also said it had adopted its Housing Element — a state-mandated planning blueprint for housing— before the deadline.
"Cities feel like they have found a way to exploit the weaknesses in state laws," Linebarger said."They're mostly refusing applications, imposing arbitrary application fees. This is the new playbook."
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