HomeMy WebLinkAbout030921 SINGH AND MINOT LETTER
Marie Sunseri
From:Jonathan Singh <jonathan.c.singh@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, March 8, 2021 3:50 PM
To:Marie Sunseri
Cc:JMinot@gmail.com
Subject:3/9/21 Meeting, Item 3.1, Housing Element Outreach
***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFF
This email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from a Town Staff member!
Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Members of the Town Council
We at East Bay for Everyone are glad to observe, listen, and participate in Danville's process of
outreach and engagement for the Town's Housing Element update. We are aware from the
presentation accompanying today's item that Danville has concerns about the feasibility of its
tentative RHNA allocation. We hope to show how Danville can make a good faith effort, grounded in
realistic policies, to achieve the allocation while remaining consistent with Town character and
aesthetics.
We outline in this letter some policies we hope Danville will put on the table, which we will flesh out
more in coming months. First, Danville can allow most of the Town's land area to be zoned for
"missing middle" housing such as duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes. This "gentle density" can help
meet a significant share of the RHNA allocation while reducing the amount of new housing supply
that requires the construction of multistory apartments. This policy also makes new housing more
culturally continuous: duplexes and similar buildings let existing homeowners increase their property
value and generate rental income, or accommodate family members who could not otherwise live
here. This policy allows for more efficient use of Danville's limited land area without sprawling into
hillsides and other pristine areas. Finally, it is possible for missing middle development to be
affordable, without subsidy from taxpayers, to people with moderate income. This means it will not
require four times as many market-rate apartments alongside it.
We also hope Danville explores the possibility of further increasing density to smaller multistory
apartment buildings in a broad area. For example, in the 1-2 mile radius surrounding downtown and
potentially a narrower corridor around I-680. This would allow more people to live close to transit
service and jobs. It would also attract more customers to downtown small businesses. More options
for denser housing provide many more avenues for Danville to meet its low-income RHNA allocation.
Regarding outreach strategy, we hope that Danville will continue to offer a virtual attendance option
for future Housing Element meetings, even post-pandemic. This will enable broader participation
from community members, such as working parents or seniors who might not have time or ability to
attend in-person meetings.
1
We realize that beautiful architecture and design is important to the Town's character and will
continue to be so as density increases. Here, we think Danville's pre-approved ADU plans are a great
accomplishment and a model for the future: they show that to get the kind of buildings you want,
you point the way in advance to what they should look like. Full pre-approved plans for multifamily
housing may be difficult given greater variation in circumstances for those buildings, but Danville
could do more to describe the kinds of choices it wants builders to make, for a more harmonious
future Town.
As Danville works to update its Housing Element, we know the Town Council and staff will be mindful
of recent changes in state housing law, and want to highlight some that will be especially important
in the planning process. The state now requires cities to consider the realistic development potential
of sites in the Housing Element that are non-vacant or have been used in two consecutive housing
elements. This means in practice that the Town must zone for significantly more housing units than
the official RHNA allocation suggests, because development only works out part of the time. Danville
must also show, for non-vacant sites listed in the Housing Element, that property owners are willing
and able to redevelop their land.
We look forward to continued engagement with Danville, including specific recommendations on
housing policies and potential development sites, as the Town continues its Housing Element process.
Thank you,
John Minot and Jonathan Singh
2