A public advocacy group based in San Francisco said it has filed a lawsuit against the city of Pleasanton for not providing enough affordable housing. It seeks the declaration of the city’s affordable housing policies unlawful.
The plaintiffs in the suit are Urban Habitat, a regional environmental justice organization and Pleasanton resident and affordable housing advocate Sandra De Gregorio.
The suit was filed Oct. 17 on behalf of Urban Habitat by public interest civil rights organization Public Advocates, said the firm’s managing attorney Richard Marcantonio.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs target city policies regarding housing for people with very low, low and moderate incomes. They’re seeking to lift the housing cap that restricts the total number of homes in the city to 29,000, which the city is quickly approaching; they’re also challenging the city Growth Management Program’s restriction on building permits allowed per year. The cap was approved by voters in 1996 but recently as the city approaches that limit, they have discussed possible changes to it.
The legal action comes after the housing advocates sent a letter in June to the city explaining their concerns and demands. Among them was following up on a city promise to zone 30 to 40 acres of land for about 900 high-density affordable units by 2004, which was not fulfilled, Marcantonio said.
“Four months have gone by and there’s really no indication that they were going to come back to us with a concrete proposal,” Marcantonio said.
He said he dropped off a copy of the lawsuit to City Manager Nelson Fialho on the morning the lawsuit was filed in Alameda County Superior Court. A vigil was also held that morning at Main Street and Bernal Avenue by the Tri-Valley Interfaith Poverty Forum, of which De Gregorio is a member on its board.
“We will either find that the City Council is willing to talk about making real sites available where affordable housing can actually be built or we’re just going to go forward in court and seek the relief there,” Marcantonio said.
He said the lack of housing for people with lower incomes–families with children and minorities–who can’t afford Pleasanton homes is a form of discrimination.
“What about the 40,000 people who commute to jobs in Pleasanton every day and they’re sending their kids to much inferior schools in say, East Oakland?” he said. “Because they’re shut out of the housing market in Pleasanton, their kids can’t enjoy the fabulous schools and a great community–all the benefits that that community has to offer.”
Pamela Ott, city economic development director, said the city is trying to work with the housing advocates. She said it would be premature to comment on the lawsuit as city staff has yet to read it over.
“We know that there are a number of points at which we’ve had opportunities to talk about the city’s programs and what Public Advocates would like us to do, but as the council and staff, we continue to remain committed to providing a whole range of housing here in Pleasanton, not just affordable housing,” Ott said.
In a letter sent Sept. 29 to Marcantonio from City Manager Fialho, it outlines responses to the advocacy groups’ demands. To date “the city has used its property to develop four affordable housing developments: Ridge View Commons, The Promenade, Parkview Regent Assisted Living and Rotary Commons.”
The city has informed the State Department of Housing and Community Development, which decertified Pleasanton’s state-mandated housing plan, that the housing program will be addressed as part of the update to the General Plan that is under way, Fiahlo said in the letter. He also states that the city has not restricted any housing development as a result of its Growth Management Ordinance or General Plan policies. A total of 3,267 units remain in the city’s housing cap–which exceeds the current unmet Regional Housing Needs Determination Allocation need of 2,295 units.
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