MAC Boards Push Back on Housing Mandate

Last Wednesday, community development and planning officials laid out a map of Alameda County’s unincorporated towns showing where they think property owners and developers can add 4,711 housing units in the next eight years to satisfy state law.  

The proposed map includes houses, condominiums, apartment buildings, and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs, commonly called in-law units). Some construction is already underway. Other projects, like a plan to add apartments to the Castro Valley BART Station, are not included because they have either been postponed or – in the case of the Rite Aid property – are likely to retain their commercial status.

“To enable greater housing, we have proposed increased densities on about 50 vacant lots in parts of Castro Valley and Fairview,” said Alameda County Community Development Agency (CDA) planner Olivia Ortiz. “One of the elements of the overlay is that we will revisit our inventory twice a year so that we can comply with a ‘no net-loss’ rule, which basically means that, if we say a housing site is going to be 100 units and it ends up only being 50, we have to make up that 50 somewhere else.” 

Representatives from the surrounding Eden Area, Castro Valley, and Fairview Municipal Advisory Councils (MAC) and the public attending the meeting were skeptical. Many voiced concerns about a lack of infrastructure, transit access, economic support, and challenging terrain.   

“Fairview has areas with only one or two exit points,” said Fairview MAC member Dale Silva. “One of the big problems with increasing density is how do you get people out in an emergency?” 

“The perennial problem in Castro Valley is that some of the schools are already overcrowded,” said CV MAC member Tojo Thomas. “I think that will have to be addressed as well as the traffic congestion we already see feeding up to the hills along Redwood Road and Center Street.” 

“It seems like there are concentrated areas of affluence and racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty,” said Eden MAC member Jennifer Esteen. “We see that 80 percent of low and very low-income units will be in Ashland or Castro Valley. How is this actually doing what the state is asking? It seems like we're going to continue to concentrate low-income housing in those areas.” 

Since 1969, state laws require that all cities and counties adequately plan to meet the housing needs of people at all income levels in the community. Local governments meet this requirement by adding housing plans to their “general plan.” Every eight years, cities and counties update this plan, also called a “housing element.” The current plan under consideration would take effect this spring and be reviewed in 2031. 

The CDA’s proposed plan would add 1,276 in Ashland and 247 in Cherryland. San Lorenzo would see an additional 629 units constructed. Hayward Acres would be asked to construct 38 more units. Castro Valle could see 1,858 units added to its town, while Fairview would be asked to build 531 more.

And while there are consequences from the state if the housing units are not built, it is unlikely that all 4,711 units will see completion. Several speakers at the meeting expressed to housing officials the headwinds of higher interest rates and rising labor and construction costs. 

CDA’s overlay map and housing element plan are available online. (https://www.acgov.org/cda/planning/housing-element/draft-sites-inventory.htm)