Lafayette Housing Lawsuit Settlement Calls for Upzoning

The City of Lafayette is waving the white flag over a zoning lawsuit from a housing advocacy group.

The East Bay city settled a lawsuit from Housing Action Coalition which alleged the city did not provide enough feasible development sites to meet state housing requirements in its housing element, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The settlement agreement stipulates that the city consider upzoning 130 acres of land along Mt. Diablo Boulevard, add land for future housing development to the city’s stock and pay $120,080 in attorney fees.

Lafayette agreed to the settlement “as part of a compromise in order to avoid time-consuming and costly litigation,” Mayor Carl Anduri said, reiterating that the city is committed to adding housing for residents, including “much-needed affordable housing.”

The settlement agreement binds the city to consider several land-use changes by the end of the year through its usual discretionary review and public hearing process.

The deal calls for increasing density from 60 to 65 units per acre on land north of Mt. Diablo Boulevard; upping density from 35 to 45 units per acre on land adjacent to and north of Mt. Diablo Boulevard (between Mt. Diablo Boulevard and El Nido Ranch Road, and Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Pleasant Hill Road); and increasing density from 35 to 45 units per acre in the area along the south side of Mt. Diablo Boulevard between Mountain View Drive and Mt. Diablo Boulevard, as well as the western intersection of Golden Gate Way, Mt. Diablo Boulevard and all the parcels between them.

With these changes, the city’s development potential would increase by hundreds of units, a spokesperson for the city told the Business Times. The city is on the hook to entitle 2,114 new housing units by 2031 as part of its housing element. Most housing in the city is single-family homes with some larger semirural parcels in the hillside and multifamily housing downtown.

Lafayette has garnered a NIMBY reputation for blocking large-scale, high-density housing projects despite looming state-mandated housing goals. A 315-unit project known as The Terraces at Lafayette, for example, was delayed 12 years due to two lawsuits from local community groups and more than 100 public hearings. That kerfuffle was instrumental in the creation of legislation like Senate Bill 330, which limits the number of public hearings that an eligible project can undergo.

If the city approves the rezonings, its housing goals will no longer hinge on the development of five parcels tied to faith-based organizations across the city. Housing Action Coalition agreed to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice, which would end the case permanently, if Lafayette makes the recommended zoning changes by the end of the year.

So far this spring, the city has seen two projects delivered for a total of 85 condominiums, 13 of which are below-market-rate. Other projects that have been approved and are working toward development are the 31-condo Mount Diablo Condos and a 90-unit apartment building at 1001 Oak Hill Road. Both projects would include below-market-rate units.

— Chris Malone Méndez