December 1, 2010
Hoping to bring the debate over new, high-density affordable housing into the open, more than 1,000 Novato (Marin County CA) residents have petitioned the City Council to place the issue on its agenda.
“We ask the council to place the public review of anything to do with high-density housing, transit development plans or mixed-use development on its agenda as soon as possible,” said Pamela Drew, chairwoman of the Novato Community Alliance, at the council’s meeting Tuesday.
Drew said the city has provided little information on proposed changes to its housing element — the section of Novato’s general plan that identifies potential areas for growth, including affordable housing — since June.
That’s when the city released a list of areas that could be rezoned for affordable housing. The list included a three-acre section of the Novato Square shopping center, where up to 90 residential units could be built under the rezoning plan.
That proposal so outraged neighbors and other residents that City Manager Michael Frank called for a temporary moratorium on public discussion of the issue. Frank and other city officials convened an ad-hoc committee to research Novato’s affordable housing needs.
Read remainder of the story at Marin Independent Journal
Fair Housing For Developers 