It Wasn't Meant to Halt Construction That We Like

The list of billionaires and celebrities who live in Woodside, California is as long as your arm. The typical house is on a multi-acre lot, some on hundreds of acres.

Woodside is also politically liberal--Neil Young and Joan Baez are residents--and is home to supporters of Democratic campaigns. On his pilgrimages to the Bay Area President Obama often stopped at Woodside.

Not a lion come lately: ABC7 News from seven years ago

All the above is prelude to an amusing development, at least amusing to this humble blogger. Woodside is using California environmental law to halt a Progressive push to build denser housing in the Bay Area. [bold added]

A Woodside official said the city cannot comply with a new state law that expedites construction of two-unit housing in areas zoned for single family homes because of its mountain lion population.

On January 27, Woodside Planning Director Jackie Young released a memo explaining why the town cannot do its part to ease a chronic housing shortage. Young said no permits for accessory dwelling units (known as SB 9 Projects) would receive building permits so long as the mountain lion is a candidate for the endangered species list in the Central Coast habitat which includes Woodside.

A petition to list the mountain lion as threatened or endangered is under review by the California Fish and Game Commission. According to state law a species listed as a candidate is due the same protection as a species that has been declared threatened.

California prides itself on being stricter than the Federal Government on environmental matters. Ironically one Progessive law is being used to stymie a different Progressive dream. The reaction from those who want to force Woodside to allow denser housing is entertaining:

This is so absurd,” said Laura Foote, executive director of YIMBY Action, a activist group that supports construction of more housing everywhere. “It is an example of the extreme absurd lengths cities will come up with to evade state law.”

...You can build a McMansion and that somehow won’t hurt the mountain lion,” said Foote. “But if you build two units the lions will somehow fall over and die.”

State Senator and housing advocate Scott Weiner tweeted: “Woodside announced it’s exempt from state housing law because of … mountain lions. I’m all for mountain lions. I’m also for people. You know, the ones who need homes. Can’t wait for the lawsuit against Woodside for this brazen violation of state law.”

Even San Francisco supervisors piled on. “The entire wealthy suburb of Woodside is claiming to be a protected mountain lion habitat to skirt state law allowing fourplexes. What shameless ridiculousness,” tweeted Matt Haney.

IMHO, advocates of the environmental law probably thought that halting all construction would be a good thing, but now that it's being used against them they don't like it, just as they don't like massive solar projects in the California desert being halted by an endangered tortoise.

As the Progressives who rule California battle it out, the rest of us can pass the popcorn.