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Woodside council accepts housing-element progress report; residents press for sewer study answers and oppose Caltrans parcel
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Summary
The council accepted the 2025 housing-element annual progress report for transmittal to the state; staff and outside counsel outlined surplus-land options for two town sites and a pending sewer study. Dozens of residents urged the council to stop pursuing a 22-acre Caltrans parcel and raised fire-safety, traffic and environmental concerns for town-owned sites.
The Woodside Town Council on March 10 accepted an informational annual progress report (APR) on the town's housing element for 2025 and directed staff to transmit the report to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the Office of Planning and Research by April 1, as required by Government Code section 65400. Planning staff told the council the town issued 23 accessory dwelling unit (ADU) permits and 11 single-family permits in 2025; two ADU permits were voided or put on hold, so 21 ADUs were counted in the APR.
Why it matters: Council acceptance of the APR fulfills a statutory filing obligation with HCD but does not by itself change any parcel designations. The meeting focused public attention on two town-owned sites (a 1.5-acre Raymundo site and a 1-acre High Road site) that are identified in the housing element for multifamily housing, and on a separate, widely discussed 22-acre Caltrans parcel east of Interstate 280 that residents have urged the town not to acquire.
Legal and technical overview: Real-estate attorney Jerry Rameza explained the State Surplus Land Act pathways the town can follow for town-owned sites. He said there are two primary paths: declaring property exempt surplus land (which gives the town more local control but requires meeting statutory criteria, including that at least 80% of the land area be used for housing and at least 40% of units be deeply affordable, and a 30-year recorded regulatory agreement) or declaring property surplus and conducting the surplus-land notice process (a 60-day notice to 300+ potential developers followed by a good-faith negotiation period and, if necessary, a fallback covenant requiring a minimum share of affordable units).
Rameza described the High Road parcel as "a little bit of an open question" because of lot configuration and a PG&E easement that could affect the 80% lot-coverage test. He emphasized that the town is "pretty close" to concluding whether Raymundo could qualify for the exempt route but that sewer capacity analysis is a gating issue for both sites.
Staff numbers and sites: Planning staff said the housing-element APR counted ADUs by income tier (seven very-low, six low, six moderate, two above-moderate) and identified three multifamily target sites: a private 1-acre site at 773 Kenyatta (projected 16 moderate-income units), a 1.5-acre town-owned Raymundo site (projected 17 units, 12 low/very-low and 5 moderate), and a 1-acre town-owned High Road site (projected 16 units, 11 low/very-low and 5 moderate). Staff said the town contracted Friar and Loretta on Nov. 18, 2025 to prepare a master sanitary-sewer study; the study is expected later this spring and will inform feasibility and sequencing.
Public reaction: Dozens of residents spoke. Raymundo neighbors, led by Sue Paletti, pressed the council to confirm whether the Raymundo parcel can meet life-safety requirements (California fire code sections D107 and D103) before issuing an RFP, saying "Feasibility is the real question." Many East-Side residents and open-space advocates opposed pursuing a possible acquisition of a 22-acre Caltrans parcel, arguing it is an important wildflower preserve and documented wildlife corridor; Danielle Dearborn told the council the area is "a protected monarch butterfly habitat" and urged the town to remove the parcel from consideration.
Council response and next steps: Council members thanked residents and staff, reiterated that the APR acceptance is an informational submittal to HCD, and said the pending sewer-capacity study will determine technical feasibility. The council accepted the APR for transmittal and signaled more public study sessions ahead once the sewer analysis is complete; no final decisions on development approvals or parcel acquisition were taken at the meeting.
What to watch: The sewer-capacity study, expected this spring, and any future RFPs or resolution(s) to declare sites exempt or surplus under the Surplus Land Act. Residents requested neighborhood committees and earlier public review of RFP content; staff and counsel said those public-engagement moments will be scheduled after technical studies are available.
