Moderated by Mercury News reporter Louis Hansen, community leaders will debate their differing views on Opportunity Housing in San Jose.
Presented by Catalyze SV, Kaiser Permanente, & Meriwest Credit Union, this dialogue will feature _ community leaders debating via Zoom their differing views on the City of San Jose’s proposal to study Opportunity Housing.
Opportunity Housing – known elsewhere as zoning reform, missing middle housing, or gentle density – is anticipated to come before the San Jose City Council in October 2021 (and perhaps to other cities too).
The primary goals of the event are:
a) strengthen public discourse about a major housing topic; and
b) educate the community about the topic generally, including the need for building more inclusive, sustainable, vibrant neighborhoods for all.
Representing a range of different organizations & perspectives, our confirmed panelists include:
- Kiyomi Yamamoto, San Jose Neighborhoods for All
- Andre Luthard, Preservation Action Council of San Jose
- other panelists coming soon
This event will be moderated by Louis Hansen, housing reporter for the Mercury News.
Schedule:
- 5:30 – 5:35 pm: Panelists & participants call into Zoom; as participants enter the meeting, music plays
- 5:35 – 5:45 pm: Catalyze SV’s Executive Director offers welcome, requests questions in the “Chat” function & shares ground rules for discussion, introduces moderator Louis Hansen
- 5:45 – 5:55 pm: City of San Jose staff provide brief overview of Opportunity Housing
- 5:55 – 6:55 pm: Moderator asks panelists questions. Panelists will be allowed to ask 1 question of 1 fellow panelist. Rebuttals will be limited to 1 minute.
- 6:55 – 7:00 pm: Wrap up & next steps
Do you have questions you’d like to ask the panel? Email them ahead of time to catalyzesv.intern@catalyzesv.org and we’ll share them with the moderator for consideration. The sooner you send in your questions, the more likely yours will be considered!
Live transcription will be available.
Background – According to the City of San Jose:
“Opportunity Housing refers to enabling multi-unit housing on properties with a Residential Neighborhood General Plan land use designation. In San José, these are typically properties in single-family neighborhoods.
Staff and the General Plan Review Task Force explored allowing up to four units per parcel that could include a mix of a single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex for a total of four dwelling units on the parcel while generally maintaining zoning setbacks and heights. This type of development was allowed in San José prior to World War II and still exists in many older neighborhoods.
Opportunity Housing typically creates more affordable housing by design since units are usually smaller than a single-family home and are created on one parcel, saving land and infrastructure costs.”