Housing Lawsuit — The State vs. a Town Fighting Back

active• losaltoshills

Los Altos Hills is now the subject of active fair housing litigation — one of the most consequential civic battles in the town's history. The California Housing Defense Fund (CalHDF) filed suit in Santa Clara County Superior Court on April 9, 2026, alleging the town violated state fair housing law by adopting a 2026 Housing Element amendment designed to block the Twin Oaks affordable housing development — a project the town had been fighting since the developer submitted a preliminary application in February 2025. The underlying numbers tell the story: the town's RHNA mandate requires it to plan for 489 new units by 2031, including 197 lower-income units — but the town currently has no deed-restricted affordable housing at all, and only 16 of its 3,180 total housing units are multifamily. CalHDF alleges the housing element amendment relies on sites — Foothill College and St. Nicholas School — that the town's own mayor publicly acknowledged will not build any housing there, calling the plan's projections fiction.

Related cause: Housing Affordability

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