The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the state of California is threatening legal action against the city of Cupertino over providing 1,064 new homes for residents by 2023. A group of local residents known as the Friends of Better Cupertino is attempting to block a new development at the site of the Vallco Shopping Mall a mile from Apple headquarters. The developer, Sand Hill Property Co., has been approved to build a mixed use project on the site which includes 2,402 homes, with half of the units reserved for low-income housing.
The project also includes 1.8 million square feet of office space and 400,000 square feet of retail on the site. A hearing is scheduled next month, and if the project is rejected, Cupertino may miss its housing goals.
The move is the latest by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to push cities to build more housing, as the Bay Area grapples with the highest rents in the country. The state sent a letter to San Bruno last week, after it rejected a 425-unit housing project. The state sued Huntington Beach in January over housing policy.
“HCD appreciates the difficulty jurisdictions face in balancing competing interests when making land use decisions,” Zachary Olmstead, deputy director of HCD wrote in the letter to Cupertino on Friday. “If HCD finds that a city’s act or omission does not substantially comply with state law, housing element compliance may be revoked, and HCD may notify the Attorney General’s Office that the city is in violation of state law.
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