A wealthy Bay Area town says mountain lions prevent it from building multi-family homes
3rd February 2022
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.
In California, the left hand doesn’t know what the other left hand is doing.