Mayor Pro Tem Barbara Ferraro, our member Charley Ferraro’s spouse, has served in the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council since 2019, and previously served from 1995 through 2003. She has lived in RPV since 1976 and is a high school Spanish teacher in Palos Verdes.
 
Barbara Ferraro spoke to us by Zoom about the new state legislation on housing zoning, SB 9 & SB 10. The intent is to increase housing density throughout the state to help ameliorate the growing homeless population, with the additional housing density distributed throughout existing communities by building up rather than out. Local zoning decisions would be required to allow subdividing lots, without consideration for the increased needs for parking, schools, emergency vehicles access, and other community services.
 
Barbara states that developers are planning to build denser housing for moderate income rather than lower income residents (“more luxury housing that most people can’t afford”). The legislation does not require the housing to be affordable or for homeless people. Impacts on funding for services, transportation access, housing-jobs imbalances, and infrastructure maintenance would be the responsibility of local communities. She said that every community has different needs in its environment, transportation access, topography, and parks and recreation facilities.
 
Redondo Beach Mayor Bill Brand and others are organizing a November ballot initiative (“Californians for Community Planning Initiative”), collecting a million signatures, to overturn this law and return zoning and land-use to local control. Many community and homeowner groups have been formed to “stop Sacramento from ruining our towns”. Barbara referred us to www.communitiesforchoice.org for information.