Attorneys for two San José residents and two non-profit housing advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit in state court today against the City of San José, charging that a policy it passed recently to spur development of mostly high-rise luxury housing on public land in San José’s downtown violates the California’s Surplus Land Act (SLA). The Act requires cities to prioritize public land for affordable housing that they sell or lease. The Surplus Land Act was intended by state lawmakers to ensure that all California cities do their part to address the state’s affordable housing crisis....

“When there is a regional housing crisis, the City of San José should be utilizing public land for the good of the public,” said Ellen Wu, Executive Director of Urban Habitat, an organizational plaintiff in the lawsuit. “The housing needs of low-income communities and communities of color must be prioritized,” she said.

The policy being challenged in the lawsuit would exempt all surplus land in the downtown area from state affordable housing requirements for five years; it would allow city staff to disregard these requirements on surplus land anywhere in the city at any time; and finally, it changes the definition of low-income as defined in the SLA to allow for more higher-income buyers.

“The City is draining the cultural richness out of San José,” said Cristina Peña, staff attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid. “By handing over one of its most powerful affordable housing tools at a time when we are facing a statewide housing crisis, San José is reducing the supply of affordable housing. The effect discriminates based on race and ethnicity, and that contradicts San José’s long history of embracing its vibrant diversity.”