Here’s a quick update on MMHOP:
It’s not gone, passed or forgotten about. It’s just delayed. At the November 4th Assembly meeting, members voted to postpone it until Dec. 1 so that they could get through a long night that included other agenda items (including the budget). Member Baldwin Day had originally proposed bringing it up at a special session on Nov 13th, but other members argued that a special meeting mid-day on a Friday wouldn’t allow either the public or members who wanted to weigh in to attend.
Makes sense to us. This is a big piece of legislation and one that deserves participation. We also heard (via an Assembly email) that a new S-1 version will be shared by Baldwin Day and Martinez. Looking forward to seeing that and hope they do indeed publish it well in advance of the meeting so that we have time to read it. This group is particularly interested to see if it includes needed compromises, including reporting and accountability, different standards for low density, high density, and mixed use areas, and tax incentives targeted at adding 8+ units along corridors, not in low-density neighborhoods. See here for our position.
What else has happened in the last two months since the first series of Assembly meetings that we covered? First, a lot of people testified over three nights of public testimony (we’ve heard 200 people but we didn’t count). And then 12 amendments and an S version were introduced from various members of the Assembly and the Mayor. Those amendments include everything from expanding the map (in one case, to the entire city), to maintaining front setbacks, to site plan reviews for 9+ units. MMHOP was then delayed so that an Assembly work session could be held to understand the amendments, before bringing it back up on Nov 4th (and now Dec 1st).