Regulatory Committee Recap | BART Land Use and Campbell’s Pro-Housing Success

On May 31st, Carli Paine, BART’s TOD Manager, presented on BART’s land use plans, including updates on a variety of specific projects, including those at the North Berkeley, Ashby, and El Cerrito Plaza stations.

With the looming fiscal cliff threatening BART’s service, Carli underscored the reliance the agency has traditionally had on fairs for operating costs and emphasized how TOD projects help increase ridership. BART utilizes AB 2923 for most of their projects, which faced opposition from various cities back in 2018, but is now generally embraced as cities face increased RHNA obligations.

Campbell Councilmember Sergio Lopez and Community Development Director Rob Eastwood joined for the second half of Regulatory Committee to discuss the city’s impressive pro-housing progress in the last few years. In March of this year, Campbell became the first city in Santa Clara County to get their Housing Element pre-certified by HCD. They paired their Housing Element with General Plan Update, Objective Standards and brought in an outside expert to audit their Housing Program.

With a RHNA allocation of 2,977, they planned a housing capacity of 5,311, far above the recommended 30% buffer set forth by HCD. Councilmember Lopez underscored that his campaign was unabashedly pro-housing, which not only proved to be a viable electoral strategy but helped to foster a transformation in the public dialogue around housing that enabled Campbell to enact bold and necessary changes.