Lee Heidhues 2.6.2022
The California city of Woodside is roaring with its policy that housing cannot be constructed where mountain lions have lived since long before humans occupied the land.
It’s too much to expect the Attorney General, who deals with paperwork and arcane legal doctrine, to admit that humans are destroying the planet and the Woodside policy is in no way radical.
Protecting endangered species makes sense in this era of climate change. It’s going to take a lot of tough love to realize limits must be set and the avaricious human race will be forced to change its ways.
I say let’s give a shout out to Woodside and its feline population.
Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 2.6.2022
A Jan. 27 memo by the Woodside town planner, Jackie Young, that declared that because the entire town is in a region that is habitat for mountain lions, Woodside would not issue any permits for SB9 construction pending a California Fish and Game Commission ruling as to whether the animal will be listed as an endangered species.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta sternly rebuked the Peninsula town of Woodside on Sunday for using its mountain lion population as an excuse to avoid SB9, the state law that lowers construction barriers in a bid to ease the housing crunch. He said his office would not “stand idly by” and let the policy go forward.
“Woodside declared its entire suburban town a mountain lion sanctuary in a deliberate and transparent attempt to avoid complying with SB9,” Bonta said in reference to the new law that allows lot splits and construction of accessory dwelling units to encourage construction.
“This memorandum is — quite clearly — contrary to the law, and ironically, contrary to the best interests of the mountain lions the town claims to want to protect,” Bonta stated.
Lee's Perspective 