Eden Housing is not the same as the Santa Clara County Housing Authority
(Responding to “Los Gatos approves 450-unit North 40 Phase 2, including 77 affordable units,” published Jan. 14 on LosGatan.com)
Los Gatos residents are being asked to accept a public narrative about “low-income housing” that blurs critical distinctions. Those distinctions matter—because North 40 Phase II is a permanent land-use decision that will reshape our town’s character, infrastructure, and quality of life.
At the center of this debate is Eden Housing, a nonprofit affordable-housing developer that is often discussed as if it functions like the Santa Clara County Housing Authority. It does not. The two serve different populations, apply different income rules, and produce different outcomes. Conflating them misleads the public about who this housing will actually serve.
At the county level, “low income” is defined using HUD Area Median Income thresholds and is tied to programs such as Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers. When available, vouchers can reduce rent to roughly 30% of income, with the balance subsidized. What is often omitted is that voucher waitlists are long.
Eden Housing operates differently. Its units are project-specific and require applicants to meet standard rental underwriting—typically earning about 2x the monthly rent—while also staying under a strict maximum income cap. For a one-person household at North 40 Phase I, that cap is approximately $59,000.
Despite frequent claims, this model does not meaningfully house most teachers, firefighters, or police officers—many earn too much to qualify, yet too little for market-rate Los Gatos. It is more likely to serve seniors on fixed incomes and some disabled residents. These populations deserve housing, but clarity matters: this project largely brings new residents into Los Gatos rather than stabilizing the local workforce often cited in public discussions.
Finally, while 77 of 450 units (17%) are designated low income, the entire development benefits from state density-bonus and feasibility laws tied to those units, including increased density, reduced setbacks, modified road curvature and easements, and relaxed design constraints. Developers Grosvenor Group, the chief beneficiary (and chair of these trustees is Hugh Grosvenor, the 7th Duke of Westminster, UK) have framed this project as equivalent to broad Section 8 housing. It is not.
The responsibility of the Los Gatos Town Council and Mayor is to safeguard long-term livability and standards—not to approve projects simply because they are difficult to challenge. If Los Gatos is to change, residents deserve apples-to-apples truth—not PR—about who is housed, who is not, and what we trade away.
Tiffany Sieber
Los Gatos
Strong opinions sparked by a strong opinion piece
(Responding to the Op-Ed in last week’s newspaper about North 40 Phase 2 by Jak VanNada)
The main opposition to the N40 was never really about affordability, but long-term development of any type. Not surprisingly, they also never proposed buying the land for public purpose, either (essentially that current property owners shouldn’t be able to sell their land at the fair market value).
The key difference between the two Town Council groups came down to this:
-The state-mandated eight-year development plan required adding 1,993 units (under RHNA) through 2031, but the Town’s General Plan (also up for adoption at the same time) required planning for twice as long (through 2040). One group wanted to plan for the long term (up to 4,000 potential units, over 20+ years), while the other just wanted to plan for the absolute minimum, and then start over in a few years.
But planning/zoning for the minimum, all the preferable sites (we can disagree what is “preferable”) may only get developed to that lower limit, and when the next 2,000 units are mandated 8 years later (and repeated even later), there will be nowhere to fit them, and the town would be forced to accept less-ideal locations for high-density units: meaning Builder’s Remedy-type developments would become the norm.
Dan Snyder
via Facebook
Jak’s story is 90% fairy tale.
Jeffrey R. Fox
via Facebook
Why is anyone surprised?
It was very predictable because, once in office, the will of the people is no longer important, but rather lining one’s pockets and getting perks.
Voting matters, including in local elections.
Mariola Liebersbach
via Facebook
Jak’s story is 90% fairy tale.
Jeffrey R. Fox
via Facebook
In support of immigration enforcement
(On Todd Guild’s article about an ICE arrest in Watsonville)
When are our local officials and citizens going to learn it is much better to cooperate with ICE than to fight with them? All they are doing is making the situation worse. Unbelievable!
Robert McGregor
via LosGatan.com
Missing the crime blotter
What happened to the police report?
We always looked forward to it.
Betsy White
via email
—Editor: Hi Betsy, you will be pleased to hear we are planning to bring the Police Blotter back next week.
*Letters are edited for length and clarity
