Printed in the Press Democrat
Measure O may try to lure voters under the guise of affordable housing for the middle-class workforce, but the only thing it will guarantee is large scale development in a town of less than 12,000 people. Measure O takes off all the guardrails for multi-family housing construction.
The current limit of 30 homes per year would become unlimited building in three areas of the city. The 16 units per acre limit would be raised to 65. The proposed construction in the downtown corridor alone is 852 units. When you include the train station area and the 88-acre riverfront south entry, there could be well over 2,000 units built.
Besides the environmental threat, Healdsburg’s infrastructure cannot handle this expansion. Residents were asked to reduce water consumption by 40% in the last drought. There are no mandates in the measure to assure affordable housing will be built. Ultra-luxury condos would be considered multi-family housing. The City Council failed to deliver a feasible plan. Measure O puts Healdsburg residents at the mercy of the developers backing this measure.
Please Vote No on O.
Dan Pizza, Healdsburg