Danville is updating it’s general plan, which will include 9.6 acres of high-density, low-income housing to comply with state requirements. The townsfolk are not happy.

From The Contra Costa Times:

A crowd of about 200 packed into the Danville Community Center and more than 20 speakers told the town’s planning commission to essentially leave well enough alone.

Elon Ornsby, a longtime Fremont resident before moving to Danville, said over a 20-year period he saw Fremont transform from a rural community to “a festering cluster of humanity.”

“I left that to come to Danville,” he said, adding that the new plan would turn Danville into Fremont. “You’re starting down a slippery slope.”

…

Throughout the night, statements of opposition to the plan were met with applause and cheers.

“I have a great idea for you guys,” town resident Charles Reyna said, regarding the mitigation of greenhouse gases as addressed in the EIR. “Why don’t you just stop building on every patch of land available?”

The problem is that, in order towns like Danville to collect money from the State, they have to comply with a series of requirements, including affordable housing.

Town Attorney Rob Ewing said state law trumps town ordinances and that failure to comply with state housing requirements would bring fiscal and legal penalties.

And while it sounds nice to simply say let’s not build any more homes, it’s a complete violation of the property rights of landowners who would like to develop their property. Change will come. It always does.