About the Campaign

In a major victory for affordable housing, Public Advocates and our co-counsels won a lawsuit against the City of Pleasanton for illegally preventing affordable housing from being built. The case was pivotal in advancing racial, class, and environmental equity through challenging exclusionary housing policies.

The Bay Area has long faced a shortage of affordable housing. In the affluent city of Pleasanton, a 1996 housing cap essentially prevented affordable housing from being built at all, preventing low-income folks from being able to access opportunities there.

In 2006, Public Advocates filed a lawsuit on behalf of Urban Habitat and Sandra De Gregorio, a low-income Latina mother living in Pleasanton. The judge ruled that Pleasanton’s housing cap violated state law. In the first ruling of its kind, the court also ordered the City to complete a rezoning so they can meet their share of the region’s affordable housing needs.

Resources

• Tentative Agreement/ Settlement Term Sheet Urban Habitat et al. v. City of Pleasanton July 20, 2010
• Comment Letter to HCD re: City of Pleasanton Draft Housing Element, September 27, 2011

Campaign Partners

• Citizens for a Caring Community
• California Affordable Housing Law Project
• East Bay Housing Organizations
• Greenbelt Alliance
• Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California
• TransForm
• Tri-Valley Interfaith Poverty Forum
• Urban Habitat