Update of Development Project at Maplewood Plaza (2628 and 2638 Union Avenue)

We have been following the 2628-2638 Union Avenue Affordable Housing Project. Below is a recent update one of the CVNA Board Members received...

We all know that CC&Rs are written to maintain the character of a neighborhood. The government of Ca. has decided that affordable housing trumps that concern with Civil Code Section 714.6 enacted Sept. 2021. This has never been explicitly pointed out to us by people who should have known although it has been hinted that it was a possibility in the future.

A link to the law and an explanation are on this website: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB721.

The essential provision in this laws says:

714.6. (a) Recorded covenants, conditions, restrictions, or private limits on the use of private or publicly owned land contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of any interest in real property that restrict the number, size, or location of the residences that may be built on the property, or that restrict the number of persons or families who may reside on the property, shall not be enforceable against the owner of an affordable housing development, if an approved restrictive covenant affordable housing modification document has been recorded in the public record as provided for in this section, except as explicitly provided in this section.

There is nothing in our CC&Rs that qualifies as an exception, and Maracor & Maple Leaf Investments have recorded the papers necessary to make our CC&Rs unenforceable.

This leaves the political process in mitigating the damage to the area as our only path in the future. Main concerns I believe are:

1. Eliminating vehicle ingress and egress from Elden except for an entrance suitable only for fire trucks as was done with Craig Gardens.

2. Increasing the amount of parking for the project.

3. Reducing the height of the building adjacent to residences even if it requires an increase in height nearer Union Ave.

Other concerns are welcome and I hope that we can have some future strategy meetings to deal with this situation.

Sorry for this terrible news,

Rick