Packed to the brim with high-density residential centers, the city of trees is quickly becoming an urban mecca. Claremont is running short on room and that is all thanks to the California state government. Due to state housing laws, unwanted and frankly unneeded structures are being forcibly built in Claremont. The California Housing Law mandates for a Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) every eight years. It calls for a certain amount of land to be set aside in each city to fit various needs such as low-income high-density centers. Due to this absurd state requirement, cities such as Claremont must sacrifice their charm and atmosphere built over decades to accommodate the RHNA. It undermines its goal of bettering a city, by inadvertently lessening the city’s integrity.

At the Jan. 28, 2014 City Council meeting, the 2014-2021 housing element update was resubmitted for revision after a loud battle between informed townsmen and the planning commission. By 2021, a final draft of the housing element will be submitted. Currently, the element proposes a number of favorable sites for low-income high-density zoning. These sites include the well on Mills Avenue across Chaparral, the empty lots bordering Arrow Highway, and another lot in the residential area on Forbes. Outrage from citizens stemmed from the Jan. 7, 2014 planning commission meeting where the Mills site was discussed. Residents from adjoining streets came together to protest the submittance of the Mills lot and others like it. Citizens must band together to oppose the brazenness of the RHNA’s power.

Though state housing laws are at fault, Claremont does not necessarily need to submit just any piece of land for zoning. The planning commission must choose a number of empty lots until the quota for land is filled. If they deem a site unfavorable or unsuitable for low-income high-density zoning, they can replace that site with another. If there were more possible sites, Claremont would not have this problem. However due to the forceful nature of the RHNA and lack of potential lots, unfit properties are still being submitted, robbing a city of its long-lasting charm.

The Mills site is an outstanding example of a poorly chosen area for low-income high-density buildings. The plan is for 157 family units in a 4.4 acre lot directly across an elementary school. Its strategic location near Claremont’s staple streets, Mills, Radcliffe, and Town, will most certainly lead to a traffic nightmare and the eventual ruination of a quiet neighborhood. The Mills site also lies on an active Golden State Water well adding a possible contamination risk. With the numerous planned units, property values around the lot will lower. Claremont is simply is not suited for this type of urban center. The small-town feel that people come to Claremont for will surely dissipate with the additions of more and more high-density areas. The allure of the small town lies in its quiet streets and California seems to be bent on taking that away.

California must repeal or somehow lessen the burden that RHNA places on a city. It causes irreversible damage in the form of unseemly, urban centers that do not reflect the quaint town it lies in. A solution for this density problem is to simply allow for cities to choose the allocation of units to sites. Instead of forcing a town to pack a colossal number of homes into a tiny and unaccommodating area, allow councils to distribute the population more thinly. It is imperative for Claremont to protest the creeping establishment of high-density centers in a city where such places do not belong.