Measure D on the November 3, 2026 ballot asks Los Altos voters a narrow question. Should the city be allowed to sell, lease, convey, or declare surplus its ten downtown parking plazas without a public vote? Should it be allowed to approve certain changes to them? Those same plazas are written into the city's state-certified housing plan as sites for 124 homes. If the measure passes, state law requires Los Altos to account for that capacity again. City staff have put the replacement figure anywhere from about 124 units to about 1,000.

That range matters to a buyer comparing Los Altos with Palo Alto or Menlo Park this fall. Officials say about 80% of the city is zoned for single-family homes, which leaves little room for added capacity without rezoning. The ballot question is about parking. If it passes, the follow-up question is where Los Altos plans its next homes.

What the 124 units are, and why they can't simply be dropped

Los Altos's sixth-cycle housing element covers 2023 to 2031 and plans for 1,958 housing units. The California Department of Housing and Community Development, or HCD, has certified it as substantially compliant. Its site inventory includes all ten downtown plazas, which together count for 124 units, 63 in the moderate-income category and 61 above moderate.

HCD sent the city a letter of technical assistance dated August 28, 2026. It says that if voters adopt the measure, Los Altos must amend its housing element. The amendment would treat the ordinance as a possible government constraint on housing and ask whether the plazas still belong in the site inventory.

On paper, the city has a cushion of roughly 640 units of surplus capacity. That surplus is split by income category, though, and it can't be pooled. Development Services Director Stephanie Williams said so at the September 8 council meeting. City Manager Gabriel Engeland later told the Los Altos Community Coalition that the surplus would not necessarily cover the 124 units for that reason. Extra capacity in one income tier does not replace lost moderate-income sites.

"The starting number is around 124. The upper number is around 1,000." City Manager Gabriel Engeland, Los Altos Community Coalition, Sept. 18

Where the upper number comes from

The 1,000 figure is an estimate tied to a legal theory. No court or state agency has made that determination. It traces to YIMBY Law, a pro-housing nonprofit that says it is prepared to sue if Measure D passes. Engeland described the figure as an estimate based on that theory and said he considers the litigation threat "credible."

YIMBY Law's own letters, posted by the city, make a more specific argument. The June 4 letter urged the city to file an SB 330 preliminary application for affordable housing on the plazas. That filing would lock in the current rules before the initiative could take effect. The June 15 letter raised separate claims under housing element law, the Housing Accountability Act, and the Permit Streamlining Act. It does not state a 1,000-unit number.

The places staff named

If the plazas can no longer count, Los Altos must show capacity elsewhere in each required income category. Staff listed these candidate areas:

• Downtown, beyond the plazas
• El Camino Real
• Commercial corridors
• Existing multifamily areas
• Other suitable sites, including up-zoning from single-family residential

Staff also listed zoning text changes that could allow more stories, smaller setbacks, and different lot coverage. Engeland was candid that the outcome is unknown. Among the open questions are where replacement capacity would go, whether a court would accept YIMBY Law's theory, and how the Plaza 7 and 8 exception would apply to actual projects.

A buyer reading those bullets should focus on scale. Replacing 124 units can likely be done within the corridors already named. A number near the upper estimate is a different exercise in a city where four of every five acres are zoned for single-family homes.

What happens after November 3 if the measure passes

HCD's letter sets out the sequence:

1. The city drafts an amended housing element, with public review at least seven days before it goes to the state.
2. The city submits the draft to HCD at least 60 days before adopting it.
3. HCD reviews the draft for substantial compliance and reports its findings.
4. The city either revises the draft or adopts it with written findings explaining why it believes the amendment complies.
5. The city resubmits, and HCD decides whether the element is still compliant.

Builder's remedy does not apply automatically. "It doesn't put the city into Builders' Remedy, it puts the city in a process to amend the housing element with the state," Engeland said. HCD's letter lists the possible consequences of falling out of compliance. They include loss of some state funding, referral to the Attorney General, court penalties, and the builder's remedy, which sharply limits a city's ability to deny qualifying projects. The letter also notes that under SB 1037, penalties can start at $10,000 a month. Los Altos received a state Prohousing Designation on January 23, 2025, and keeping it depends on staying compliant.

What each side has filed

The initiative came from ForLosAltos. Volunteer spokesperson Cindy Andrews told the Town Crier the group formed after consultants presented a downtown park plan, and that the goal was to give voters a say over major changes to public plazas rather than to block any one project. In February 2025 the City Council approved a contract of about $2.3 million with Watry Design, Inc. toward a downtown park with underground parking.

The argument in favor was signed by C. Andrews, B. Loebner, L. Martinez Fennell, and C. Lu. It says the measure protects public parking, trees, and the character of downtown. It also says the city remains free to maintain the plazas, hold events, put projects to a vote, and develop affordable housing on Plazas 7 and 8. The argument against was signed by Shannon Geary, Mary Prochnow, Jolee Crosson, Peipei Yu, and Crysta Krames. The no side's rebuttal to the argument in favor contends that a vote requirement could block replacement parking and the city's housing obligations, invite lawsuits, and discourage investment. The full texts and the impartial analysis are on the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters measures list.

The housing on Plazas 7 and 8, which is exempt under the measure, is also unsettled. Each site is about 1.07 acres. The housing element called for an affordable-housing-first request for proposals and entitlements by December 2026. According to YIMBY Law's June letter, the first round drew no satisfactory responses and a new request is needed. Engeland's "best professional guess" is that housing there would reduce the roughly 250 parking spaces on those two plazas. He said this could also affect a shared-use agreement for the Safeway parking garage if nearby parking falls below a set threshold.

The market this decision lands on

Los Altos has the highest single-family median among its Midpeninsula peers other than Atherton. This year, it is also appreciating the slowest.

Figures are MLSListings data as reported by Palo Alto Online on September 15, 2026.

The Santa Clara County Association of Realtors' August 2026 report shows a Los Altos single-family median of $4,912,300 on 21 closed sales, an average of 107% of list price, 21 days on market, and 20 homes in inventory. The same August report shows a countywide single-family median of $1,850,000, 624 sales, and 103% of list price. With roughly 20 homes on the market and buyers still paying above asking, the scarcity that supports Los Altos prices is still in place. Its pace of gains has simply fallen behind its neighbors.

That scarcity comes largely from zoning. Measure D does not change zoning on its own. If it passes, though, the city's housing element would have to be reopened, and that is the document that decides where Los Altos adds capacity through 2031. None of the sources links the measure to home prices, and this post does not either. What they do show is that the map of where change can be planned is open for review.

What a buyer this fall is buying into

A purchase in Los Altos this fall closes before anyone knows how the plaza capacity will be resolved. A home near downtown, along El Camino Real, or next to a commercial corridor sits in the areas staff named first. If the replacement number lands near the upper estimate, staff have said single-family areas could also be considered for up-zoning. The city publishes its housing element and its Measure D materials, and for a specific address, the parcels next door are worth reading as closely as the inspection report.

Questions buyers are asking

Does a "yes" result rezone any neighborhood? No. Passage would start a housing element amendment, which involves public review, submission of a draft to HCD at least 60 days before adoption, state review, and a compliance determination. Any rezoning would come out of that process.

What happens if the measure fails? The plazas stay in the certified housing element as they are now. The Plaza 7 and 8 housing request for proposals would still need a new round.

Is the 1,000-unit figure official? No. Engeland described it as an estimate based on YIMBY Law's legal theory, not a finding by a court or state regulator.

If you are weighing a Los Altos home near downtown, El Camino Real, or a commercial corridor this fall, Yvette Stout can go over the parcel context with you, along with the comparable sales and timing. Schedule a private consultation to discuss your home's value and a tailored strategy, before or after the November 3 result.