At the end of a six hour meeting, the EPC decided in a 4-3 straw vote to go against Council's direction and revisit the idea of allowing housing in the North Bayshore neighborhood, through the policies in the General Plan. This was not a decision to be taken lightly; allowing housing in North Bayshore brings up a lot of unknowns and even potential drawbacks for things like wildlife. But MVCSP firmly believes that last night's decision was a sounds one for environmental, economic and community creating reasons. We look forward to navigating the complex but exciting challenges that this decision will open up.

The members of the EPC deserve a huge thank you for considering this matter long and hard. That thanks is extended to all members of the EPC regardless of where they fell on the decision. An extra special thanks to the four EPC members who decided in the end to express support for mixed use development in North Bayshore: Rachel Grossman, Chris Clark, Eric Anderson and EPC Chair Todd Fernandez. An extra special thanks goes to Rachel Grossman for leading the charge on this topic (we admire your boldness and conviction!), Todd Fernandez, for being brave enough to publically change his mind on a heated topic (that really does take humility, intelligence and confidence) and Chris Clark for making a hard decision with an election ahead of him (that's brave too!). Eric don't feel left out; thanks for being you. :)

Finally, a huge thanks to all of the advocates who turned out last night, especially the crazies that stuck around until almost 1:00am to make a public comment.  Thanks to those who wrote letters to your representatives. We've said it before but big milestones call for sappy repetition; it's people like you all who put the time in and speak up that make change happen. Thank you! You are our heroes!

- The Core Team