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Wesley Yu isn’t interested in handouts or special treatment—he just wants to build a home where his daughter can play safely and grandparents can visit comfortably.
But thanks to the City of East Palo Alto’s Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance, Wesley and his wife are facing an impossible choice: either designate the guest unit they had planned to build as “affordable housing”—to be rented out to strangers, forever—or pay an “in-lieu” fee of nearly $55,000.
Sadly, this sort of permitting extortion is all too common in housing-crunched communities across the country.
Fortunately, Wesley is not one to back down from a fight.
Last Thursday, my colleagues and I filed a federal lawsuit on his behalf, challenging the constitutionality of East Palo Alto’s Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance.
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On its face, the City’s permitting scheme attempts the impossible—making housing more affordable by making it more costly to build.
But dig a little deeper, and it gets worse: The City’s scheme is also blatantly unconstitutional and flies in the face of well-established Supreme Court precedent.
Put simply, the government can’t hold building permits hostage and force families to choose between giving up control of their property or paying unconstitutional fees.
I’m grateful for Wesley’s courage in taking on this fight and eager to help argue his case in district court.
Check out PLF’s broader initiative, Protecting the Right to Build, to learn more and keep an eye out for updates on Wesley’s case and others like it.
Thanks for standing with us—and the Yus—in defense of the American Dream.
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