The list of ways for local officials to get around the new zoning reform laws in California just keeps growing, showing the ever-inventive nature of those who do not want to be told what to do.

A Bay area Mercury News story profiles some of the latest moves:

But the NIMBYS are getting creative.

In Woodside, home to some of the Bay Area’s richest new and old-money families, city officials attempted to exempt the entire town from SB9 because it is a habitat for the vulnerable mountain lion of the Santa Cruz range. In Portola Valley, residents have been urging their council to limit SB9 based on fire danger in the hillside community.

And now in Palo Alto, the council could act to list more homes or entire city districts on the historic register to “protect more resources already deemed eligible for state or national registers,” according to a report from the city council.

Under SB9, city buildings and neighborhoods could be protected by being listed on a local historic register or the state and national registers, and Palo Alto city staff are suggesting the city hire consultants to help update and maintain its historic resources inventory. That could include buildings the city wants to exempt from SB9, which staff says “may consist of a single building or structure or a district.”

Hopefully the more collaborative nature of the legislative efforts undertaken here during the just-completed session will not see such shenanigans – but not everyone was happy with the bills that were passed, so we shall see.  A recent letter to the editor in the Trib hints that strategies similar to those described above may not be far off:

The need is there, but allowing fourplexes on existing lots in the (Sugar House) area is frightening. These homes were built in the early 1900s. These historical lots are small with most ranging in size from a 37.5′ frontage to a 50′ frontage. … Parking on these old, narrow streets is also an issue. … A fourplex will generate additional street parking no matter what the regulations are.