California town drops cougars as reason to bar more housing

WOODSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A wealthy California town has abandoned a claim that that it is exempt from a new state law allowing increased housing density because the entire community is habitat for mountain lions. The Silicon Valley enclave of Woodside said in a statement late Sunday that applications for development of multiple units on single-family lots will now be accepted. The announcement came hours after California Attorney General Rob Bonta said that declaring the entire town as cougar habitat was a transparent attempt to avoid complying with the law intended to address California’s housing shortage.