California town drops claim that cougars bar new housing

WOODSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A wealthy California town has abandoned a claim that it can’t allow new housing to be built because the whole community is habitat for mountain lions. The Silicon Valley enclave of Woodside said in a statement late Sunday that applications for development on single-family lots will now be accepted. The announcement came hours after California Attorney General Rob Bonta said that declaring the entire town cougar habitat was a transparent attempt to avoid complying with Senate Bill 9. The law is intended to address California’s housing shortage by allowing homeowners to build multiple residential units on single-family lots.