Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors’ all-world guard, is famous for draining 3-pointers on the basketball court.
But now he and his wife, Ayesha, are going for a monster block by seeking to prevent dense housing from being built in the San Francisco suburb of Atherton, where he and his family live, the Almanac reported.
Atherton, which has long been dubbed the nation’s “richest city,” is in the process of discussing revisions to its 2023-2031 housing element, which will set forth how the municipality will comply with a state mandate to increase affordable housing, the Mercury News reported.
The plan is due at the end of the month. If the state does not approve the plan, the Department of Housing and Community Development could take over decision making from the town, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the city’s housing element, which likely avoided quick-approval builder’s remedy projects and can seek to secure millions in state funds for affordable housing and transit.
Atherton officials in December voted against denser housing for the construction of townhomes at 23 Oakwood, which is near the Currys current residence, the Chronicle reported. But the town recently added back the zoning changes for the property back to its plan.
In a Jan. 18 email to Mayor Bill Widmer and City Manage George Rodericks, the Currys city privacy and safety concerns as reasons to prevent more housing.
“Safety and privacy for us and our kids continues to be our top priority and one of the biggest reasons we chose Atherton as home,” the Currys said, according to the Chronicle. “With the density being proposed for 23 Oakwood (Blvd.), there are major concerns in terms of both privacy and safety with three-story townhomes looming directly behind us.”
TIL: Steph Curry has apparently "been following along with the housing element update" in the affluent Bay Area suburb of Atherton, and opposes rezoning to allow a single-family mansion to become 16 townhomes due to concerns of "both privacy and safety" 😭
h/t @angelaswartz pic.twitter.com/9iVl90SBgf
— Jordan Grimes 🚰 (@cafedujord) January 28, 2023
If their request isn’t met, the Currys, in the alternative, asked the town for increased privacy measures for their property.
“We kindly ask that the town adopts the new housing element without the inclusion of 23 Oakwood (Blvd.),” the Currys wrote in the email, according to the Mercury News. “Should that not be sufficient for the state, we ask that the town commits to investing in considerably taller fencing and landscaping to block sight lines onto our family’s property.”
In September 2022, Curry, an eight-time all-star and four-time NBA champion, sold his Atherton home at 247 Polhemus Avenue for $31.2 million in an off-market deal.
The Currys then quietly purchased an Atherton home on Selby Lane.
They’re not the only Atherton residents opposed to denser housing.
Last summer, billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who penned an essay two years ago entitled “It’s Time to Build,” opposed a plan to rezone the town to allow more than 130 apartments.
In an emailed comment to the mayor and the city council of Atherton, they said they were “IMMENSELY AGAINST multifamily development!”
“I am writing this letter to communicate our IMMENSE objection to the creation of multifamily overlay zones in Atherton,” they wrote in a June 25 email from the domain andreessen.org.
— Ted Glanzer