Last September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 9. Its alleged intent is to facilitate more construction of affordable housing in the tarnished Golden State by waving discretionary review and public hearings for building two houses on a parcel previously designated for one home. It also allows subdividing one lot into two lots that are not required to meet the previously required minimum lot size. Its actual purpose is the state trying to overrun local communities’ attempt to control the amount and nature of local home construction, thereby determining what kind and quality of city they have.

For some reason unfathomable to their Sacramento wannabe overlords, individual cities and communities are none too enthused over this door being opened for builders to throw as many crap pseudo-houses out there as they wish, reaping maximum profits for themselves while dragging neighborhoods down. Plus, providing more opportunity for predatory lenders to feast on unqualified potential homeowners, thus bringing about a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis! BRILLIANT! All in the name of equity, or something.

Woodside, a tony little suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area, has devised a novel method to fight against Senate Bill 9’s egregious overreach. The city’s secret weapon? Mountain lions. No, really.

Woodside, which according to the U.S. Census Bureau has a median household income of more than $250,000, has blocked any new development under Senate Bill 9 under a clause in the bill prohibiting development in the habitat of an endangered species.

Mountain lions have not been added to the state’s list of “endangered” species but are “threatened” and granted protections under the California Endangered Species Act.

Unsurprisingly, our old friend Scott Wiener, who wrote Senate Bill 9 and has never met a taxpayer-funded social engineering program he didn’t like, is not amused.

Woodside announced it’s exempt from state housing law because of … mountain lions.

I’m all for mountain lions. I’m also for people. You know, the ones who need homes.

Can’t wait for the lawsuit against Woodside for this brazen violation of state law. https://t.co/Ig5Zc4Dik3

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) February 2, 2022

It doubtless burns Wiener’s miniature organic hot dog buns that a community would have the unmitigated gall to desire maintaining control over itself. Worse yet, the community is using the endangered animal tack, thus exploiting one of liberalism’s fondest pet issues (pun intended, weak though it may be). The matter is so upsetting it might distract Wiener from his current children’s crusade, namely allowing 12-year-olds to get COVID jabs without parental consent. Because, as everyone knows, every 12-year-old is fully prepared to make informed medical decisions even as they are fully qualified to save the world.

Whatever one can say about living out here, it is never, ever dull.