Focus
Governor Newsom signs new bills to boost housing supply, provide shelter beds
KTLA – August 27
Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed two new bills that aim to boost housing supply and further address the state’s homelessness crisis. One of the bills, Assembly Bill 2835, will make it easier for homeless individuals to stay at privately owned motels and hotels for longer than 30 days. Local governments, including Los Angeles, have often used this strategy to get people off the street. The other bill, Assembly Bill 3057, focuses on junior ADUs—units created within single-family homes up to 500 feet in size. Under the new law, junior ADUs will be exempt from requirements mandated under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. Larger ADUs were already exempt from CEQA requirements.
News
Bill targeting Coastal Commission’s veto power over mixed-income housing is dead
KPBS – August 23
One of the most closely watched housing production bills in California died last week after its author determined amendments made in the Senate would have rendered the bill useless. AB 2560 (Assembly member David Alvarez (D-San Diego)) would have streamlined the approval of housing developments in the coastal zone that make use of the state’s affordable housing density bonus law. The density bonus law offers developers relief from certain building regulations if they set aside a portion of the homes in their projects as affordable housing. Advocates say the law has proven highly effective at increasing the supply of both market-rate and affordable housing. But current law gives the California Coastal Commission broad veto power over density bonus projects if they fall within the agency’s jurisdictional boundaries.
Bay Area’s $20 billion housing bond pulled from ballots, leaving advocates ‘heartbroken’
KQED – August 14
A proposed $20 billion affordable housing bond measure for the Bay Area will have to wait for a future election after it was pulled from the November ballot. The proposal, called Regional Measure 4, was more than four years in the making and would have authorized funding for an estimated 70,000 new subsidized apartments and homes. It was ultimately imperiled, however, by a lawsuit challenging a “mathematical error” in the cost of repaying the bond, as well as by a desire to focus advocacy efforts on a related statewide proposition. The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority, which introduced the measure, voted unanimously to remove it from ballots in all nine counties.
Costa Mesa sets affordable housing mandates for new developments
The Orange County Register – August 14
Costa Mesa has created affordable housing requirements for new apartment developments that city leaders hope will balance getting units built while still ensuring some have low rents. Developers wanting to build apartment complexes that are 50 units or larger will need to set aside anywhere from at least 4% to 10% of total units to be affordable under a new law the City Council passed on August 6. Those requirements depend on the density of the development and the level of affordability.
Controversial bill to abolish California fire hazard rankings dies in Legislature
Los Angeles Times – August 17
A bill that sought to overhaul California’s system for wildfire hazard mapping has died in the state Assembly. Senate Bill 610, introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener, sparked heated debate over its plan to eliminate the decades-old system of ranking state and local lands as “moderate,” “high,” or “very high” fire hazard severity zones — designations that influence development patterns and building safety standards based on an area’s probability of burning. The plan instead would have empowered California’s state fire marshal, Daniel Berlant, to create a single “wildfire mitigation area” classification for California, which supporters said would simplify the system and create a uniform set of standards for wildfire preparation and mitigation.
Santa Clara County officials want to toughen eviction protections
San Jose Spotlight – August 18
Santa Clara County landlords are dodging a decades-old law that requires they pay to relocate evicted tenants. To combat that, county leaders could give unincorporated neighborhoods stronger eviction protections than surrounding cities. The Board of Supervisors next month will discuss expanding their 1993 tenant relocation assistance policy which covers renters in unincorporated areas. The proposal goes beyond statewide protections laid out in California’s landmark 2019 rent control and eviction law — and, in some aspects, even beyond policies in San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Milpitas, which have since adopted stricter protections than the state.
Los Angeles City Council approves temporary stop to demolition permits for low-income housing in Boyle Heights
ABC7 – August 13
The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved what is known as an Interim Control Ordinance (ICO), which acts as a temporary measure to halt demolitions of rent-controlled and affordable housing units, for Boyle Heights. The ICO is intended to provide "immediate'' protection for Boyle Heights residents until a community plan is finalized over the next few months, according to Council member Kevin de León's office.
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