BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1867
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 28, 2010

               ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
                                 Norma Torres, Chair
                    AB 1867 (Harkey) - As Amended:  April 26, 2010

           SUBJECT  :   Land use:  local planning:  housing element program.

           SUMMARY  :   Makes minor changes to the statute that allows a  
          local government to meet up to 25 percent of its regional  
          housing needs obligation through the conversion of certain  
          existing market-rate units to low- and very low-income units.   
          Specifically,  this bill  : 

          1)Allows the existing market-rate units to be either rental or  
            ownership housing prior to conversion.

          2)Reduces from four units to three units the minimum size of a  
            multifamily complex that is eligible for conversion. 

          3)Specifies that converted units must be rental housing.

           EXISTING LAW  

          1)Requires every city and county to prepare and adopt a general  
            plan containing seven mandatory elements, including a housing  
            element (Government Code Sections 65300 and 65302).

          2)Requires a jurisdiction's housing element to identify and  
            analyze existing and projected housing needs, identify  
            adequate sites with appropriate zoning to meet the housing  
            needs of all income segments of the community, and ensure that  
            regulatory systems provide opportunities for, and do not  
            unduly constrain, housing development (Government Code Section  
            65583).

          3)Requires most cities and counties to revise their housing  
            elements every eight years based on a staggered statutory  
            schedule (Government Code Section 65588).

          4)Requires, prior to each housing element revision, that each  
            council of governments (COG), in conjunction with the  
            Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), prepare  
            a regional housing needs assessment (RHNA) and allocate to  
            each jurisdiction in the region its fair share of the housing  








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            need for all income categories (Government Code Sections  
            65584-65584.09).

          5)Requires each local government to make sites available during  
            the first three years of the housing element planning period  
            with appropriate zoning and development standards and with  
            services and facilities to accommodate the city's or county's  
            share of the regional housing need (Government Code Section  
            65583).

          6)Allows a city or county to meet up to 25% of its share of the  
            regional housing need through a program committing the local  
            government to make certain existing housing units affordable  
            to low- and very low-income households.  The program is  
            limited to the following categories of units:

             a)   Units that are to be substantially rehabilitated and  
               that will have long-term affordability covenants and  
               restriction that require them to be available to, and  
               occupied by, a person of low- or very low income at  
               affordable housing costs for at least 20 years;

             b)   Units that are located in a multifamily rental housing  
               complex of four or more units, will be converted from  
               nonaffordable to affordable, and will have long-term  
               affordability covenants and restrictions that require the  
               unit to be affordable to persons of low- or very low-income  
               for at least 55 years; and

             c)   Units in an assisted housing development at risk of  
               conversion to market rate housing or another use that will  
               be preserved at an affordable housing cost to persons or  
               families of low or very low incomes for at least 40 years. 

            (Government Code Section 65583.1)

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None

           COMMENTS  :   

          Every local government is required to prepare a housing element  
          as part of its general plan.  The housing element process starts  
          when HCD determines the number of new housing units a region is  
          projected to need at all income levels (very low-, lower-,  
          moderate-, and above-moderate income) over the course of the  








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          next housing element planning period to accommodate population  
          growth and overcome existing deficiencies in the housing supply.  
           This number is often referred to as the "RHNA" number (short  
          for regional housing needs assessment).  The COG for the region,  
          or HCD for areas with no COG, then assigns a share of the RHNA  
          number to every city and county in the region based on a variety  
          of factors.

          In preparing its housing element, a city or county must show how  
          it plans to accommodate its share of the RHNA.  The housing  
          element must include an inventory of sites already zoned for  
          housing.  If the existing inventory of residentially zoned land  
          cannot accommodate the jurisdiction's entire RHNA share, the  
          city or county must rezone enough sites during the first three  
          years of the housing element planning period. 

          Existing law allows jurisdictions to meet up to 25% of their  
          zoning obligation by instead adopting a program to make certain  
          existing housing units affordable to low- and very low-income  
          households during the planning period.  Eligible units include  
          units that are to be substantially rehabilitated, units in  
          multifamily rental complexes that are to be converted from  
          market-rate to low- and very-low income housing, and units in an  
          assisted housing development (such as public housing) that are  
          at risk of conversion to market rate or to another use.  In all  
          cases, the units must have affordability covenants and  
          restrictions that will keep them affordable to low- and very-low  
          income households for 20 to 55 years depending on the type of  
          unit.

          The City of San Juan Capistrano would like to make use of the  
          provision that allows a city to convert existing market-rate  
          units to low- and very low-income units, but current law  
          requires such units to currently be rental housing and be in  
          complexes with four or more units.  The units the city wants to  
          use are currently not rentals and are in triplexes.  AB 1867  
          makes minor changes to the law to allow a city to count towards  
          its RHNA market-rate units that are currently not rentals that  
          are converted into affordable rental housing and units located  
          in triplexes.

           Double referred  :  The Assembly Committee on Rules referred AB  
          1867 to the Committee on Local Government and Housing Community  
          and Development.  The bill passed the Committee on Local  
          Government on April 21, 2010 by a vote of 6 to 2.








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          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          City of San Juan Capistrano (sponsor)
          California State Association of Counties
          Cities of Buena Park, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo, and San  
          Clemente

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Anya Lawler / H. & C.D. / (916)  
          319-2085