BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 931|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 931
Author: Dickinson (D)
Amended: 07/12/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 07/06/11
AYES: Simitian, Strickland, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe,
Lowenthal, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 05/19/11 (consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Environment: CEQA exemption: housing projects
SOURCE : California State Association of Counties
DIGEST : This bill exempts from the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) an infill housing project
that may be used for neighborhood-serving goods, services,
or retail uses to a level that does not exceed 25 percent
of the total building square footage of the project.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, under the CEQA:
1.Requires lead agencies with the principal responsibility
for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary
project to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated
declaration, or environmental impact report for this
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action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA (CEQA
includes various statutory exemptions, as well as
categorical exemptions in the CEQA guidelines). (Public
Resources Code §21000 et seq.).
2.Provides a statutory exemption for a residential project
on an infill site under certain conditions, and defines
"residential" to be either:
A. Residential units only.
B. Residential units and primarily
neighborhood-serving goods, services, or retail uses
that do not exceed 15 percent of the total project
floor area.
This bill revises the residential infill exemption by
increasing the amount of allowable neighborhood-serving
goods, services, or retail uses from 15 percent to 25
percent of the total project floor area.
According to the author's office, this bill seeks to
increase the amount of commercial in a development seeking
Ýa residential infill exemption]. Existing law allows only
15 percent of a project to be commercial, based upon the
total floor space. This will increase that limit to 25
percent.
Background on residential infill exemption
SB 1925 (Sher) Chapter 1039, Statutes of 2002, consolidated
provisions relating to housing, established a residential
infill exemption, revised affordable housing exemptions,
and revised certain definitions, terms and conditions.
The SB 1925 residential infill exemption applies if certain
conditions are met (e.g., project site is not more than 4
acres, project does not contain more than 100 residential
units, project promotes higher density development). Under
this exemption, "residential" is either: a) residential
units only; or b) residential units and primarily
neighborhood-serving goods, services, or retail uses that
do not exceed 15 percent of the total project floor area.
SB 375 (Steinberg) Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008, contains
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provisions in CEQA for certain projects that are consistent
with a sustainable communities strategy or alternative
planning strategy, including a provision where a
residential or mixed-use project consists of at least 75
percent of the total building square footage for
residential use (§21159.28). By increasing the SB 1925
residential infill exemption percentage from 15 percent to
25 percent for the allowable non-residential uses, AB 1931
makes this provision more consistent with the percentage
specified under SB 375.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/16/11)
California State Association of Counties (source)
County of Sacramento Board of Supervisors
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 05/19/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Gorell
DLW:nl 8/16/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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