BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1690| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1690 Author: Gordon (D) Amended: 6/30/14 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/24/14 AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso, Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/15/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Housing elements sites SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill allows a city or county to accommodate their very low and low-income housing needs on sites designated for mixed uses if those sites allow 100% residential use; and requires that residential use occupy 50% of the total floor area of a mixed-use project. ANALYSIS : The Planning and Zoning Law requires cities and counties to prepare and adopt a general plan, including a housing element, to guide the future growth of a community. Following a staggered schedule, cities and counties located within the territory of a metropolitan planning organization must revise their housing elements every eight years, and cities and counties in rural non- metropolitan planning organization regions must revise their housing elements every five years. These five- and eight-year periods are known as the housing CONTINUED AB 1690 Page 2 element planning period. Before each revision, each community receives its fair share of housing for each income category through the regional housing needs assessment process. A housing element must identify and analyze existing and projected housing needs, identify adequate sites with appropriate zoning to meet its share of the regional housing needs assessment, and ensure that regulatory systems provide opportunities for, and do not unduly constrain, housing development. As part of the process to identify adequate sites, a city or county first prepares an inventory of existing sites zoned for housing. When the inventory of existing sites is insufficient to accommodate the need for one or more income categories, the housing element must contain a program to rezone sites within the first three years of the planning period. If needed to accommodate the need for very low- or low-income households, the city or county must rezone sites to permit multifamily residential use by right (i.e., projects consistent with the zoning standards are approved ministerially without a discretionary action) at a minimum density of 16 or 20 units to the acre. At least 50% of the capacity on these sites must be reserved exclusively for residential uses. The Department of Housing and Community Development reviews both draft and adopted housing elements to determine whether or not they are in substantial compliance with the law. This bill allows a city or county to accommodate their very low and low-income housing needs on sites designated for mixed uses if those sites allow 100% residential use; and requires that residential use occupy 50% of the total floor area of a mixed-use project. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 7/1/14) California Building Industry Association Cities Association of Santa Clara County City of Santa Monica City/County Association of Government of San Mateo County CONTINUED AB 1690 Page 3 Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County League of California Cities OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/1/14) California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation Western Center on Law and Poverty ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, mixed-use developments make sense and have been successful in the urban areas of this state where most future growth will be concentrated. Encouraging mixed-use development is critical to California's smart growth goals and, near transit at least, necessary to ensure competitiveness for federal transit funds. In some cases, integrating rent-paying commercial uses into an affordable housing development can help subsidize affordability. Most importantly, mixed-use projects can bring residents closer to jobs and services. This bill gives cities and counties additional flexibility on how best to plan in their communities. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents argue that developing affordable housing on mixed-use sites is more difficult and expensive than on residentially zoned sites. The loss of redevelopment funding has made mixed-use development only more challenging. By limiting the use of mixed-use zones as affordable housing sites, current law creates the greatest potential for affordable housing development. This bill removes that modest restriction. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 05/15/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Donnelly, Mansoor, Vacancy CONTINUED AB 1690 Page 4 JA:nl 7/2/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED