BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 359
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 359
AUTHOR: Corbett
AMENDED: April 1, 2013
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: May 1, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Joanne Roy
SUBJECT : CEQA EXEMPTION: HOUSING PROJECTS
SUMMARY :
Existing law under the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), requires lead agencies with the principal responsibility
for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary project to
prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or
environmental impact report (EIR) for this 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.).
A statutory exemption for a residential project on an infill site
under certain conditions defines "residential" to be either:
1) Residential units only; or
2) Residential units and primarily neighborhood-serving goods,
services, or
retail uses that do not exceed 15% of the total project
floor area. (§21159.24).
This bill revises the residential infill exemption by increasing
the amount of allowable neighborhood-serving goods, services, or
retail uses from 15% to 25% of the building square footage.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "Over the last
decade, smart growth planning principles have continued to
encourage the integration of residents' day-to-day needs within
close proximity of those same residences. This type of design
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encourages lower vehicle miles traveled (VMT) due to local
residents' ability to access these services by walking or
biking instead of traveling by car. Lowering VMT improves air
quality, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, lessens the need for
new roads and extends the life of existing roads. One method
pursued by many local jurisdictions to implement these
VMT-reducing policies in an urbanized setting is to encourage
building design that incorporates ground-floor
neighborhood-servicing uses on the bottom floor, with
residential housing on the floors above. This means that for
projects using this design, the current 15% limit for
neighborhood-serving uses confines the use of this exemption to
only those projects that are at least seven stories tall. This
is much taller than many jurisdictions allow, even though the
project would otherwise meet all other infill and environmental
review requirements. An increase to 25% of the total building
square footage would allow for a four-story project of this
type to meet the exemption requirements."
2) Brief background on CEQA . CEQA provides a process for
evaluating the environmental effects of a project, and includes
statutory exemptions as well as categorical exemptions in the
CEQA guidelines. If a project is not exempt from CEQA, an
initial study is prepared to determine whether a project may
have a significant effect on the environment. If the initial
study shows that there would not be a significant effect on the
environment, the lead agency must prepare a negative
declaration. If the initial study shows that the project may
have a significant effect on the environment, then the lead
agency must prepare an EIR.
Generally, an EIR must accurately describe the proposed project,
identify and analyze each significant environmental impact
expected to result from the proposed project, identify
mitigation measures to reduce those impacts to the extent
feasible, and evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives to
the proposed project. Prior to approving any project that has
received an environmental review, an agency must make certain
findings. If mitigation measures are required or incorporated
into a project, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring
program to ensure compliance with those measures.
If a mitigation measure would cause one or more significant
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effects in addition to those that would be caused by the
proposed project, the effects of the mitigation measure must be
discussed but in less detail than the significant effects of
the proposed project.
3) Revising infill provisions . 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 four
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% of the total project floor area.
SB 375 (Steinberg), Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008, contains
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% of the total buiding
square footage for residential use (§21159.28). By increasing
the SB 1925 residential infill exemption percentage from 15% to
25% for the allowable non-residential uses, SB 359 makes this
provision more consistent with the percentage specified under
SB 375.
4) Previous legislation . SB 359 is similar to a provison in AB
931 (Dickinson) (2011) relating to a transit proximity project.
SOURCE : Author
SUPPORT : California State Association of Counties
Urban Counties Caucus
OPPOSITION : None on file
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