BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2176
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
David Chiu, Chair
AB 2176
(Campos) - As Amended April 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Shelter crisis: declaration: public facilities
SUMMARY: Authorizes the City of San Jose to operate a
transitional housing community for homeless persons during a
declared shelter crisis. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "transitional housing community" to mean any
facilities reserved for homeless persons and families that are
located on property leased or owned by a political
subdivision, including temporary housing structures, such as
camping cabins or recreational vehicles.
2)Requires a transitional housing community to:
a) Include supportive and self-sufficiency development
services;
b) Have the ultimate goal of moving homeless persons to
permanent housing as quickly as reasonably possible; and
AB 2176
Page 2
c) Limit rents and service fees to an ability-to-pay
formula reasonably consistent with the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development's requirements
for subsidized housing for low-income persons.
3)Provides that the following apply during a shelter crisis
declared by the City of San Jose:
a) Emergency housing may include a transitional housing
community for the homeless located or constructed on any
city-owned or city-leased land, including land acquired
with low- and moderate-income redevelopment housing funds.
b) The city may, in lieu of state and local building,
housing, health, habitability, or safety standards and
laws, enact local standards for transitional housing
communities to be operative during the shelter crisis
consistent with ensuring minimal public health and safety.
c) During the shelter crisis, provisions of any state or
local regulatory statute, regulation, or ordinance
prescribing standards of building, housing, health,
habitability, or safety shall be suspended for the
transitional housing communities provided that the City has
adopted health and safety standards for transitional
housing communities and those standards are complied with.
d) Landlord tenant laws codified in Civil Code Sections
1941 to 1942.5, inclusive, providing a cause of action for
habitability or tenantability, shall be suspended for the
transitional housing communities provided that the city has
adopted health and safety standards for transitional
housing communities and those standards are complied with.
AB 2176
Page 3
e) Provisions b-d above apply only to a public facility or
a transitional housing community reserved for the homeless
pursuant to this chapter.
4)Exempts a transitional housing community, as defined, from the
Special Occupancy Parks Act (Part 2.3 (commencing with Section
18860) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code), the
Mobilehome Parks Act (Part 2.1 (commencing with Section 18200)
of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code), and the
Mobilehome Residency Law (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section
798) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code).
5)Exempts a transitional housing community that complies with
the applicable requirements of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336), as amended by ADA Amendments
Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-325), from Part 2.5 (commencing
with Section 54) of Division 1 of the Civil Code and actions
thereunder for the duration of the shelter crisis.
6)Provides that these provisions remain in effect only until
January 1, 2022.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines "declaration of a shelter crisis" to mean the duly
proclaimed existence of a situation in which a significant
number of persons are without the ability to obtain shelter,
resulting in a threat to their health and safety.
2)Defines "political subdivision" to include the state, any
city, city and county, county, special district, or school
district or public agency authorized by law.
AB 2176
Page 4
3)Defines a "governing body" to include:
a) The Governor.
b) The legislative body for a city or city and county.
c) The board of supervisors for a county.
d) The governing board or board of trustees for a district
or other public agency.
e) An official designated by ordinance or resolution
adopted by an entity referenced in b-d above.
4)Defines "public facility" to mean any facility of a political
subdivision including parks, schools, and vacant or
underutilized facilities which are owned, operated, leased, or
maintained, or any combination thereof, by the political
subdivision through money derived by taxation or assessment.
5)Authorizes a governing body to declare a shelter crisis.
6)Authorizes political subdivision, upon declaration of a
shelter crisis, to allow persons unable to obtain housing to
occupy designated public facilities during the duration of the
state of emergency.
7)Provides during a shelter crisis a political subdivision is
AB 2176
Page 5
immune from liability for ordinary negligence in the provision
of emergency housing.
8)Restricts the limitation of liability only to conditions,
acts, or omissions directly related to, and which would not
occur but for, the provision of emergency housing; and does
not limit liability for grossly negligent, reckless, or
intentional conduct which causes injury.
9)Suspends the provisions of any state or local regulatory
statute, regulation, or ordinance prescribing standards of
housing, health, or safety to the extent that strict
compliance would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay the
mitigation of the effects of the shelter crisis.
FISCAL EFFECT: None.
COMMENTS:
The Shelter Crisis Act, allows a jurisdiction to declare a
shelter crisis, and provides that upon such declaration the
jurisdiction's liability for the provision of emergency housing
is limited. It also provides that the jurisdiction may allow
homeless persons to occupy designated public facilities for the
duration of the crisis. Further, the act suspends state and
local housing, health, and safety standards for public
facilities to the extent full compliance would hamper mitigation
of the effects of the shelter crisis.
Emergency housing is typically provided as shelter beds allowing
for an overnight stay. According to the supporters, because the
Shelter Crisis Act does not address protection from habitability
rules and their impact on landlord tenant law, a jurisdiction
AB 2176
Page 6
would potentially incur liability in providing anything beyond
transient shelter beds in facilities designated under the Act.
AB 2176 would allow the City of San Jose to establish a
transitional housing community, as defined, and enact local
standards for a transitional housing community in lieu of state
and local laws and standards.
Purpose of the bill: According to the author: "AB 2178 would
authorize the City of San Jose to prepare local building,
housing, health, habitability, or safety standards, in lieu of
such state laws, for the development of a transitional housing
community. In doing so, AB 2178 would provide the City of San
Jose the necessary tools for it to try new and innovative ways
to provide housing now, while new permanent supportive housing,
which can be years in the making, can be financed and
constructed."
Arguments in support: According to the Non-Profit Housing
Association: "The County of Santa Clara and City of San Jose
have been working on the idea of developing a transitional
housing village with onsite supportive services and a mission to
transition the formerly homeless to appropriate permanent
housing as soon as it can be made available. This important
legislation will allow this humane and innovative approach to go
forward and provide housing now while allowing time for new
permanent supportive housing to be financed and constructed."
Staff comments: The City of San Jose's Affordable Housing
Investment Plan states that since the 1980's, the city has
created 18,000 units of affordable rental units. However, there
are still nearly 4,000 homeless individuals currently in need of
housing within the city. The author and the City believe that
small, minimalist housing units, sometimes referred to as "tiny
homes", may provide a temporary solution as more permanent
housing comes on line.
AB 2176
Page 7
Tiny homes are typically less than 400 square feet, with some as
small as 80 square feet. These units often do not have running
water, electricity or sewer connections. Instead, communal
facilities provide for these and other basic services typically
required by state and local building standards. The minimalist
design of these structures has been reported to provide
significant time and cost savings. Opportunity Village, a tiny
home community housing homeless persons in Eugene, OR, reports
that whereas a traditional federally funded housing unit may
cost $200,000 to construct, they were able to build a total of
30 tiny homes for less than half that amount.
Providing tiny home communities for unsheltered homeless persons
is an innovative, cutting edge approach to addressing
homelessness. The City of San Jose would be among a very short
list of jurisdictions in the country trying this solution, thus
it is understandable that the City would like a certain degree
of flexibility as they develop and implement this novel program.
However, some stakeholders have expressed concerns that the
temporary housing community proposed by AB 2176 may become a
permanent, substandard housing situation if care is not taken,
given the wide array of existing health, safety, and
habitability standards the bill would waive. Providing a
mechanism for state oversight, specifying the maximum amount of
time a resident may reside in the community, and requiring that
services be provide on-site may help to address some of these
concerns.
The term "transitional housing" has specific connotations with
respect to state and federal housing programs. Given the novel
nature of the program AB 2176 would create, it may be helpful to
refer to the community by a different name.
The City currently manages a $750 million multifamily loan
portfolio which provides $6.5 million in residual receipts
AB 2176
Page 8
annual that is available for additional affordable housing
investments. The City's Affordable Housing Investment Plan
identifies several additional funding streams and a variety of
affordable housing projects in various stages of development.
The City argues that while they have a robust pipeline of
projects that will come online in the next several years, there
is an immediate need for a solution to its current homelessness
crisis. AB 2176 authorizes the City of San Jose to address this
crisis through the construction and operation of transitional
housing community for homeless persons.
To address stakeholder concerns and strengthen the policy
provisions within the bill, the committee may wish to consider
the following:
1)Replace the name "transitional housing community" with
"emergency housing community".
2)Require each resident be matched with an affordable housing
unit identified in the City's housing plan.
3)Require the duration of a given resident's stay be limited to
24 months.
4)Require the City develop a plan for the community that
includes on-site supportive services.
5)Require the City report to the Legislature annually the number
of residents in the community, number of residents who have
moved into permanent housing, and the average time required
for a resident to receive a permanent housing unit.
6)Encourage the author to consider an alternative mechanism for
HCD to permit a transitional housing community project, such
AB 2176
Page 9
as through the Specialty Occupancy Parks permitting process,
with a presumption that such a permit is approved if no
response is received within a specified time period.
7)Page 2, line 25 after "means any" insert "new or existing"
8)Page 2, line 26 after "including" insert "but not limited to"
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
City of San Jose
Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by:Ken Spence / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085,
AB 2176
Page 10
Ken Spence / H. & C.D. / (961) 319-2085