BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2176 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 2176 (Campos) As Amended August 19, 2016 Majority vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(May 12, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 24, | | | | | | |2016) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: H. & C.D. SUMMARY: Authorizes the City of San Jose to operate an emergency bridge housing community for homeless persons during a declared shelter crisis. Specifically, this bill: 1)Defines "emergency bridge housing community" to mean any new or existing facilities including, but not limited to, temporary housing structures, including, but not limited to, emergency sleeping cabins, as defined, that are reserved for homeless persons and families, together with community support facilities, including, but not limited to, showers and bathrooms adequate to serve the anticipated number of residents all of which may be located on property leased or owned by a political subdivision. AB 2176 Page 2 2)Requires an emergency bridge 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 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 an emergency bridge housing community for the homeless located or constructed on any city-owned or city-leased land, including land acquired with low- and moderate-income housing funds. b) The City, in lieu of compliance with state and local building, housing, health, habitability, or safety standards and laws, may adopt by ordinance reasonable local standards for the design, site development, and operation of emergency bridge housing communitiesand the structures and facilities therein, to the extent that it is determined at the time of adoption that strict compliance with state and local standards or laws in existence at the time of that adoption would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the shelter crisis. c) The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) must review the City's draft ordinance to ensure it addresses minimum health and safety standards, and provide AB 2176 Page 3 its findings to the Senate and Assembly housing committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee within 30 calendar days of receiving the draft ordinance. d) Provisions of any state or local building, housing, health, habitability, or safety standards or laws shall be suspended, except as specified, for the emergency bridge housing communities provided that the City has adopted health and safety standards for these communities consistent with ensuring minimal public health and safety and those standards are complied with. e) Landlord tenant laws providing for a cause of action for habitability or tenantability shall be suspended for the emergency bridge housing communities provided that the city has adopted health and safety standards for these communities and those standards are complied with. f) Provides that during the shelter crisis, the local and state law requirements for an emergency bridge housing project to be consistent with the local land use plans, including the general plan, shall be suspended. g) Provides that this section only applies to a public facility or an emergency bridge housing community reserved for the homeless. 4)Defines an "emergency sleeping cabin" as a relocatable hard-sided structure that may be used for occupancy only pursuant to the Shelter Crisis Act and this section. Emergency sleeping cabins must: a) Have a raised floor area of no less than 120 square feet of interior space for two occupants and a minimum of 70 square feet of interior space for one occupant. AB 2176 Page 4 b) Contain no plumbing or gas service. c) Meet a minimum of a 20 pounds per square foot live load roof structure, shall be provided light, heat, and ventilation, and shall comply with minimum emergency bridge housing design standards as follows: i) Electrical power available as needed to meet the light and heat requirements of this subdivision. The source of electricity may be solar power. ii) At least one interior lighting fixture. iii) Electrical heating equipment approved for residential use. iv) Means of ventilation allowing for adequate air replacement. v) At least one ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI)-protected receptacle for use by the occupant or occupants. vi) At least two forms of egress placed remotely from each other, one of which may be an egress window with a sill height of not more than 44 inches from the floor, a minimum net opening height of 24 inches, and a minimum width of 20 inches. vii) A privacy lock on each door. viii) When required to meet accessibility requirements, compliance with the applicable requirements specified in Chapter 11B of the California Building Code. AB 2176 Page 5 ix) One permanently wired smoke alarm with battery backup, listed and labeled in accordance with UL 217, installed in accordance with the California Residential Code and NFPA 72. Battery powered alarms are permissible in lieu of wired alarms only when the cabin is solar powered and other electrical service is not supplied to the cabin. Smoke alarms shall be listed and approved by the State Fire Marshal. x) This subdivision shall remain operative until the date on which the California Building Standards Commission includes standards in the California Building Standards Code that conform to this subdivision. 5)Exempts an emergency bridge housing community from the Special Occupancy Parks Act, the Mobilehome Parks Act, and the Mobilehome Residency Law. 6)Exempts an emergency bridge housing community that complies with the applicable requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) from actions under that law for the duration of the shelter crisis. 7)Requires the City to match each resident of an emergency bridge housing community to an affordable housing unit identified in the City's housing plan that will be available to live in on or before January 1, 2022. 8)Requires the City to develop a plan for every emergency bridge housing community to include on-site supportive services by July 1, 2017. 9)Requires the City to report annually to the Legislature on the number of residents in every emergency bridge housing AB 2176 Page 6 community, the number of residents who have moved from an emergency bridge housing community into permanent affordable housing, the average time required for a resident to receive a permanent affordable housing unit, and the actual and projected number of permanent affordable housing units available through January 1, 2022. 10)Provides that these provisions remain in effect only until January 1, 2022. The Senate amendments: 1)Provide further specification as to how and when the City of San Jose may adopt local standards for an emergency bridge housing community. Specifically, during a shelter crisis: a) The City may, in lieu of compliance with state and local building, housing, health, habitability, or safety standards and laws, adopt and enforce by ordinance reasonable local standards for the design, site development, and operation of emergency bridge housing communitiesand the structures and facilities therein. b) The above-mentioned local standards may only be adopted to the extent that it is determined at the time of adoption that strict compliance with state and local standards or laws in existence at the time of that adoption would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the shelter crisis. 2)Require HCD to review the City's draft ordinance to ensure it addresses minimum health and safety standards, and provide its findings to the Senate and Assembly housing committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee within 30 calendar days of receiving the draft ordinance. 3)Specify that an emergency bridge housing community includes emergency sleeping cabins that are reserved for homeless persons and families, together with community support facilities, including, but not limited to, showers and bathrooms adequate to serve the anticipated number of AB 2176 Page 7 residents. 4)Define "emergency sleeping cabins" and specify required building standards for emergency sleeping cabins. 5)Provide that building standards for emergency sleeping cabins will remain operative until the date on which the California Building Standards Commission includes conforming standards in the California Building Standards Code. 6)Provide that during the shelter crisis, the local and state law requirements for an emergency bridge housing project to be consistent with the local land use plans, including the general plan, shall be suspended. 7)Make technical, non-substantive changes. FISCAL EFFECT: None COMMENTS: Shelter Crisis Act: 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. There are concerns that because the Act does not address protection from habitability rules and their AB 2176 Page 8 impact on landlord tenant law, a jurisdiction would potentially incur liability in providing anything beyond transient shelter beds in facilities designated under the Act. Tiny homes: 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. 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, Oregon, 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. Need for the bill: 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. The City currently manages a $750 million multifamily loan portfolio which provides $6.5 million in residual receipts annually 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. However, there are still nearly 4,000 homeless individuals currently in need of housing within the city. According to the author: "AB 2176 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 an emergency bridge housing community. In doing so, AB 2176 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." AB 2176 Page 9 This bill authorizes a pilot program for the City of San Jose to address its shelter crisis through the construction and operation of an emergency bridge housing community for homeless persons. This bill would allow the City to adopt local standards for the community in lieu of compliance with state and local laws and standards. Senate amendments provide further specification about how and when the City may adopt local standards, and require HCD to review the City's draft ordinance to ensure it addresses minimum health and safety standards. HCD must report its findings to the Legislature. Senate amendments also specify that "emergency sleeping cabins" are a permissible category of temporary housing under the pilot program. An "emergency sleeping cabin" is defined as a "relocatable hard-sided structure", and required building standards are listed. These standards remain operative until the date on which the California Building Standards Commission includes conforming standards in the California Building Standards Code. Analysis Prepared by: Rebecca Rabovsky/ H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085 FN: 0004838