BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2208
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2208 (Santiago)
As Amended June 1, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+---------------------|
|Housing |7-0 |Chiu, Steinorth, | |
| | |Burke, Chau, Beth | |
| | |Gaines, Lopez, Mullin | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+---------------------|
|Local |8-0 |Eggman, Waldron, | |
|Government | |Alejo, Bonilla, Chiu, | |
| | |Cooley, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Beth Gaines, Linder | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |19-1 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |McCarty, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Chau, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
AB 2208
Page 2
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Adds to the list of the types of sites that a local
government can identify as suitable for residential development
in the housing element. Specifically, this bill:
1)Adds the following to the list of "land suitable for
residential development:"
a) Provides, for residentially zoned sites that are capable
of being developed at a higher density, that this includes
above sites owned or leased by a city, county, or city and
county.
b) Provides, for sites zoned for nonresidential use that
can be redeveloped for, and as necessary, rezoned for,
residential use, that this includes above sites owned or
leased by a city, county, or city and county.
2)States that Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) shall provide guidance to local governments to properly
survey, detail, and account for sites listed in the housing
element.
3)Provides that HCD must, not may, adopt and revise as needed,
guidelines for the preparation of housing elements.
4)States that no reimbursement is necessary because a local
AB 2208
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agency has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or
assessment sufficient to pay for the program or level of
service mandated by this act.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, no state fiscal impact. Although local costs to
inventory existing sites and make suitability determinations
could be substantial, local agencies have the authority to levy
services charges or fees for housing element related costs and
thus, any local costs are not reimbursable.
COMMENTS:
Every local government is required to prepare a housing element
as part of its general plan. The housing element process starts
when HCD determines the number of new housing units a region is
projected to need at all income levels (very low-, low-,
moderate-, and above-moderate income) over the course of the
next housing element planning period to accommodate population
growth and overcome existing deficiencies in the housing supply.
This number is known as the regional housing needs assessment
(RHNA). The council of government (COG) for the region, or HCD
for areas with no COG, then assigns a share of the RHNA number
to every city and county in the region based on a variety of
factors.
In preparing its housing element, a city or county must show how
it plans to accommodate its share of the RHNA. The housing
element must include an inventory of sites already zoned for
housing. If a community does not have enough sites within its
existing inventory of residentially zoned land to accommodate
its entire RHNA, then the community must adopt a program to
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rezone land within the first three years of the planning period.
Cities and counties are required to demonstrate that sites are
adequate to accommodate housing for each income group based on
the zoning after taking into consideration individual site
factors such as property size, existing uses, environmental
constraints, and economic constraints. With respect to the
zoning, density can be used as a proxy for affordability.
Jurisdictions may establish the adequacy of a site for very low-
or low-income housing by showing that it is zoned at the
"default" density (also referred to as the Mullin density).
These densities range from 10 to 30 units per acre depending on
the type of jurisdiction. Jurisdictions may also include sites
zoned at lower densities by providing an analysis of how the
lower density can accommodate the need for affordable housing.
This bill would add "above sites" of publicly owned or leased
buildings to the types of sites that can be identified to
accommodate a jurisdiction's share of the RHNA. It may be
worthwhile to consider whether cities should be able to count
these sites toward the RHNA, if constructing residential
developments above existing buildings is not truly feasible and
would not result in additional housing units being built on
those sites.
Purpose of this bill: According to the author, "In many urban,
dense areas, there is a distinct lack of land that can be used
for affordable housing. In fact, the City of Los Angeles is
about to hit its development limit. The city is now zoned to
house, at most, 4.2 million people. The current population is
3.9 million. There were 28,000 new housing starts in the Los
Angeles metro area last year (population 13 million), versus
64,000 in Houston (population 2 million). In California's
largest urban areas, and those where land costs are the highest,
it is particularly important that local governments and
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developers both think outside the box on how to use land and
space more effectively. AB 2208 takes an important step in this
direction by requiring that local governments specifically
consider non-traditional spaces in their property surveys for
housing."
Analysis Prepared by:
Rebecca Rabovsky / H. & C.D. / (961) 319-2085
FN:
0003377