BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2208 Hearing Date: 6/21/2016
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Santiago |
|----------+------------------------------------------------------|
|Version: |6/1/2016 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant|Alison Dinmore |
|: | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUBJECT: Local planning: housing element: inventory of land
for residential development
DIGEST: This bill adds to the list of types of sites that a
local government can identify as suitable for residential
development in their housing element.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Requires cities and counties, under existing planning and
zoning law, to prepare and adopt a general plan, including a
housing element, to guide the future growth of a community.
The housing element shall consist of an identification and
analysis of existing and projected housing needs and a
statement of goals, policies objectives, financial resources
and scheduled programs for the preservation, improvement, and
development of housing.
2) Requires the housing element to identify adequate sites for
housing, including rental housing, factory-built housing,
mobilehomes, and emergency shelters and shall make adequate
provision for the existing and projected needs of all economic
segments of the community.
3) Requires a local government to inventory land suitable for
residential development to identify sites that can be
developed to meet the jurisdiction's regional housing needs
AB 2208 (Santiago) Page 2 of ?
for all income levels. Provides that "land suitable for
residential development" includes all of the following:
a) Vacant sites zoned for residential use
b) Vacant sites zoned for nonresidential use that allow
residential development
c) Residentially zoned sites that are capable of being
developed at a higher density
d) Sites zoned for nonresidential use that can be
redeveloped for, and as necessary, rezoned for, residential
use
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 (e.g., space above existing buildings) owned or
leased by a city, county or city and county.
b) Provides, for non-residentially zoned sites that can be
redeveloped for residential use, that this includes above
sites (e.g., space above existing buildings) owned or
leased by a city, county, or city and county.
2) States that the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) shall provide guidance to local agencies to
property survey, detail, and account for sites listed in the
housing element.
3) Provides that HCD shall, not may, adopt and revise, as
needed, guidelines for the preparation of housing elements.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of the bill. According to the author, California's
housing costs have far outpaced those of other states in the
last half century. As of 2015, the typical California home
costs $440,000 - two and half times the national average, and
the average monthly rent in California is $1,240 - about 50%
higher than in other states. It is possible to offset the
effects of high land costs through more dense development. In
a sense, an area that acquires potential for air rights
development increases the supply of buildable land.
AB 2208 (Santiago) Page 3 of ?
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 developers both think outside the
box on how to use land and space more effectively. This bill
takes an important step in this direction by requiring that
local governments specifically consider non-traditional spaces
in their property surveys for housing. Specifically, this
bill requires local governments to include available air
rights when surveying property that may be applicable for use
in affordable housing as a part of their Housing Element.
2)Housing Element background. 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 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
AB 2208 (Santiago) Page 4 of ?
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.
3)Is this bill really necessary? Existing law permits local
jurisdictions to identify sites that are capable of being
developed at a higher density and sites zoned for
nonresidential use that can be redeveloped for residential
use. This bill would elaborate that this "higher density"
includes above sites, or sites that could be developed in the
airspace above an existing development, that is owned or
leased by a city, county, or city and county. The idea is to
highlight that locals can build more dense housing. In fact,
HCD already reads this provision to permit local jurisdictions
to include "above sites" and considers these sites in local
housing elements as land suitable for residential development.
Given that the goal that this bill attempts to accomplish is
already covered in existing law, the committee may wish to
consider whether this bill is necessary.
4)Unintended consequences. This bill would add above sites of
publicly owned or leased buildings to the types of sites that
can be identified to accommodate a local jurisdiction's share
of the RHNA. The committee may wish to consider whether local
jurisdictions should be able to count these sites towards the
RHNA if constructing residential developments above existing
buildings may not be feasible and would not result in
additional housing being built on those sites, to the
detriment of identifying other feasible sites.
5)Department of Redundancy Department. The bill in its current
form requires in two separate provisions for HCD to provide
guidance to local governments to property survey, detail, and
account for sites listed pursuant to Section 65585. The
author will agree to remove the second reference on page 12,
lines 11-13 in committee.
AB 2208 (Santiago) Page 5 of ?
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 78-0
Appr: 19-1
L.Gov: 8-0
H&CD: 7-0
Related Legislation:
AB 2864 (Daly) - authorizes a "housing organization," as
defined, to enforce the Housing Accountability Act (HAA). This
bill will also be heard in this committee.
AB 2865 (Lopez) - requires a local planning agency staff to
collect and compile public comments and provide them to each
member of the legislative body prior to the adoption of the
housing element. This bill will also be heard in this
committee.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 15, 2016.)
SUPPORT:
California Apartment Association
California Council for Affordable Housing
City of Los Angeles
League of California Cities
OPPOSITION:
None received
-- END --