BILL NUMBER: AB 269 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 20, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 7, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mullin
FEBRUARY 4, 2003
An act to amend Section 33334.25 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to housing. An act to add Section
33334.2.2 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to redevelopment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 269, as amended, Mullin. Redevelopment: affordable
housing: San Mateo County.
The Community Redevelopment Law requires redevelopment agencies to
use not less than 20% of taxes allocated to the agency for low- and
moderate-income housing, as specified. These funds may be used
outside of the project area upon a finding by the agency and the
legislative body of the community that it will benefit the project
area.
This bill would expressly authorize redevelopment agencies within
the County of San Mateo to use these funds anywhere within the
unincorporated territory or within the incorporated limits of any
city within the County of San Mateo. It would also expressly
authorize any redevelopment agency within the county to use these
funds outside its project area upon a finding by the agency and the
board of supervisors that this use of funds will benefit the project
area. It would prescribe other criteria for the use of those funds.
Under the Community Redevelopment Law, one of the fundamental
purposes of redevelopment is to expand the supply of low- and
moderate-income housing. Existing law also authorizes the Department
of Housing and Community Development to make grants to nonprofit
housing sponsors and local public entities in constructing,
rehabilitating, and operating assisted housing for low- and
moderate-income households.
Existing law, until January 1, 2010, authorizes contiguous
agencies located within adjoining cities in a Metropolitan
Statistical Area to create and participate in a joint powers
authority in order to pool their housing funds to pay for the direct
costs of constructing, substantially rehabilitating, or preserving
the affordability of housing units that are affordable to very low or
low-income households.
This bill would authorize contiguous agencies located within
adjoining cities in San Mateo County to similarly create and
participate in a joint powers authority to pool housing funds for
purposes of low-income housing in accordance with the above
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:
yes no . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 33334.25 of the Health and Safety Code
SECTION 1. Section 33334.2.2 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
33334.2.2. (a) Redevelopment agencies within the County of San
Mateo may use the funds described in Section 33334.2 anywhere within
the unincorporated territory, or within the incorporated limits of
any city within the County of San Mateo. Redevelopment agencies
within the County of San Mateo may only use these funds outside their
project area upon a resolution of the agency and board of
supervisors determining that the use will be of benefit to the
project area. In addition, the agency may use these funds within the
incorporated limits of a city only if the agency and the board of
supervisors find all of the following:
(1) Both the County of San Mateo and the city have adopted and are
implementing complete and current housing elements of their general
plans that the department has determined to be in compliance with the
requirements of Article 10.6 (commencing with Section 65580) of
Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code.
(2) The development to be funded shall not result in any
residential displacement from the site where the development is to be
built.
(3) The development to be funded shall be a rental housing
development containing units affordable to lower income households or
very low income households, as defined in Sections 50079.5 and
50105.
(4) The development is in an area with a need for additional
affordable housing.
(5) If applicable, Article XXXIV of the California Constitution
permits the development.
(6) The city in which the development is to be constructed has
certified to the agency that the city's redevelopment agency, if one
exists, is not subject to sanctions pursuant to subdivision (e) of
Section 33334.12 for failure to expend or encumber a housing fund
excess surplus.
(b) If the agency uses these funds within the incorporated limits
of a city, all of the following requirements shall apply:
(1) The funds shall be used only for the design and construction
of, housing containing units affordable to lower income households or
very low income households, as defined in Sections 50079.5 and
50105, on property that has been turned over by the San Mateo County
Transit Authority along the El Camino Real Transit Corridor in San
Mateo County.
(2) If less than all the units in the development are affordable
to lower income households or very low income households, any agency
assistance shall not exceed the amount needed to make the housing
affordable to lower income households and very low income households.
(3) The units in the development that are affordable to lower
income households or very low income households shall remain
affordable for a period of at least 55 years. Compliance with this
requirement shall be ensured by the execution and recordation of
covenants and restrictions that, notwithstanding any other provision
of law, shall run with the land.
(4) No development shall be located in a census tract where more
than 50 percent of its population is very low income.
(5) Assisted developments shall be located on sites suitable for
multifamily housing near public transportation.
(6) Developed units shall not be treated as meeting the regional
housing needs allocation under both the city's and county's housing
elements.
(7) The funds shall be used only for developments for which the
city in which the development will be constructed has approved the
agency's use of funds for the development or has granted land use
approvals for the development.
(8) The aggregate number of units assisted by the county over each
five-year period shall include at least 10 percent that are
affordable to households earning 30 percent or less of the area
median income, and at least 40 percent that are affordable to very
low income households.
SEC. 2. The Legislature recognizes the unique circumstances that
exist with respect to San Mateo County that justify the enactment of
this legislation. The County of San Mateo has very high costs of
housing. The United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development has stated the 2004 fair market rent for a two-bedroom
apartment in San Mateo County to be one thousand seven hundred
seventy-five dollars ($1,775) per month--the second highest rental
rate in both the nation and California. In addition, the San Mateo
County has ongoing traffic congestion. According to the California
Department of Transportation 1998 Highway Congestion Monitoring
Program overall, delay created by a traffic congestion increased 40
percent between 1996 and 1998. However, San Mateo County has a
transit corridor, CalTrain that runs the full length of the county
and provides transit hubs with other regional transit including the
Bay Area Rapid Transit, the San Francisco Municipal Railway, and the
Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority light rail. With 77 miles of
track and undeveloped land near and adjacent to its 14 transit
stations located in San Mateo County, CalTrain is an ideal corridor
to encourage affordable transit oriented development. These
circumstances that exist in San Mateo County are unique and justify
the enactment of this legislation. is amended to read:
33334.25. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The transfer of funds to a joint powers authority and the use
of pooled funds within the housing market area of the participating
agencies for the purpose of providing affordable housing is of
benefit to the project area producing the tax increment.
(2) The cost and availability of land, geophysical and
environmental limitations, community patterns, and the lack of
financing make the availability of affordable housing more difficult
in some communities.
(3) The cooperation of local agencies and the use of pooled funds
will result in more resources than would otherwise be available for
affordable housing.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, contiguous
agencies located within adjoining cities within a single Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA) or San Mateo County may create and
participate in a joint powers authority for the purpose of pooling
their low- and moderate-income housing funds for affordable housing
uses. Agencies may transfer a portion of their housing funds to a
joint powers authority for use by the joint powers authority pursuant
to this section. The joint powers authority may determine the kinds
of housing projects or activities to be assisted, consistent with
this section. The joint powers authority may loan, grant, or advance
transferred housing funds from participating agencies to a receiving
entity for any eligible housing development within the participating
agency's jurisdiction, subject to the requirements of this section.
In addition, the agreement may authorize the joint powers authority
to issue bonds and to use the pooled funds to leverage other funds to
assist eligible developments, including loans from private
institutions and assistance provided by other governmental agencies.
(c) Each of the following conditions shall be met and described in
a mutually binding agreement between the joint powers authority and
each participating agency:
(1) The community of each participating agency shall have adopted
up-to-date housing elements pursuant to Article 10.6 (commencing with
Section 65580) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, and
the housing elements have been determined to be in compliance with
the law by the Department of Housing and Community Development.
(2) The community of each participating agency shall have met, in
its current or previous housing element cycle, 50 percent or more of
its share of the region's affordable housing needs, as defined in
Section 65584 of the Government Code, in the very low and lower
income categories of income groups defined in Section 50025.5.
(3) Each participating agency shall hold, at least 45 days prior
to the transfer of funds to the joint powers authority, a public
hearing, after providing notice pursuant to Section 6062 of the
Government Code to solicit public comments on the draft agreement.
(4) No housing funds shall be transferred from a project area that
has an indebtedness to its low- and moderate-income housing fund
pursuant to Section 33334.6.
(5) No housing funds shall be transferred from an agency that has
not met its need for replacement housing pursuant to Section 33413,
unless the agency has encumbered and contractually committed
sufficient funds to meet those requirements.
(6) Pooled funds shall be used within the participating agencies'
jurisdictions.
(7) The agreement shall require compliance by the joint powers
authority with the provisions of this section.
(8) The joint powers authority shall ensure that the funds it
receives are used in accordance with the requirements of this
section.
(9) Funds transferred by an agency to a joint powers authority
pursuant to this section shall be expended or encumbered by the joint
powers authority for the purposes of this section within two years
of the transfer. Transferred funds not so expended or encumbered by
the joint powers authority within two years after the transfer shall
be returned to the original agency and shall be deemed excess surplus
funds as provided in, and subject to, the requirements of Sections
33334.10 and 33334.12. Excess surplus funds held by an agency may
not be transferred to a joint powers authority.
(10) The joint powers authority shall prepare and submit an annual
report to the department that documents the amount of housing funds
received and expended or allocated for specific housing assistance
activities consistent with Sections 33080.4.
(d) Each of the following conditions shall be met and described in
a mutually binding contract between the joint powers authority and a
receiving entity:
(1) Pooled housing funds may only be used to pay for the direct
costs of constructing, substantially rehabilitating, or preserving
the affordability of housing units that are affordable to very low or
low-income households. Units assisted with pooled funds shall
remain available at affordable housing costs in accordance with
subdivision (f) of Section 33334.3.
(2) Except as provided in this section, pooled housing funds may
not be used in any way that is inconsistent with the requirements of
Section 33334.3. Pooled housing funds may not be used to pay for
planning and administrative costs, offsite improvements associated
with a housing project, or fees or exactions levied solely for
development projects constructed, substantially rehabilitated, or
preserved with pooled funds. The receiving entity shall be subject
to the same replacement requirements provided in Section 33413 and
any relocation requirements applicable pursuant to Section 7260 of
the Government Code.
(3) The joint powers authority shall make findings, based on
substantial evidence on the record, that each proposed use of pooled
funds will not exacerbate racial or economic segregation.
(4) The Department of Housing and Community Development has
evaluated each proposed use of pooled funds to construct,
substantially rehabilitate, or preserve the affordability of housing
and determined that the proposed use is in compliance with this
section. In considering whether a proposed use of funds will
exacerbate racial or economic segregation, the department shall
consider all of the following:
(A) The record of participating jurisdictions in meeting their
share of the regional need for low and very low income households
allocated to the jurisdiction pursuant to Section 65584 of the
Government Code.
(B) The distance of the proposed housing from a redevelopment area
from which pooled funds originated.
(C) The income and ethnicity of the residents of the census tract
from which the pooled funds originated and in which the housing will
be located.
(D) The housing need and availability of sufficient site for
housing within jurisdictions from which pooled funds originated.
(e) As used in this section, the following terms shall apply:
(1) "Housing funds" mean funds in or from the low- and
moderate-income housing fund established by an agency pursuant to
Section 33334.3.
(2) "Joint powers authority" means a joint powers authority
created pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of
Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code for the purposes of
receiving and using housing funds pursuant to this section.
(3) "Receiving entity" means any person, partnership, joint
venture, corporation, governmental body, or other organization
receiving housing funds from a joint powers authority for the purpose
of providing housing pursuant to this section.
(f) On or after January 1, 2008, no participating agency shall
create a new joint powers authority or transfer funds to an existing
joint powers authority pursuant to this section, unless a later
enacted statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2008, deletes or
extends that date.
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2010, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted on or before January 1, 2010, deletes or
extends that date.
SEC. 2. Due to the unique circumstances concerning the County of
San Mateo, the Legislature finds and declares that a general statute
cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article
IV of the California Constitution. Therefore, this act is
necessarily applicable only to the County of San Mateo.