BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2161
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Date of Hearing: August 31, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Gene Mullin, Chair
AB 2161 (Klehs) - As Amended: August 28, 2006
SUBJECT : Redevelopment
SUMMARY : Allows new housing units, built outside an Alameda
County Redevelopment Agency project area, to be counted toward
meeting affordable housing requirements. Contains an urgency
clause, allowing this bill to take effect immediately upon
enactment. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows, only for the Mt. Eden Sub-Area of the Alameda County
Redevelopment Agency, the construction of new housing units
outside the project area and soon to be annexed by the City
of Hayward, to count toward meeting affordable housing
requirements if all of the following are met:
a) Units are affordable to low- or very low-income persons.
b) Units are to be affordable for not less than 55 years
for rental units and 45 years for home ownership units.
c) Units are located on parcels immediately contiguous to
the Mt. Eden Sub-Area of the Eden Redevelopment Project
Area.
d) The City of Hayward shall not count any of the units
toward meeting its own production or replacement
requirements.
2)Requires the County of Alameda Redevelopment Agency to follow
existing law requirements with respect to building two units
outside a project area for every one unit it would otherwise
be required to build inside the project area.
3)Provides that these provisions sunset January 1, 2012.
4)Provides that AB 2161 is an urgency measure.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires at least 15 percent of all new and substantially
rehabilitated dwelling units developed within the project area
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under the jurisdiction of an agency by public or private
entities or persons other than a redevelopment agency to be
available at affordable housing cost to persons and families
of low- or moderate-income and to be occupied by these persons
and families. The 15 percent requirement does not apply to
each housing project. Instead, the agency has the discretion
to determine how the requirements are to be applied
(Health and Safety Code Section 33413).
2)Provides that instead of providing units within a
redevelopment project area, a redevelopment agency may meet
its inclusionary housing requirement by providing two units
outside a redevelopment project area for each housing unit
that otherwise would have to be available inside the
redevelopment project area (Health and Safety Code Section
33413).
3)Provides that redevelopment agencies are permitted to
aggregate new or substantially rehabilitated dwelling units in
one or more project areas to meet the inclusionary housing
requirement if the agency finds that the aggregation will not
cause or exacerbate racial, ethnic or economic segregation
(Health and Safety Code Section 33413).
FISCAL EFFECT : None.
COMMENTS : The County of Alameda and the City of Hayward are
seeking special legislation to allow the County Redevelopment
Agency to build affordable housing units outside the project
area on parcels that are soon to be annexed to the City of
Hayward.
According to the Alameda County Redevelopment Agency, currently,
Eden Housing is in the process of trying to build a 78 unit
affordable housing project in the City of Hayward. The Eden
Housing project is contiguous to the County's Mt. Eden
Redevelopment Sub-Area, but not in the project area. A project
has also been recently approved to develop 150 residential units
within the Mt. Eden Sub-Area. To meet the affordability
requirements, the developer is proposing to contribute to the
Eden Housing project. AB 2161 would allow the County to count
those units produced at the Eden Housing project toward the
County Redevelopment Agency's affordable housing production
requirement.
Redevelopment law requires that at least 15 percent of all new
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dwelling units developed within a project area by a public or
private entity shall be available to persons and families of low
and moderate income. Existing law also requires that any
affordable units built outside a project area must be on a two
for one basis. In this case the addition of 150 market rate
units built inside the project area would trigger a requirement
to build at least 23 units inside or 45 units outside the
project area.
This bill will allow the Alameda County Redevelopment Agency to
count units currently sought to be constructed by a non-profit
low-income housing builder toward meeting the affordability
requirement triggered by the market rate developer. It will
also allow units built outside the project area on a parcel
within the jurisdiction of the agency to be credited to the
agency even after the parcel is annexed to the City of Hayward.
According to the sponsor, the Mt. Eden area consists of an
unincorporated "island" wholly surrounded by the City of
Hayward, and is severely blighted, relying mostly on outdated
septic systems, local wells, and lacking curb, gutter, sidewalk
and drainage facilities. AB 2161 will allow both the City and
County redevelopment agency to proceed with infrastructure and
housing development that will address the blight and allow for
Hayward to annex the "island."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County of Alameda Redevelopment Agency (Sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Hubert Bower / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085