BILL ANALYSIS
AB 29
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
AB 29 (Hancock) - As Amended: March 27, 2007
AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED
SUBJECT : Infill development: incentive grants.
SUMMARY : Creates the Regional Planning, Housing, and Infill
Incentive Grant Program using funds made available under
Proposition 1C. Specifically, this bill :
1)Creates the Regional Planning, Housing, and Infill Incentive
Grant Program to provide infrastructure grants to qualifying
cities and counties for the construction or acquisition
of capital assets.
2)Designates the Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) to administer the program.
3)Requires HCD to issue periodic Notices of Funding Availability
specifying per-project limits and the competitive criteria
upon which projects shall be selected.
4)States that to be eligible for funding under the Program, a
project must meet the following criteria:
a) Be consistent with the adopted general plan of the
applicant city or county, which must include a housing
element that HCD has determined to be in substantial
compliance with the law.
b) Be included in and consistent with the zoning or
specific plan and any of the following additional plans
applicable to the subject area or site:
i) A project area redevelopment plan;
ii) A regional blueprint plan;
iii) A capital improvement plan; or
iv) A regional transportation plan or a transportation
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corridor plan.
c) Be an integral part of infrastructure needs that are
required to allow an infill housing project to proceed to
completion in a timely manner, including, but not limited
to, brownfield cleanup.
5)Requires that for any plan with which the project must be
consistent that is subject to the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA), the notice of determination pursuant to
CEQA has been completed and the statutory period for
challenges has expired.
6)Requires HCD to consider, in its review and rating of
applications for grant funding, factors including, but not
limited to, the following:
a) The number of housing units to be created;
b) The depth and duration of the affordability of the
housing;
c) The creation of housing in job-rich areas;
d) The proximity of the housing to parks, social services,
and other amenities;
e) The local jurisdiction's share of historical housing
production within the region; and
f) The local jurisdiction's share of production of
affordable housing.
7)Specifies that, to the extent feasible, the project selection
process must ensure a reasonable geographic distribution of
funds.
8)States that grants from the Program are intended to
supplement, not supplant, other available funding.
9)Requires the applicant to repay grant funds if the housing
identified in the grant application is not produced within
five years after the date of completion of the infrastructure
project funded with the grant.
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10)Authorizes HCD to grant one five-year extension to the
deadline for completing the housing identified in the grant
application if it determines that the inability to complete
the housing was related to unanticipated market forces beyond
the control of the applicant city or county.
11)Allows grant funds to be used for capital outlay purposes,
including, but not limited to, the following:
a) Creation, development and rehabilitation of urban parks,
bicycle paths, river parkways, trails, access ways that
connect neighborhoods with open-space areas, and other
public recreational facilities;
b) Urban greening projects, including, but not limited to,
tree planting, community landscaping, public gardening, and
other improvements to enhance the enjoyment and livability
of urban neighborhoods;
c) Water, sewer, or other public utility infrastructure
costs associated with infill development, including, but
not limited to, the costs of transferring public utilities
underground;
d) Street, road, or other transportation improvements,
including, but not limited to, transit improvements,
bikeways, trolleys, and pedestrian facilities;
e) Expansion of recreational opportunities in high-density
housing areas through acquisition and enhancement of park
land; and
f) Creation of safe routes to schools for children.
12)Requires HCD to adopt guidelines for the program and allows
them to administer the program under those guidelines for up
to 24 months before the guidelines are formally adopted as
regulation.
13)Defines "infill development" as residential or mixed
commercial and residential development on an infill site or in
an area of an incorporated city that is predominately
developed with qualified urban uses and has been designated
for infill development in an adopted general plan.
14)Defines "infill site" by referencing the definition of that
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term in CEQA.
EXISTING LAW creates the $850 million Regional Planning,
Housing, and Infill Incentive Account and specifies that funds
in the account shall be made available, upon appropriation and
subject to any other conditions and criteria that the
Legislature establishes in statute, for the following purposes:
1)Infill incentive grants for capital outlay related to infill
housing development and other related infill development,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:
a) Park creation, development, or rehabilitation to
encourage infill development, with expenditures for this
purpose limited to no more than $200,000,000;
b) Water, sewer, or other public infrastructure costs
associated with infill development;
c) Transportation improvements related to infill
development projects; and
d) Traffic mitigation.
2)Brownfield cleanup that promotes infill housing development
and other related infill development consistent with regional
and local plans.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)AB 29 creates the Regional Planning, Housing, and Infill
Incentive Grant Program to provide infrastructure grants to
cities and counties to support infill development. The bill
provides the necessary implementing language for the
expenditure of the $850 million Regional Planning, Housing,
and Infill Incentive Account created when Proposition 1C
passed in November, 2006.
2)The bill sets up a competitive grant program under the
administration of HCD. Under the program, cities and counties
would be eligible to apply for grants for infrastructure
needed to support an infill housing project. Projects would
have to be consistent with the general plan and the city or
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county would have to have a certified housing element. In
addition, projects would have to be consistent with the zoning
ordinance and any applicable specific plan, redevelopment
plan, regional blueprint plan, capital improvement plan, or
regional transportation plan or transportation corridor plan
for which CEQA has been completed. In ranking projects, HCD
would have to consider a variety of factors, such as the
number of housing units to be created, the depth and duration
of the affordability of the housing, and the local
jurisdiction's track record in producing housing. The bill
defines eligible infrastructure projects to include a broad
range of things, from water, sewer, and public utility
infrastructure to parks and recreational facilities to urban
greening projects such as tree planting, landscaping, and
community gardens. Brownfield clean-up is also considered as
an eligible use for the money.
3)AB 29 requires the applicant to identify a specific housing
project tied to the proposed infrastructure project. If the
housing is not produced within five years of the completion
of the infrastructure project, the applicant is required to pay
back the grant. Applicants can request one five-year extension
if the inability to complete the housing was related to
unanticipated market forces beyond their control.
4)Although grant applications must be tied to a housing project,
the bill includes no requirement that the housing have an
affordable component. Instead, HCD is supposed to consider
affordability as one of the criteria in ranking applications.
The Committee may wish to consider whether some percentage of
affordable housing should be a requirement
for all project applications.
5)The Committee may also wish to consider whether applications
need to be tied to a specific housing project. Some cities
and counties may have areas where they hope to attract infill
projects but have been unsuccessful due to the lack of
infrastructure capacity. In these instances, the jurisdiction
may want to apply for the infill incentives money to upgrade
the infrastructure in order to attract development. These
applicants could be subject to a requirement that the grant
must be repayed if they have not attracted a certain amount
of housing with an affordable component to the area within a
specified period of time.
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6)AB 29 is one of a number of bills proposing programs for the
expenditure of the infill incentives money in Proposition 1C.
Other bills targeting the infill money are AB 842 (Jones), AB
997 (Arambula), and AB 1231 (Garcia).
7)PROPOSED AMENDMENTS :
a) On page 3, lines 22-23, strike "a regional growth plan"
and insert: an adopted general plan;
b) On page 3, line 32, before "In order" insert: The
department shall issue periodic Notices of Funding
Availability specifying per-project limits and the
competitive criteria upon which projects shall be selected;
c) On page 3, strike lines 24-25;
d) On page 4, line 14, strike everything after "expired"
and strike lines 15-17;
e) On page 4, strike lines 21-25 and 38-39;
f) On page 5, strike lines 14-32; and
g) On page 6, strike lines 15-30 and insert: The
department shall adopt guidelines for the operation of the
program, and may administer the program under those
guidelines for 24 months after the date of adoption of the
guidelines, during which time the guidelines shall not be
subject to the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
8)This bill is double-referred to the Committee on Housing and
Community Development.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employee
CA Association of Councils of Government (in concept)
City of Moreno Valley
Opposition
None on file
AB 29
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Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958