BILL ANALYSIS
AB 494
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Date of Hearing: April 15, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
AB 494 (Caballero) - As Introduced: February 24, 2009
SUBJECT : Local planning: farmworker housing.
SUMMARY : Provides for conditions that a local government must
allow for the subdivision of land for the purpose of farmworker
housing. Specifically, this bill :
1)Amends the Williamson Act (Act) to allow a landowner, subject
to other conditions, to subdivide land that is currently
designated as an agricultural preserve if the parcel to be
sold or leased is no more than 10 acres and will be used for
farmworker housing.
2)Amends the Act to allow a landowner, subject to other
conditions, to subdivide land that is currently designated as
an agricultural preserve if the parcel to be sold or leased
has access to existing water and sewer service.
3)Provides that when an applicant proposes to subdivide land for
the purposes of developing farmworker housing, the city,
county, or city and county shall not enforce or impose any
local ordinance, regulation, or development standard that
requires a minimum parcel size if the farmworker housing meets
all of the following:
a) The parcel to be created is on land currently zoned for
agricultural use or on land zoned for open space but
currently in agricultural use;
b) The parcel to be sold or leased is 10 acres or smaller;
c) The parcel shall be sold or leased to a nonprofit
organization, a city, a county, a housing authority, or a
state agency; and,
d) The parcel to be sold or leased shall be subject to a
deed restriction that limits the use of the parcel to
farmworker housing facilities for not less than 30 years.
4)Declares that the development of farmworker housing shall be
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considered an agricultural use of the land, provided the
density is consistent with the densities specified in statute
for suburban jurisdictions.
5)Prohibits the legislative body of a city or county from
denying the approval of a tentative map or parcel map, if the
farmworker housing meets the qualifications listed under (3)
above.
6)Specifies that no reimbursement is required by this act
because a local agency or school district has the authority to
levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay
for the program or level of service mandated by this act.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the Williamson Act, also known as the California Land
Conservation Act of 1965, which enables local governments to
enter into contracts with landowners to restrict the land in
order to prevent development for no less than a period of 10
years.
2)Provides, under the Williamson Act, for conditions that allow
a landowner to subdivide land that is currently designated as
an agricultural preserve, if the parcel to be sold or leased:
a) Is no more than five acres;
b) Shall be sold or leased to a nonprofit organization, a
city, a county, a housing authority, or a state agency;
c) Shall be subject to a deed restriction that limits the
use of the parcel to agricultural laborer housing
facilities for not less than 30 years;
d) Has a written agreement between the parties to the sale
or lease and their successors to operate the parcel under
joint management of the parties; and,
e) Is (A) within a city or (B) in an unincorporated
territory or sphere of influence that is contiguous to one
or more parcels that are already zoned residential,
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commercial, or industrial and developed with existing
residential, commercial, or industrial uses.
3)Specifies that a subdivision of land under a Williamson Act
contract shall not affect the contract; and the parcel to be
sold or leased shall remain subject to that contract.
4)Allows the legislative body of any county or city the power to
adopt ordinances that regulate the use of buildings,
structures, and land, as specified.
5)Requires a local government to analyze special housing needs
in their housing element, including that of farmworkers.
6)Requires that if the housing element does not provide adequate
sites for farmworkers that it shall provide for sufficient
sites to meet the need with zoning that permits farmworker
housing use by right.
7)Provides for certain limitations on a city or county's
planning and zoning ordinances in cases where there is a
statewide concern.
8)Authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to deny
approval of a tentative map, or a parcel map for which a
tentative map was not required, if it finds that either the
resulting parcels following a subdivision of that land would
be too small to sustain their agricultural use or the
subdivision will result in residential development not
incidental to the commercial agricultural use of the land, and
if the legislative body finds that the land is subject to any
of the following:
a) A Williamson Act contract, or an agricultural
conservation easement;
b) An open-space easement;
c) An agricultural conservation easement; or
d) A conservation easement.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS :
1)AB 1505 (Ducheny), Chapter 967, Statutes of 1999, authorized a
landowner subject to a Williamson Act contract to subdivide
not more than 5 acres of land to be sold or leased to a
non-profit organization, city, county, housing authority, or a
state agency for the purposes of developing farmworker
housing. The purpose of the bill was to remove any financial
disincentives to creating a separate parcel by ensuring that
the parcel will remain under Williamson Act contract. AB 1505
also required the housing element of local general plan to
identify adequate sites for farmworker housing.
2)AB 494 takes it a step further to address the shortage of
farmworker housing in California. First, the bill authorizes
a landowner subject to a Williamson Act contract to subdivide
not more than 10 acres of land for the purposes of developing
farmworker housing. Second, the bill takes the provisions put
into law by AB 1505 for Williamson Act land and adds them into
provisions of law dealing with local planning and zoning for
those agricultural lands proposed to be subdivided for the
purpose of farmworker housing. Finally, AB 494 limits, under
the Subdivision Map Act, the authority of a local government
to deny approval of a tentative or parcel map, when
agricultural land is proposed to be subdivided for the purpose
of farmworker housing, both under a Williamson Act contract or
not.
AB 494 will establish a very limited exception to local zoning
restrictions requiring a minimum parcel size, by requiring a
local government to allow a parcel split for the limited and
strictly defined purpose of providing farmworker housing, even
if one of the parcels is smaller than the minimum parcel size
required under the zoning code.
3)According to the sponsor, the California Rural Legal
Assistance Foundation (CRLA), there is a severe shortage of
decent, safe housing for farmworkers, particularly
unaccompanied migrant adult workers, and one of the
impediments to building housing is the difficulty in creating
a separate parcel of land on which the farmworker housing can
be developed.
CRLA notes that it is preferable to create a separate parcel
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for a variety of reasons. First, nearly all funding sources
require a deed restriction running with the land on which the
housing is built. This encumbrance, if recorded against the
entire farm, will impair the ability of the grower to get
operating loans, and thus a separate legal parcel against
which the restriction can be recorded is desirable. Moreover,
housing located on a farm presents a practical problem if the
owner decides to no longer operate the housing. The housing
cannot be easily sold to another party, and its location may
make it undesirable for housing workers or families not
employed on the farm where it is located. A separate,
alienable parcel ensures that housing will continue to be
operated as affordable housing during the regulatory period.
4)This bill is double-referred to the Committee on Agriculture.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
CA Rural Legal Assistance Foundation [SPONSOR]
CA Building Industry Association
CA Catholic Conference
CA Coalition for Rural Housing
Community Housing Improvement Program
Mercy Housing CA
Self-Help Enterprises
Western Growers Association
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958