BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2508
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Norma Torres, Chair
AB 2508 (Caballero) - As Amended: April 20, 2010
SUBJECT : Housing: assistance activities
SUMMARY : Allows a local agency to petition the Department of
Housing and Community Development (HCD) for a jurisdiction
reclassification if its classification under Housing Element Law
jeopardizes the agency's ability to meet threshold requirements
for funding programs promoting infill development.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows a local agency to submit the petition with its
application for the relevant program.
2)Requires the petition to include the reasons why the agency
believes the classification to be in error.
3)Requires the agency to provide other information supporting
the need for the classification change, including, but not
limited to any limitations that the local agency may encounter
in meeting the related density requirements.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Infill Incentive Grant (IIG) Program,
administered by HCD, to provide grants to fund capital
improvement projects that are an integral part of, or
necessary to facilitate the development of, residential or
mixed-use infill development (Health and Safety Code Section
53545.13).
2)Requires projects funded under IIG to have average residential
densities of at least the following:
a) Thirty units per acre in jurisdictions in metropolitan
counties;
b) Twenty units per acres in suburban jurisdictions;
c) Fifteen units per acre in incorporated cities within
nonmetropolitan counties and for nonmetropolitan counties
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that have micropolitan areas; and
d) Ten units per acres in rural areas.
(Health and Safety Code Section 53545.13)
3)Specifies that jurisdictions are classified as follows:
a) Metropolitan counties, nonmetropolitan counties, and
nonmetropolitan counties with micropolitan areas are as
determined by the United States Census Bureau;
b) Nonmetropolitan counties with micropolitan areas include
the following counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake,
Mendocino, Nevada, Tehama, and Tuolumne and such other
counties as may be determined by the United States Census
Bureau to be nonmetropolitan counties with micropolitan
areas in the future;
c) Suburban jurisdictions are those located in a
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of less than 2,000,000,
unless that jurisdiction's population is greater than
100,000, in which case it is considered metropolitan.
Counties, not including the City and County of San
Francisco, are considered suburban unless they are in an
MSA of 2,000,000 or greater in population in which case
they are considered metropolitan; and
d) Metropolitan jurisdictions are those located in an MSA
of 2,000,000 or greater, unless the jurisdiction's
population is less than 25,000 in which case it is
considered suburban.
(Government Code Section 65583.2)
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
The Infill Incentives Grant (IIG) Program was established in
2007 with funding from Proposition 1C, the Housing and Emergency
Shelter Act of 2006. The program provides grants to fund
infrastructure investments that support residential and
mixed-use infill development projects. The program received
$730 million from Proposition 1C; all of these funds have been
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awarded. The two IIG funding rounds were extremely competitive,
with requests for funding outstripping available resources by
approximately four to one. It is unclear when or if additional
funds will be made available for the infill program.
Under IIG, projects must meet certain average residential
densities in order to be eligible for funding. These densities
range from 10 to 30 units per acre depending on the way a
jurisdiction is classified. A jurisdicition's classification is
based on definitions established under Housing Element Law.
For the purposes of Housing Element Law and thus for the
purposes of IIG, the City of Salinas, with a population just
under 150,000, is classified as a metropolitan jurisdiction. As
such, an infill project in Salinas would have to be built at 30
units per acre or more in order to be eligible under the infill
program. The author and sponsor argue that Salinas lacks the
overall infrastructure to develop at a density above 30 units
per acre, and that Salinas should not be designated as a
metropolitan jurisdiction for the purposes of IIG because it is
not a central city or an urban core. Salinas was unable to
compete in the first two funding rounds under IIG because it did
not have any projects that met the density requirements.
The city would like the opportunity to petition HCD in any
future IIG funding rounds for a different jurisdiction
classification that would allow it to submit projects for
consideration that are at a lower density than 30 units per
acre. AB 2508 allows a jurisdiction to submit a petition for a
change in classification along with an application under IIG.
The petition must explain what the limitations are for the
jurisdiction in meeting the minimum density required by its
current classification.
Committee amendments:
1)Clarify that the petition process applies only to the Infill
Infrastructure Grant Program. The current language refers
generically to "programs promoting infill development." IIG
is the only funding program HCD currently has that promotes
infill.
2)Clarify that the petition would be for an exception to a
jurisdiction's classification rather than a reclassification,
and the exception would be for the purposes of the application
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under IIG only.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
City of Salinas
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / H. & C.D. / (916)
319-2085