BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 575|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 575
Author: Steinberg (D)
Amended: 8/17/09
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM. : 6-3, 4/28/09
AYES: Lowenthal, DeSaulnier, Kehoe, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Huff, Ashburn, Harman
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hollingsworth, Oropeza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 23-15, 6/3/09
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Ducheny,
Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete
McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Simitian,
Steinberg, Strickland, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Correa, Cox,
Denham, Dutton, Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Maldonado,
Runner, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-25, 9/1/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Local planning: housing element
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill revises timelines for the adoption of
the fifth revision of the housing element by specified
CONTINUED
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local governments, provides for timelines for subsequent
housing element revisions, and makes other changes related
to the clean-up of SB 375 (Steinberg), Chapter 728,
Statutes of 2008.
Assembly Amendments : (1) require all local governments
within the regional jurisdiction of the San Diego
Association of Governments (SANDAG) to adopt the fifth
revision of the housing element no later than 18 months
after adoption of the first regional transportation plan
update after September 30, 2010, (2) specify, for the fifth
revision, that a local government within the jurisdiction
of SANDAG that has not adopted a housing element for the
fourth revision by January 1, 2009, shall revise its
housing element not less than every four years, (3)
provide, that if a local government does not adopt a
housing element within 120 days of the applicable
deadlines, the local government shall be subject to a
housing element revision cycle of not less than every four
years until the local government has adopted two
consecutive revisions by the statutory deadline, (4)
specify, for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, that the
Tahoe MPO shall use the Regional Plan for the Lake Tahoe
Region as the "sustainable community strategy," provided it
complies with requirements of the bill, and (5) incorporate
chaptering out amendments to resolve potential statutory
conflicts with AB 720 (Caballero) in the event that both
bills are chaptered.
ANALYSIS : SB 375 (Steinberg), Chapter 728, Statutes of
2008, required the Air Resources Board (ARB), by September
30, 2010, to provide each region that has a metropolitan
planning organization (MPO) with a greenhouse gas emission
reduction target for the automobile and light truck sector
for 2020 and 2035, respectively. Each MPO, in turn, is
required to include within its regional transportation plan
(RTP) a sustainable communities strategy designed to
achieve the ARB targets for greenhouse gas emission
reduction. The sustainable communities strategy and all
other elements of the RTP, including the programming of
funding to transportation projects, must be internally
consistent. SB 375 provides that the internal consistency
requirement does not affect any transportation project
programmed for funding by the California Transportation
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Commission on or before December 31, 2011, if it is
contained in the 2007 or 2009 State Transportation
Improvement Program, funded through the Transportation
Congestion Relief Program, or specifically listed in a
local transportation sales tax ballot measure approved
prior to December 31, 2008. Nor does it require a
transportation sales tax authority to change the funding
allocations approved by the voters for categories of
transportation projects in a sales tax measure adopted
prior to December 31, 2010.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires cities and counties to
prepare and adopt a general plan, including a housing
element to guide the future growth of a community. A
housing element must identify and analyze existing and
projected housing needs, identify adequate sites with
appropriate zoning to meet its fair share of the regional
housing need, and ensure that regulatory systems provide
opportunities for, and do not unduly constrain, housing
development. The Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) reviews both draft and adopted housing
elements to determine whether or not they are in
substantial compliance with the law.
Cities and counties are required to revise their housing
elements on a regular basis. Before each revision, each
city and county is assigned its fair share of the regional
housing need for four separate income categories through a
two-step process known as the regional housing needs
assessment (RHNA). In the first step, HCD determines the
aggregate housing need for the region during the planning
period to be covered by the housing element. Depending on
whether or not subregions are involved in the RHNA process,
this step begins 26 or 24 months prior to the regional
housing element due date, when HCD is required to meet and
consult with the council of governments regarding the
assumptions and methodology HCD will use to determine the
region's housing need. In the second step, the council of
governments allocates the regional housing need to each
city and county within the region.
Prior to the enactment of SB 375, cities and counties were
required to revise their housing elements every five years
according to a staggered schedule by region. All regions
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have now completed the fourth revision cycle to the housing
element, and some regions are about to begin the fifth
revision cycle. In order to align the population
projections used in the RHNA process with those used for
transportation planning and to coordinate the RHNA
allocation with the sustainable communities strategy of the
RTP that an MPO adopts every four years, SB 375 put housing
elements in regions with an MPO on an eight-year cycle. SB
375 established the due date for the fifth revision of
housing elements within each region at eighteen months
after the date of the first RTP adopted after September 30,
2010 and the due date for the sixth and subsequent revision
every eight years thereafter. Pursuant to SB 375, housing
elements within the region of the San Diego Association of
Governments for the fifth revision are due on June 30,
2010, and housing elements for the sixth revision are due
around May of 2013.
SB 732 (Steinberg), Chapter 729, Statutes of 2008,
established the Strategic Growth Council, comprised of the
Director of the Office of Planning and Research; the
Secretary of the Resources Agency; the Secretary for
Environmental Protection; the Secretary of Business,
Transportation and Housing; the Secretary of California
Health and Human Services; and one member of the public to
be appointed by the Governor. The bill further required
the Council to coordinate specified programs of member
state agencies and to award grants and loans to support the
planning and development of sustainable communities. The
Strategic Growth Council is required to comply with the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. All but the public member
of the council are also members of the Governor's Cabinet.
The concern has been raised that the presence of these
members at a cabinet meeting may inadvertently require that
the cabinet meeting comply with the Bagley-Keene Act.
This bill:
1. Clarifies, for informational meetings required to be
held by a MPO in each county within the region for
members of the board of supervisors and city councils
on the sustainable communities strategy (SCS) and
alternative planning strategy (APS), that the purpose
of the meetings is to discuss the SCS and APS,
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including the key land use and planning assumptions.
2. Clarifies that the deadline for completing required
rezoning shall be extended by one year if the local
government has completed the rezoning at densities
sufficient to accommodate at least 75 percent of the
units for low- and very-low income households (current
law references "sites" instead of "units").
3. Requires all local governments within the regional
jurisdiction of the San Diego Association of
Governments to adopt the fifth revision of the housing
element no later than 18 months after adoption of the
first RTP update after September 30, 2010.
4. Specifies, for the fifth revision, that a local
government within the jurisdiction of the San Diego
Association of Governments that has not adopted a
housing element for the fourth revision by January 1,
2009, shall revise its housing element not less than
every four years, unless the local government does
both of the following:
A. Adopts a housing element for the fourth
revision no later than March 31, 2010, which is
in substantial compliance with this article; and,
B. Completes any rezoning contained in the
housing element program for the fourth revision
by June 30, 2010.
5. Provides, for subsequent revisions, that if a local
government does not adopt a housing element within 120
days of the applicable deadlines, the local government
shall be subject to a housing element revision cycle
of not less than every four years until the local
government has adopted two consecutive revisions by
the statutory deadline.
6. Provides, if necessary, that the local government
shall adopt three consecutive four-year revisions by
the statutory deadline to ensure that when the local
government adopts its next housing element covering an
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eight-year planning period, it does so at the deadline
for adoption for other local governments within the
region also covering an eight-year planning period.
7. Requires that the MPO or regional transportation
planning agency for a region that has an eight-year
revision interval notify HCD and the Department of
Transportation (DOT) in writing of the estimated
adoption date for its next RTP at least 12 months
prior to the estimated adoption date.
8. Requires DOT to maintain and publish on its Internet
Web site a current schedule of the estimated RTP
adoption dates.
9. Requires HCD to maintain and publish on its Internet
Web site a current schedule of the estimated and
actual housing element due dates.
10. Requires each council of governments to publish on
its Internet Web site the estimated and actual housing
element due dates for the jurisdictions within its
region and requires the council of governments to send
notice of these dates to interested parties.
11. Provides, for purposes of determining the existing
and projected housing with a region, that the date of
the next scheduled revision of the housing element
shall be deemed to be the estimated adoption date of
the RTP described in the notice, plus 18 months.
12. Defines "projection period" to be the time period for
which the regional housing need is calculated.
13. Requires that the regional housing need for the new
projection period begins on the date of December 31 or
June 30 that most closely precedes the end of the
previous projection period.
14. Specifies, for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency,
that the Tahoe MPO shall use the Regional Plan for the
Lake Tahoe Region as the SCS, provided it complies
with requirements of the bill.
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15. Incorporates chaptering out amendments to resolve
potential statutory conflicts with AB 720 (Caballero)
in the event that both bills are chaptered.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/2/09)
City of Vista
City of Chula Vista
San Diego Association of Governments
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/2/09)
Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Garrick,
Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones,
Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torres, Torrico, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Fuller, Gaines, Gilmore,
Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra
Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Buchanan, Emmerson
JA:nl 9/2/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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