BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 2308
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: torres
VERSION: 3/29/12
Analysis by: Mark Stivers FISCAL: no
Hearing date: June 12, 2012
SUBJECT:
Housing element law and regional housing need allocations
DESCRIPTION:
This bill allow cities and counties to reduce their share of the
regional housing need by the number of units built between the
start of a housing element projection period and the housing
element due date.
ANALYSIS:
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. Cities and counties
located within the territory of a metropolitan planning
organization (MPO) must revise their housing elements every
eight years following the adoption of every other regional
transportation plan. Cities and counties in rural non-MPO
regions must revise their housing elements every five years.
These five- and eight-year periods are known as the housing
element planning period.
Before each revision, each community receives its fair share of
housing need for four separate income categories (very low-,
low-, moderate-, and above-moderate income households) through a
two-step process known as the regional housing needs assessment
(RHNA). In the first step, the Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD) determines the aggregate housing
need for the region during the planning period the housing
element will cover. In the second step, the council of
governments (COG) for the region allocates the regional housing
need to each city and county within the region. Because this
process takes one year and state law requires the COG to
finalize the numbers one year prior to a region's housing
element due date, the RHNA numbers cover a period of time that
begins two years before the beginning of the planning period.
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This longer time frame is known as the projection period.
A housing element must identify and analyze existing and
projected housing needs, identify adequate sites with
appropriate zoning to meet its share of the RHNA, and ensure
that regulatory systems provide opportunities for, and do not
unduly constrain, housing development. HCD reviews both draft
and adopted housing elements to determine whether or not they
are in substantial compliance with the law.
As part of its review process, HCD in practice has always
allowed cities and counties to reduce their RHNA shares by the
number of units built between the beginning of the projection
period and the adoption of the housing element. In order to
credit units against the appropriate income category, HCD
requires cities and counties to demonstrate the projected sale
or rental price of the new units.
This bill allows a city or county to reduce its RHNA fair share
by the number of units built between the start of the projection
period and the housing element due date, provided that the
housing element includes a description of the methodology for
assigning those housing units to the appropriate income category
based on actual or projected sales prices, rent levels, or other
mechanisms establishing affordability.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose of the bill . RHNA numbers reflect housing needs for a
period of time that begins two years before a city's or
county's housing element is due. Construction continues to
occur during this period, however, and an actual housing unit
built is one that a city or county no longer must plan for.
This bill ensures that cities and counties receive credit
towards the appropriate income category of their RHNA
requirements for housing built in this interim period.
2.Codifying existing practice . Given that HCD already gives
cities and counties credit for units constructed since the
beginning of the projection period, this bill effectively
codifies existing practice.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 75-0
H&CD: 6-0
Local Gov: 9-0
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POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 6,
2012)
SUPPORT: League of California Cities
OPPOSED: None received.