BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2308|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2308
Author: Torres (D)
Amended: 3/29/12 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM. : 9-0, 6/12/12
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Pavley, Rubio, Simitian, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/17/12 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Housing element law and regional housing need
allocations
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : 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
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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.
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
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sales prices, rent levels, or other mechanisms establishing
affordability.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/14/12)
League of California Cities
Town of Apple Valley
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/17/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby,
Olsen, Pan, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Smyth,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski,
Williams, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fletcher, Bonnie Lowenthal, Perea,
Skinner, Yamada
JJA:mw 6/14/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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