BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1505
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 10, 1999
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Howard Wayne, Chair
AB 1505 (Ducheny) - As Proposed to be Amended: May 10, 1999
SUBJECT : Farmworker Housing: CEQA and Williamson Act
exceptions.
SUMMARY : Expands a provision of existing law that exempts
certain farmworker housing projects from environmental review,
and allows landowners with property under Williamson Act
contracts to set aside a portion of the property for the
exclusive use of farmworker housing, if the land remains in a
Williamson Act contract and if other conditions are met.
EXISTING LAW :
2)Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub.
Res. Code secs. 21000 et seq.):
a) Provides a systematic process for evaluating the
environmental impacts of a "discretionary project"
undertaken or approved by a public agency. A project is
discretionary if its approval requires the exercise of
judgment or deliberation on the part of the agency. CEQA
provides a number of statutory exemptions from its
provisions; in addition, the Secretary of the Resources
Agency is authorized to identify categories of projects
that are exempt because they are determined not to have a
significant effect on the environment.
b) Prescribes specific requirements for evaluating the
impacts of projects that are not exempt. Specifically, the
lead agency (the agency with primary responsibility for
approving the project) first prepares an initial study to
determine if the project may have a significant effect on
the environment. If the initial study shows the project's
effects will not be significant, the lead agency prepares a
negative declaration. If, however, the initial study shows
the project's effects may be significant, then the agency
must prepare an environmental impact report (EIR).
Information developed during preparation of the EIR is used
to set conditions on the project. An agency may only
approve the project if all identified significant effects
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have been mitigated, unless the agency makes a finding of
overriding considerations. The CEQA process also serves to
provide notice to the public concerning the project.
c) Exempts from CEQA projects to construct residential
housing for agricultural employees that are affordable to
low and moderate income households under all of the
following conditions (Pub. Res. Code sec. 21080.10(c)):
i) The developer must provide sufficient legal
commitments to ensure the availability of the housing to
low income households for 15 years.
ii) The development, if proposed for an urban area, must
be adjacent to already developed land on at least two
sides and be limited to 45 or fewer units or for 45 or
fewer employees. If it is proposed for a non-urbanized
area, the development must be located on property zoned
for general agricultural use, and must be limited to 20
or fewer units or employees.
iii) The development must be consistent with the
jurisdiction's general plan and applicable zoning
ordinance, unless the zoning ordinance has not yet been
updated to reflect changes in the general plan.
iv) The development site must be five acres or smaller,
or two acres or smaller in an area with a population
density of 1,000 or more people per square mile.
v) The development:
(1) Can be adequately served by utilities.
(2) Has no value as a wildlife habitat.
(3) Does not involve demolition of a structure
listed, or eligible for listing, in the California
Register of Historic Resources.
d) Overrides the exemption for agricultural worker housing
and subjects a project to CEQA if the lead agency makes a
determination that there is a reasonable possibility that
the project would have a significant effect on the
environment due to unusual circumstances or due to
cumulative impacts of similar projects.
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2)Under the California Land Conservation Act of 1965 (Williamson
Act) (Govt. Code secs. 51200 et seq.):
a) Authorizes owners of property within areas designated as
agricultural preserves to enter into contracts with local
governments to restrict the uses of the land to
agriculture, open space, or other compatible uses in
exchange for lower property tax assessments. Williamson
Act contracts must be executed for a minimum of 10 years;
each contract is automatically renewed or extended for an
additional year on each anniversary date of the contract,
so that the contract term stays at 10 years.
b) Allows termination of Williamson Act contracts under
limited circumstances. First, either the landowner or the
city may cease the automatic yearly extension, so that the
contract will terminate 10 years from the last extension.
Second, the landowner may immediately cancel the contract
if cancellation is consistent with the purposes of the
Williamson Act or in the public interest; however, the
landowner is (with only limited exceptions) required to pay
a cancellation fee. Third, contracts may become void or be
terminated if the land is acquired under eminent domain or
is annexed to a city.
c) Contains specific provisions addressing farmworker
housing:
i) First, statutorially declares that agricultural
laborer housing is a "compatible use" within any
agricultural preserve, unless a local government, after
public hearing, makes a finding to the contrary.
Accordingly, farmworker housing can be developed on
property under a Williamson Act contract.
ii) Second, provides that a landowner may petition for
cancellation of a Williamson Act contract if a local
jurisdiction determines that agricultural laborer housing
is not a compatible use on any lands under contract. To
obtain a cancellation on this basis, the landowner must
certify that the property will not be used for other than
farmworker housing for ten years. The local jurisdiction
must approve the cancellation and must make specific
findings, including that the project will not result in
discontiguous development in agricultural areas.
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Existing law provides that if a contract is cancelled for
this purpose, the cancellation fees and taxes that would
otherwise be required to be paid will be waived.
However, a lien for those fees and taxes must be recorded
on the property to ensure that the property remains in
use for farmworker housing. The lien is released after
ten years, if the property is not converted to other
uses. If use on the property is changed, however, then
fees, taxes and interest must be paid to the local
jurisdiction (Govt. Code sec. 51282.3).
2)Under the state's Planning and Zoning Law (Govt. Code secs.
65000 et seq.), requires cities and counties to adopt general
plans with seven mandated elements (land use, housing,
circulation, etc.). Cities and counties are authorized to
adopt zoning ordinances regulating: the use of buildings,
structures, and land for industry, business, residences, and
other purposes; the location, height and size of buildings;
the size and uses of lots; the intensity of land uses; and
building set backs. Zoning ordinances must be consistent with
general plans, with certain exceptions.
THIS BILL :
2)Modifies the CEQA exemption for development and use of
residential housing for agricultural employees as follows:
a) Increases the number of units that can be developed
without complying with the CEQA process from 45 to 100 in
urbanized areas and from 20 to 50 in nonurbanized areas
that are zoned for residential use. Where nonurbanized
property is zoned for agricultural use, the number of units
eligible for the exemption remains at 20. To qualify for
the exemption in nonurbanized areas, the project also must
be adjacent to existing development on at least one side.
The increase from 45 to 100 units in urbanized areas
conforms the farmworker housing exemption to existing law
for other affordable housing projects in urban areas.
b) Allows the CEQA exemption to be used not only for
construction or conversion of a residential unit to
farmworker housing, but also for conversion of other
existing facilities, such as a commercial building, to
farmworker housing.
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c) Increases the commitment required of a farmworker
housing developer to ensure that the housing remains
available to low-income households from 15 to 30 years, in
order to be eligible for the CEQA exemption.
2)Enacts a new Williamson Act provision that allows a landowner
to set aside and transfer title to up to 5 acres of land under
a Williamson Act contract to a nonprofit organization or a
city or county, if all of the following conditions are met:
a) The property set aside remains in a Williamson Act
contract and is used exclusively as farmworker housing.
b) The developer of the housing project records a deed
restriction limiting the use of the property to
agricultural housing for 30 years.
c) If the property ceases to be used for farmworker
housing, the title to the property on which the housing is
developed reverts back and is merged with the parcel from
which it was set aside.
d) The housing project is consistent with general plan and
zoning requirements, and is within the sphere of influence
of an incorporated city or adjacent to existing zoning and
services in an unincorporated area.
2)Provides that farmworker housing remains a compatible use
within the Williamson Act when provided by an entity other
than the landowner, and authorizes the developer of the
housing to indemnify the landowner against claims arising from
the housing development when the housing is built on property
retained by the landowner.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown; likely minor or none.
COMMENTS :
1) Background
This bill is the result of the author's long-standing concern
over the provision of adequate farmworker housing. According to
information provided by the supporters of this measure, there is
a critical need for more farmworker housing - a needs assessment
conducted by the University of California estimated that 250,000
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farmworkers and their families had inadequate housing.
According to the supporters, the average farmworker earns $7,500
per year. The author of this measure has convened a task force
of farmers, lending institutions and housing advocates to
examine the problem.
This bill was first heard in committee on April 19, 1999, and
put over to the May 10th agenda. The version of the bill heard
on April 19th contained a broad CEQA exemption, preempted local
zoning requirements, and allowed cancellation of Williamson Act
contracts without payment of cancellation fees. These
provisions currently remain in the bill as it is in print (April
8th version).
The author intends, however, to amend the bill in committee to
revise and remove many of these provisions. This analysis
reflects the author's intended amendments.
2) CEQA Exemption
The supporters of this measure have proposed broadening the
existing CEQA exemption for farmworker housing as a way to deter
opponents of housing projects that may be tempted to use
environmental concerns to mask their true racial or "NIMBY" (not
in my backyard) motives.
The CEQA exemption for farmworker housing in existing law (Pub.
Res. Code sec. 21080.10(c)) was enacted in 1994 in AB 3373
(Bustamante) (Chapter 1058, Statutes of 1994). Also that same
year, SB 749 (Thompson) (Chapter 1230, Statutes of 1994) enacted
a parallel exemption for urban low-income housing projects. The
committee analyses of these earlier measures indicate that they
were proposed for the very same reasons that this bill is
proposed: to deter litigation over low-income housing.
The urban low-income housing exemption initially enacted in the
Thompson bill was amended last year to increase the size of an
exempt project from 45 to 100 units (AB 175, Torlakson). One of
the purposes of this bill is to conform the farmworker exemption
applicable in urbanized areas to the urban low-income housing
exemption as amended by the Torlakson bill.
The bill (as proposed to be amended) will also alter the scope
of the exemption as it applies to developments in nonurbanized
areas. First, an additional requirement is added -- to use the
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CEQA exemption for a project in a nonurbanized area, the
proposed project must be adjacent on at least one side to land
that has been developed. Second, the exemption is broadened --
if the project site is zoned residential, then size of the
project that qualifies for an exemption is increased to 50.
The proposed amendments also increase the length of time that
the developer must commit to keep the property in farmworker
housing from 15 years to 30 years, before the CEQA exemption may
apply.
2) Williamson Act Provisions
Under existing law, an owner of land in a Williamson Act
contract may donate property to a nonprofit or other entity for
farmworker housing, and the farmworker housing is deemed a use
compatible with agricultural uses of the land. Cancellation of
the Williamson Act contract is not required, unless the city or
county has determined that housing is not compatible in that
particular setting. If a non-compatibility determination has
been made, then a contract may be cancelled if the required
findings can be made and if a lien is imposed to insure that
cancellation fees are paid if the land is converted to other
uses. Further, existing law prohibits the subdivision of land
in a Williamson Act contract into parcels of less than 10 acres
if the land is prime agricultural land, or 40 acres if it is
non-prime (see section 66474.4 of the Government Code). These
restrictions are imposed to keep agricultural land in
economically viable units.
This bill (as proposed to be amended) will allow landowners with
land under Williamson Act contract to donate smaller parcels (up
to 5 acres) for the exclusive use for farmworker housing, if
specific conditions are met. First, the property must remain in
a Williamson Act contract, and must be restricted, by deed, to
farmworker housing for at least 30 years. Second, the title to
the property may only be transferred for the period of time the
property is actually used for farmworker housing; it reverts to
the owner of the original parcel if the use is changed. Third,
the project must be consistent with local planning and must be
in an area that is near a city or adjacent to existing urban
development. These conditions will prevent this bill from
resulting in unintended consequences such as facilitating urban
sprawl by allowing subdivisions of parcels smaller than 10
acres, and will also avoid potential legal problems associated
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with statutory cancellations of Williamson Act contracts.
(Williamson Act contracts allow significant tax advantages for
landowners, justified by the public benefit gained from
preservation of agricultural land. Existing law (both statutory
and case law) does not allow cancellations as a matter of
course. Rather, specific findings related to the purpose of the
contract must be made; for example, that cancellation is not
likely to result in the removal of adjacent lands from
agricultural use, or will not result in discontiguous patterns
of urban development. The courts have found that cancellation
should be justified for the program's tax relief benefits to
pass constitutional muster.)
The bill (as proposed to be amended) makes two additional
changes to the Williamson Act. First, it amends the definition
of compatible use to clarify that farmworker housing is still
determined to be a compatible use (unless the local jurisdiction
after public hearing makes a finding to the contrary) even
though it is provided by an entity other than the landowner.
Second, it authorizes indemnity agreements between landowners
and nonprofit or government housing developers. Both of these
provisions are addressed to the situation where the landowner
chooses to keep title to the portion of the property to be
developed as housing, rather than to transfer title to the
developer.
4) Planning and Zoning Law
With the proposed amendments, the provision that would have
prohibit a local jurisdiction from disapproving a farmworker
housing project on the basis that the project does not comply
with the jurisidiction's zoning ordinance is deleted. Since
the bill was last heard, discussions have taken place between
interested parties about replacing this provision with language
that would require cities and counties to identify, in the
housing elements of their general plans, specific sites where
farmworker housing could be built, and that would require local
jurisdictions to be allocated a specific portion of the
statewide farmworker housing need. The author's office has
indicated that it does not want to incorporate these proposals
into the bill as this time, but will continue to discuss these
issues as the bill progresses through the legislative process.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 1505
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Support
Agricultural Council of California
Building Industry Association*
California Business Properties Association
California Catholic Conference
California Manufactured Housing Institute
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Western Growers Association
*pursuant to information provided by the author's office
Opposition
Opposition to the bill as proposed to be amended is unavailable.
Analysis Prepared by : Sally Magnani Knox / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092