BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Richard K. Rainey, Chairman
BILL NO: AB 1505 HEARING: 8/18/99
AUTHOR: Ducheny FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 8/16/99 CONSULTANT: Detwiler
FARMWORKER HOUSING AND LOCAL LAND USE REGULATION
Background
Despite the mechanization of California's agribusiness,
there is still a demand for farm labor. Changing crop
patterns shifted the demand for farmworkers and also
changed the need for employee housing. As growers change
the location of market crops, grape and fruit orchards,
coastal strawberries, and nurseries, they attract
farmworkers to new areas.
In 1995, the Senate Housing and Land Use Committee held an
interim hearing on farmworker housing. The Committee found
that, Local community opposition to new farmworker housing
can stop projects favored by growers, farmworkers, and
local officials. Housing sponsors want to make it easier
to build farmworker housing.
Proposed Law
I. Housing elements . The Planning and Zoning Law requires
every city and county to adopt a general plan with seven
specified elements, including a housing element. In that
document, local officials must identify their community's
share of regional housing needs and then identify adequate
sites for housing, including rental housing, factory-built
housing, mobilehomes, emergency shelters, and transitional
housing. If the housing element does not identify adequate
sites, the housing element must provide that local zoning
ordinances allow residential "use by right" for very low
and low-income households. "Use by right" means that a
builder does not need an additional conditional use permit.
Assembly Bill 1505 requires local general plans' housing
elements to identify adequate sites with public services
and facilities for housing for agricultural employees to
meet the city or county's regional share of farmworker
AB 1505 -- 8/16/99 -- Page 2
housing. If a housing element's inventory of sites does
not identify adequate sites for farmworker housing, AB 1505
requires the document to provide for zoning that permits
farmworker housing and specified ancillary uses in
residential zones as a "use by right."
II. Permit Streamlining Act . The Permit Streamlining Act
requires public officials to act on development projects
within 180 days of the certification of the project's
environmental impact report.
Assembly Bill 1505 requires public officials to act on a
development project within 90 days of the certification of
an environmental impact report under three conditions:
The development project is for agricultural employee
housing and is
affordable to very low and low-income households.
The project's applicant has applied or will apply
for housing tax credits.
The tax credit application was received before the
EIR was certified.
This provision takes effect only if Senate Bill 948 is not
enacted in 1999.
Comments
1. Gimme shelter . Farmworkers, especially migrants, must
endure some of California's worst housing conditions.
Legislative hearings documented the need for safe, decent,
and affordable housing, as well as the lack of adequate
private and public funding. As the state government and
local officials begin to increase the amount of capital
available for building and rehabilitating farmworker
housing, there is still a need to find acceptable locations
for these projects. AB 1505 responds to these problems by
planning for more sites for farmworker housing and speeding
up development decisions.
2. Contingent enactment . Earlier this year the Senate
passed SB 948 (Alarc?n, 1999) that amends the Permit
Streamlining Act to speed up the approval of affordable
housing developments. SB 948 applies to all very low and
AB 1505 -- 8/16/99 -- Page 3
low-income housing developments while AB 1550 applies to
very low and low-income housing for farmworkers. Because
the language in AB 1550 is narrower than SB 948, Section 6
of the Ducheny bill will go into effect only if the Alarc?n
bill does not pass this year. SB 948 is still in the
Assembly Local Government Committee.
3. Wrong Committee ? Until the August 16 amendments, AB
1505 would have amended the Williamson Act, a topic that is
within the jurisdiction of the Senate Local Government
Committee. The August 16 amendments removed the Williamson
Act provisions, which had been a major source of
controversy. Because the Senate Housing and Community
Development Committee has jurisdiction over bills affecting
the housing element law, AB 1505 may be withdrawn from the
Senate Local Government Committee before the August 18
hearing.
AB 1505 -- 8/16/99 -- Page 4
Assembly Actions
Assembly Housing & Community Development Committee:10-0
Assembly Natural Resources Committee:11-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee:21-0
Assembly Floor: 79-0
Support and Opposition (8/12/)
Support : Agricultural Council of California, Bank of
America, Burbank Housing Development Corporation,
California Building Industry Association, California
Business Properties Association, California Catholic
Conference, California Coalition for Rural Housing,
California Labor Federation, California Manufactured
Housing Institute, California Rural Legal Assistance
Foundation, CHISPA, Civic Center Barrio Housing
Corporation, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition, Community
Housing Opportunities Corporation, Congress of California
Seniors, Davis and Company, Esparanza Community Housing
Corporation, JERICHO, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante,
Midpeninsula Housing Coalition, Orange County Community
Housing Corporation, Peoples' Self-Help Housing
Corporation, Rural Communities Housing Development
Corporation, Sacramento Mutual Housing Association, Santa
Clara County Housing Authority, Self-Help Enterprises,
South County Housing, Western Center on Law and Poverty,
Western Growers Association, WNC & Associates.
Opposition : California Farm Bureau Federation.