BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Richard K. Rainey, Chairman
BILL NO: AB 1505 HEARING: 8/18/99
AUTHOR: Ducheny FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 8/17/99 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. Williamson Act . When a landowner signs a Williamson
Act contract with a county or a city agreeing to keep the
property in agriculture, open space, or compatible uses for
at least 10 years, county officials must reduce the
property's assessed valuation. Assembly Bill 1505 makes
three changes to the Williamson Act's handling of
farmworker housing:
Compatible use . The Williamson Act recognizes
utility facilities and agricultural laborer housing as
compatible uses. AB 1505 recognizes that agricultural
laborer housing facilities are a compatible use under
Williamson Act contracts, regardless if the facilities are
provided by the landowner, a city, a county, a city and
county, the state government, or a nonprofit organization.
Indemnification . When a landowner permits free
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public recreational use of Williamson Act contracted land,
the Act allows local officials to indemnify the landowner
against all claims arising from public use. AB 1505 allows
a city, county, city and county, the state government, or a
nonprofit corporation to indemnify a Williamson Act
landowner against all claims arising from the use of the
land for agricultural laborer housing facilities.
Lot split . A subdivision is the division of a
parcel for the purpose of sale, lease, or financing. The
Subdivision Map Act prohibits the subdivision of land that
is under a Williamson Act if the resulting parcels are too
small for agricultural use. Parcels must be at least 10
acres for prime agricultural land and 40 acres for nonprime
agricultural land. However, local officials can approve a
lot split of Williamson Act contracted land to transfer a
small parcel to an immediate family member provided that
the transferred parcel meets land use standards, adheres to
the Williamson Act contract, and there is a written
agreement to operate the property under joint management.
The properties remain subject to the Williamson Act.
AB 1505 allows a landowner to subdivide land that is
designated as an agricultural preserve under six
conditions:
* The property to be sold or leased must be no more
than five acres.
* The parcel will be sold or leased to a nonprofit
organization, a city,
a county, a housing authority, or a state agency.
* The parcel to be sold or leased must be subject to a
deed restriction
limiting its use to agricultural laborer housing
for at least 30 years.
When the parcel is no longer used for housing, it
must be merged
with the other property.
* There must be a written agreement to jointly operate
the properties
for the duration of the Williamson Act contract.
* The property must be in a city, in a city's sphere
of influence, or in
unincorporated territory and contiguous to existing
residential or co-
mercial uses.
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* The design, location, and operation of the
agricultural laborer housing
must minimize the effect on agricultural husbandry
practices.
The subdivision does not affect the Williamson Act
contract, and the property to be sold or leased remains
subject to the contract.
II. 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
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."
III. 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
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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
making it easier to develop farmworker housing on
Williamson Act land, planning for more sites for farmworker
housing and speeding up development decisions.
2. A clash of goals . AB 1505 attempts to reconcile two
valid but competing public policies, but it may achieve
neither. The bill tries to provide more sites for
farmworker housing while still protecting the integrity of
the Williamson Act. While these goals may be possible in
theory, in practice they may clash. The Williamson Act
already recognizes farmworker housing as a compatible use,
so it's logical for AB 1505 to permit five-acre lot splits
for new agricultural laborer housing. The Williamson Act
is California's premier land conservation statute, so why
should the Legislature promote the use of farmland for
housing? The Committee may wish to consider if it's truly
possible to have farmworker housing on Williamson Act
contracted land.
3. Testing one, two, three ? A typical American response
to uncertainty is to try an experiment. The Committee may
wish to consider amending AB 1505 to allow up to three
lot-splits of Williamson Act contracted land in each of
three counties over the next five years. The Committee may
wish to try this experiment in a coastal county (perhaps
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San Diego), a Central Valley county (perhaps Tulare), and a
Mother Lode county (perhaps Amador). Legislators can
review the results of this experiment in 2005 to see if the
law should extend statewide.
4. Buffer zones . Housing can be incompatible with even
accepted agricultural practices. Pesticide drift, plowing
dust, machinery noises, downwind smells, and barnyard pests
make for bad neighbors. Farmers can mitigate these
unavoidable nuisances by leaving buffer zones between their
operations and adjacent land uses. But buffer zones mean
less productive land, higher costs, and lower profits. The
Committee may wish to consider if farmworker housing on
Williamson Act land reduces the productivity of adjacent
farmland.
5. 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
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.
6. Another committee ? The Senate Local Government
Committee is hearing AB 1505 on August 18 because the bill
alters the Williamson Act. But the bill also amends the
housing element law, a topic that lies within the
jurisdiction of the Senate Housing and Community
Development Committee. If the bill passes, the Committee
may wish to consider referring AB 1505 to the Senate Rules
Committee for assignment to the other policy committee.
7. Technical amendment needed . The sections of AB 1505
that affect the Williamson Act are inconsistent and the
Committee should adopt technical amendments to avoid
confusion. Sections 2 and 3 need not refer to farmland
owned by a city and county because San Francisco has none.
Sections 2 and 3 should, however, refer to housing
authorities which can own and operate farmworker housing.
Section 1 contains the correct list of housing sponsors.
AB 1505 -- 8/17/99 -- Page 6
Assembly Actions
Assembly Housing & Community Development Committee:10-0
Assembly Natural Resources Committee:11-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee:21-0
Assembly Floor: 79-0
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Support and Opposition (8/17/)
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, Catholic Charities of California, 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, Wine
Institute, WNC & Associates.
Opposition : California Farm Bureau Federation, California
State Association of Counties.