In addition to the failure of Governor Brown’s “by-right” housing
proposal, which had been linked with $400 million in funding for
affordable housing, the housing and land use bills that CSAC
weighed in on in 2016 met mixed fates at the end of the two-year
session. While bills aimed at streamlining and creating
incentives for various types housing production were passed,
bills that would have increased funding to subsidize the
development of affordable homes stalled.
Second Units
The legislature passed three bills related to second residential
units. CSAC removed its opposition to SB 1069 (Wieckowski) when the author extended
previously unrealistic timeframes for issuing permits for
accessory dwelling units, although the bill still includes overly
broad prohibitions on local parking requirements. CSAC moved to
support AB 2299 (Bloom) upon the removal of a requirement that
every city and county adopt an accessory dwelling unit ordinance.
The bill also provides a bright line rule that local ordinances
are null and void if they conflict with the required standards
state law. Finally, the Legislature also passed AB 2406 (Thurmond), which creates a voluntary
statutory framework for approving “junior second units” within
existing homes.
Affordable Housing Incentives
On the affordable housing front, the legislature sent the
Governor AB 2501 (Bloom), which aims to streamline the
development of housing projects with affordable units eligible
for the state’s density bonus law. CSAC had previously removed
its opposition to this measure. AB 1934 (Santiago) was also passed. This bill would
create a new program similar to density bonus, whereby local
agencies would have to offer mutually-agreeable incentives or
concessions for commercial developers that include affordable
housing in a mixed use project or financially support an
affordable housing development off-site. CSAC removed its
opposition when a sunset clause was added to
Housing Development Subsidies
Bills to provide additional funding for affordable housing
projects fared poorly at the end of session. CSAC-supported
AB 2817 (Chiu), which would increase affordable
housing tax credits, failed passage in the Senate Appropriations
Committee and SB 879, Senator Beall’s proposal to authorize the
issuance of $3 billion in affordable housing bonds—also supported
by CSAC—stalled on the Assembly floor. One small bright spot was
AB 723 (Chiu), which will ensure that non-entitlement
counties (those with populations less than 200,000 in the
unincorporated area) are eligible to apply for the upcoming round
of Community Development Block Grant funding, even if prior-year
grant awards are less than halfway expended.
