Assemblymember Grayson Fulfills Commitment to Deliver on Housing

(SAN FRANCISCO) – On Friday, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. signed into law a comprehensive legislative package aimed at addressing the ongoing housing crisis in California. Included in the package were AB 879 authored by freshman Assemblymember Tim Grayson (D-Concord) and SB 35 coauthored by Grayson.

At the conclusion of the ceremony Grayson stated, “When I started serving my district in January, I knew special interests in Sacramento could stand in the way of making real progress on this issue. Today, I am proud that we have overcome that challenge and are delivering on our promises to address our state’s housing crisis. I look forward to continuing to work on this issue and ensuring that we reach our goal of bringing California home in the years ahead.”

The package of legislation includes both new funding sources for affordable housing and significant policy changes meant to increase California’s housing development. AB 879 by Assemblymember Grayson will promote transparency and accountability in local government development decisions, while SB 35 by Senator Scott Wiener and coauthored by Assemblymember Grayson, will spur development in the most housing-impacted cities by implementing a streamlined permitting and approval process for new developments that meet specified environmental and labor standards.

Assemblymember Timothy S. Grayson represents the 14^th Assembly District which includes the communities of Clayton, Concord, Martinez, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, Benicia, and Vallejo. For more information, please visit https://a14.asmdc.org/

AB 879:

AB 879, authored by Grayson, requires local governments to provide more information about housing development applications and approvals on a yearly basis and also requires a study to be conducted to recommend feasible ways to reduce fees associated with residential development.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 879, Grayson. Planning and zoning: housing element.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. That law requires, after the legislative body of the city or county has adopted all or part of a general plan, the planning agency to investigate and make recommendations to the legislative body of the city or county regarding reasonable and practical means to implement the general plan or element and to provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to the legislative body, the Office of Planning and Research, and the Department of Housing and Community Development that includes specified information pertaining to the implementation of the general plan. Existing law requires the housing element portion of the annual report to be prepared through the use of forms and definitions adopted by the department pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. Existing law excludes a charter city from these requirements.

This bill would require that this report additionally include the number of housing development applications received in the prior year, units included in all development applications in the prior year, units approved and disapproved in the prior year, and a listing of sites rezoned to accommodate that portion of the city’s or county’s share of the regional housing need for each income level that could not be accommodated on specified sites. The bill would additionally require the housing element portion of the annual report to be prepared through the use of standards adopted by the department. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the forms and definitions be adopted by the department pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and would instead authorize the department to review, adopt, amend, and repeal the standards, forms, or definitions, as provided. The bill would apply the above report requirement to a charter city.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires the housing element to include an analysis of potential and actual governmental and nongovernmental constraints upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of housing for all income levels. That law requires the analysis of governmental constraints as so described to include constraints on certain types of housing and housing for persons with disabilities, as provided, including land use controls, building codes and their enforcement, site improvements, fees and other exactions required of developers, and local processing and permit procedures. That law requires the analysis of nongovernmental constraints as so described to include the availability of financing, the price of land, and the cost of construction.

This bill would require the analysis of governmental constraints to also include any locally adopted ordinances that directly impact the cost and supply of residential development. The bill would require the analysis of nongovernmental constraints to also include the requests to develop housing at densities below those anticipated in a specified analysis, and the length of time between receiving approval for a housing development and submittal of an application for building permits for that housing development that hinder the construction of a locality’s share of the regional housing need. The bill would require the analysis of nongovernmental constraints to demonstrate local efforts to remove nongovernmental constraints that create a gap between the locality’s planning for the development of housing for all income levels and the construction of that housing.

That Planning and Zoning Law also requires the housing element to include a program which sets forth a schedule of actions during the planning period, as specified, and requires the program, in order to make adequate provision for the housing needs of all economic segments of the community to address and, where appropriate and legally possible, remove governmental constraints on the maintenance, improvement, and development of housing.

This bill would require the program to also address and remove nongovernmental constraints to the maintenance, improvement, and development of housing.

Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to collect, publish, and make available to the public information about laws regarding housing and community development and authorizes the department to provide a statistics and research service for the collection and dissemination of information affecting housing and community development.

This bill would additionally require the department, by June 30, 2019, to complete a study to evaluate the reasonableness of local fees charged to new developments, as defined. The bill would require the study to include findings and recommendations regarding potential amendments to the Mitigation Fee Act to substantially reduce fees for residential development.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65400 of the Government Code proposed by SB 35 to be operative only if this bill and SB 35 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65583 of the Government Code proposed by AB 1397 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1397 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

By adding to the duties of local planning officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

Assemblymember Grayson Fulfills Commitment to Deliver on Housing

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

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