As we reported in our prior legal alert, these important new state housing laws will allow for the streamlined approval of qualifying housing development projects on properties where retail, office and/or parking are principally permitted uses, and AB 2011 will allow for the “by right” approval of those projects. Despite the fact that those new laws will not be operative until July 1, 2023, the City of Santa Ana City Council already proposes to exempt all qualifying AB 2011 and SB 6 properties in the City from those laws. To do so, specific required findings set forth under those laws must be made, including but not limited to findings that there would be no net loss of potential housing units, including affordable units, in the City due to the exemptions, and the exemptions would “affirmatively further fair housing.”
On May 16, 2023, the City Council voted to continue the proposed exemptions to its June 20, 2023 meeting after receiving opposition letters, including a letter from Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office stating: “This afternoon, the Office of the Attorney General was made aware of a proposed resolution on tonight’s City Council agenda that purports to exempt all eligible properties within the City of Santa Ana from the permit streamlining provisions set forth under AB 2011 and SB 6. (See Action Item 28 on City’s Consent Calendar Agenda for May 16, 2023.) The Department of Housing and Community Development is also aware of this proposed resolution and is currently reviewing the issue(s) it raises. We urge you to continue this item to a later date so that affected and interested parties will have an adequate opportunity to review and comment on the proposal.” Notably, this agenda item was (and may continue to be) placed on the City Council consent calendar, meaning that there potentially would be no City Council discussion of this significant decision.
A state appeals court ordered the city of Huntington Beach to pay $3.5 million in legal fees to an affordable housing group stemming from the organization’s 2015 lawsuit over the city’s housing plan. The three-judge panel ruled the Kennedy Commission’s lawsuit was a catalyst in forcing the city to bring its 2013-21 “housing element” into compliance with state law. While the city ultimately amended that earlier plan, Huntington Beach leaders once again are embroiled in new legal battles with the state over their refusal to adopt a new plan, now 19 months overdue.
A developer has pulled out of an agreement with the University of California at Berkeley to build housing for the homeless at the national landmark People’s Park. Resources for Community Development proposed building 125 units of permanent supportive housing in conjunction with the university’s plan for student housing at the park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The developer cited a Feb. 24 appeals court decision, overturning the development’s approval, in making its decision.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin announced a new plan to revitalize the Powell Street corridor between the Cable Car turnaround and Union Square on Tuesday. Much of the proposal is dependent on approval of the mayor’s upcoming budget. She says this proposal goes hand-in-hand with a zoning change proposal which will allow more flexibility in the type of uses and activities that can take place in Union Square.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is making new funding available to help Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program and other multifamily housing owners improve energy or water efficiency; enhance indoor air quality or sustainability; and implement the use of zero-emission electricity generation, low-emission building materials, and energy storage or building electrification strategies. The Green and Resilient Retrofit Program is the first HUD program that simultaneously invests in energy and water efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, clean-energy generation, and climate resilience strategies in multifamily housing, the agency said.
The Marin County Planning Commission voted last week to recommend county supervisors push back on a state edict that would allow single-family homeowners to create two accessory dwelling units — twice the number currently permitted by the county. An accessory dwelling policy specialist in the state Department of Housing and Community Development’s enforcement unit, notified Marin’s Community Development Agency in February that the county is misrepresenting the minimum accessory dwelling units allowed in the state.
San Diego’s Civic Center real estate, or roughly eight acres in the heart of downtown, is officially on the market. Last Friday, the city of San Diego published what’s called a “notice of availability,” kick-starting a solicitation process under California’s Surplus Land Act, which regulates how municipal agencies can offload their excess land and prioritizes the production of housing for low-income families.
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