News
California’s proposed housing laws for the 2023-24 legislative session
 Allen Matkins – May 1
There are multiple proposed bills under consideration by the State Assembly and Senate that would affect new housing developments, including SB 423 (Wiener), which would remove the sunset provision for and make other substantive changes to SB 35, and AB 1287 (Alvarez), which would amend the State Density Bonus Law to incentivize the construction of housing for both the “missing middle” and very low-income households. Our latest alert summarizes a few of the key bills.
Community plan updates move forward for Boyle Heights, DTLA, Hollywood
Urbanize L.A. – April 26
After a two-year lull, the City of Los Angeles is once again beginning to process updates to the land use and zoning rules which shape development in three of its central neighborhoods: Boyle Heights, Downtown, and Hollywood. Last week, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission approved the Boyle Heights Community Plan update, which has been in the works for a decade. Across the L.A. River, the update to the Central City and Central City North community plans also cleared an important milestone, with approval by the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
California Assembly bill restricting industrial development dies in committee
Connect CRE – April 27
AB 1000, a bill that in its original form would have largely shut down industrial development statewide on properties larger than 100,000 square feet, failed to pass the California State Assembly Local Government Committee, NAIOP SoCal reported. Still under consideration is AB 1748, which would establish a 300-foot setback requirement on Inland Empire industrial developments larger than 400,000 square feet, which the committee unanimously approved.
L.A. commission aims to make it cheaper, quicker to build affordable housing
Los Angeles Daily News – April 27
A Los Angeles city commission unanimously approved amendments to the city’s Site Plan Review Ordinance last Thursday with the goal of streamlining and increasing affordable housing projects. For multifamily housing developments, site plan review is required for projects that create a net increase of 50 units or more on a site prior to any density bonus. The amendments approved by the commission would exclude restricted affordable units from the calculation of the 50-unit project threshold and address any redundancy in language within the ordinance.
Future of state housing is at stake in UC ruling, Governor Newsom says
East Bay Times – April 28
Governor Gavin Newsom is asking the California Supreme Court to resurrect UC Berkeley’s controversial plan to build student housing at People’s Park. The state’s legal challenge claims that if the ruling stands, the case will create another avenue for opponents to use the California Environmental Quality Act to block sorely needed housing, exacerbating homelessness and the state’s current shortfall of roughly 3.5 million homes, the governor said.
Hazardous sites in California at risk of severe flooding due to rising sea levels, study finds
CBS News – May 3
More than 100 hazardous industrial sites on California's coast are at risk of flooding severely — and spreading contaminants — due to rising sea levels if climate change continues to worsen, according to a study released on Tuesday. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles and Berkeley, found that 129 sites including oil refineries, sewage treatment plants, and nuclear and fossil fuel power plants could see flooding by 2050, and 423 hazardous sites could flood by 2100. Communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles/Orange County regions are most at risk, the study concluded.
|
