For City Council Meeting [January 28, 2020]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Rod Foster, City Manager
FROM: Fred Galante, City Attorney
Title
Request City Council to Authorize the City Manager to send a letter to the California Senate and Senator Connie M. Leyva Opposing Senate Bill 50 (SB 50) relating to Housing Development Incentives.
Body
BACKGROUND:
SB 50 (Wiener) is a further attempt by the State Legislature to respond to the ongoing housing crisis within the State. The bill aims to significantly increase housing construction in areas suited to supporting such housing, namely by promoting such construction in areas well served by transit and holding strong job opportunities. SB 50 attempts to accomplish this goal by limiting the ability of local governments to enforce planning, zoning code, and design standards within these targeted areas.
SB 50 establishes a new form of density bonus incentive, the Equitable Communities Incentive. This incentive would apply to areas with strong transit connections or job-rich areas. The incentive includes the removal of residential density limits and the removal or reduction of minimum parking requirements. To qualify for the Equitable Communities Incentive, a project must meet a set of affordability requirements, based on the size of the project.
SB 50 was recently amended to address concerns raised by local governments that SB 50 removes local governments from the planning process in these targeted areas and, instead, grants developers the power to set their own development standards. The recent amendment created an alternative planning process for jurisdictions to develop a "local flexibility plan" that, if approved by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), would exempt cities from nearly all aspects of SB 50 with the exception of requiring fourplexes in single-family zones.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Despite the recent amendment, SB 50 continues to pose a serious thr...
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