Multiple state housing bills – passed by the state Assembly and Senate and signed by Governor Newsom last year – took effect at the beginning of this year in what some are calling the most significant wave of pro-housing laws in state history.
“The era of saying no to housing is coming to an end,” said State Sen. Scott Wiener after two of his bills were signed into law.
Most of the new laws are geared toward affordable housing projects or projects that have at least a small percentage of affordable units. But the laws also are expected to help market-rate projects. There are even new laws to benefit developers of Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs.
R. Nic Brown, a land-use consultant and retired Zoning Administrator, provided an extensive summary of key bills on his weekly blog here: Seat At The Table (SATT).
One of the most promising bills for increasing housing density is AB 1287, which allows developers to “double dip” the bonuses that have been offered in the Density Bonus (DB) laws passed earlier this century. Developers who are getting additional dwelling units by including a handful of units set aside for “very low” income levels can now get twice as many additional dwelling units by including a handful of units for “moderate” income levels too.
However, according to Daniel Freedman at JMBM (one of the city’s most well-known land-use law firms), the city of Los Angeles is exempt from the requirements of AB 1287 and there’s no word on whether the city will voluntarily participate. Freedman’s comments came at a JMBM seminar regarding the new housing laws that was held earlier this month and can be watched here.
