California Doing Neat Sh*t With Housing!

Infill! Affordability! Fighting homelessness! Tenants rights!

The Nation-state of California keeps doing progressive stuff like planning to phase out internal combustion vehicles by 2035, guaranteeing access to abortion care, and taxing the rich enough to do social services and still have a surplus. If only people could afford to live there!

Yes, that is our very unsubtle way of telling you that the California Legislature took up more than 100 housing laws in its 2022 session and passed a passel of 'em, aimed at making housing more affordable by allowing greater flexibility in zoning, more types of housing, and easier permitting for lower-cost housing, too. It's pretty damned impressive, so grab a protective head covering and let's inspect what California's building!

Tear Down That Dead Strip Mall, Put In Housing

Near the end of September, Gov. Gavin Newsom held a signing ceremony to tout a great big package of new housing laws that will spur affordable middle-class and low-income housing. One of the bills, AB 2011, will allow developers to repurpose unused commercially zoned property for residential use without getting permission from local governments — as long as a percentage of the housing is affordable. The goal is to make use of commercial property that may sit vacant for years, but which local governments might resist rezoning for housing, since businesses mean more tax revenue — if any businesses move in. NPR reports the bill was 

a long-sought victory for affordable housing advocates, who say such sites are ready-made for apartments because they are often near populated areas and come with ample parking.

The bill would require that workers on such projects be paid the prevailing wage, and that the projects meet energy and environmental standards. (In fact, climate considerations are built into pretty much all the new housing laws.)

A companion bill, SB 6, also allows building of housing in areas zoned for offices or retail, at market rate, but would also require that projects with 50 or more units provide healthcare benefits and apprenticeships. NPR explains that the two bills reflect

a compromise between labor unions and housing developers. Some labor unions, including the powerful State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, had insisted that legislation should require a "skilled and trained" workforce to build the housing. That means a certain percentage of workers would have participated in a state-approved apprenticeship program.

But housing developers argue there aren't enough workers available to meet that standard, which would make some projects difficult to complete.

The solution was to give homebuilders a choice. The bill that requires affordable housing does not require a skilled and trained workforce, while the bill that doesn't require affordable housing does require one.

An analysis of AB 2011 found that it's likely to result in a gain of up to 2.4 million housing units statewide.

Where We're Going, We Won't Need Parking

AB 2097 is another bill aimed at making housing easier to build while also aiming at climate; it will prevent cities from requiring that new housing or business development within a half-mile of public transportation set aside space for parking. The idea is to promote less car dependency and get more housing built at lower costs. State Sen. Anthony Portantino, the bill's co-author, said damn right the idea is social engineering, explaining, "We want to make sure that we respect a movement towards an alternative way of getting to work, which is on a bicycle or on mass transit."

Portantino noted that parking spaces can add between $40,000 and $100,000 per space to the cost of a new development, so eliminating parking requirements should mean lower relative rent prices, too.

Much ADU About Granny Flats, Tiny Houses

in 2021, California aimed at increasing the housing supply with SB 9, which allowed duplexes and sometimes fourplexes on lots zoned for single-family dwellings. Cities have tried to get around that law by piling on weird requirements, which is a problem, but the Lege continued passing more bills to make better use of available space. Density is destiny, man. (Also, as the New York Times reports, the state is looking to crack down on cities' attempts to thwart the new zoning requirements.)

One suite of bills will make it easierfor homeowners to add to the available housing supply by renting out small "accessory dwelling units" (ADUs) on the same lots as an existing home. One measure requires cities to allow such small units be two stories, up to 18 feet tall, if they're near transit or on a lot with multifamily housing. Another provision of the law allows parking requirements to be eased when a garage in a multifamily unit is converted into an ADU. A separate law prevents cities from requiring a public hearing for homeowners adding a bedroom.

Other density measures aim to make low-cost housing available by providing incentives for buildings where two units share a kitchen, and for mixed use commercial projects that include affordable housing.

There's even a new law aimed at encouraging community colleges to build affordable housing for faculty and staff by allowing the colleges to get low-income housing tax credits. That's an outgrowth of a 2016 law allowing school districts to get such credits for faculty and staff housing.

Homelessness and Affordable Housing

In his 2022 budget, Newsom called for an additional $2.2 billion to fight homelessness, on top of the $12 billion the state dedicated to a multi-year program to get people into stable housing. The Lege added some good stuff on that front as well, passing a bill setting a goal of ending homelessness among domestic violence victims and their children, plus grants to prevent homelessness among families and pregnant people.

AB 2483 will prioritize funding for "housing that contains at least 25 units for elderly people who are homeless," and will also provide housing assistance to help people with disabilities to live in their own homes. One more measure will give priority spots in public housing to local people who are at risk of displacement.

Other measures aim at taking some of the hassle out of even finding affordable housing, like a new law requiring landlords to make clear whether they allow reusable credit or renter screening reports, and prohibiting charging fees if they use the reusable kind.

Other tenant protections include a ban on evictions of victims of domestic violence, and — this is just nice, damn it, stop chopping those onions — a requirement that new affordable housing buildings allow pets. My cat approves.

And in a move aimed at reducing NIMBYism, the legislature approved a measure for the 2024 ballot that would eliminate the requirement that public housing be subject to referendum. That's huge, since fearmongering about public housing has long been used to prevent it from being built pretty much anywhere. Needless to say, the measure is sure to be opposed by a lot of the same big-money interests that have helped make housing in California ridiculously expensive already.

So far missing from California's housing agenda has been any attempt to relocate smartass liberal bloggers currently trapped in red states, which strikes us as a disappointment, frankly.

[ Alfred Twu / Governor of California / NPR / CalMatters / CalYIMBY/ Image:  'Cavajunky,' Creative CommonsLicense 4.0 ]

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