Bill would prod cities to build housing
SACRAMENTO — About once a decade, California sets goals for how much new housing each region of the state must build to meet the needs of local residents and keep up with population growth. But with few options available for the state to enforce the law, much of that housing is planned and then never gets built.
A new bill from Assembly Member David Chiu, DSan Francisco, would require cities that fall behind on their construction targets to adopt policies that make it easier to plan and build housing. Chiu said it’s an accountability measure as California struggles with the soaring prices and widespread homelessness that have resulted from decades of failure to keep up with demand.
“If we’re ever going to truly address the worst housing and homelessness crises in our state’s history, we need all cities to do their part,” he said. “We can’t just have some cities moving forward with prohousing policies and other cities deliberately lagging.”
The state has already set regional goals for the next eightyear period — the Bay Area must plan for 441,176 new housing units from 2023 to 2031, about half of those for low or very lowincome residents — and local governments are in the process of divvying up the allocation.
Chiu’s bill, AB215, would create a checkpoint halfway through the cycle to assess how close cities are to meeting their construction targets. Those that fall below the regional average would have to consult with the state about how to speed up their progress. Cities that are substantially behind — more than 10 percentage points below the regional average — would be required to adopt new policies to earn a “prohousing designation” from the state.
That label was created two years ago to encourage construction by giving cities preferential treatment when
they apply for certain housing and transportation grants from the state. The Department of Housing and Community Development expects to finalize its regulations by July, but cities will qualify if they take steps such as creating more residential zoning, lowering parking requirements and streamlining their permitting processes.
Chiu said his approach would give communities flexibility to choose from among a range of policies, while also providing the benefit of access to additional state funding.
“We are creating a race to the top so that all cities in California are prohousing cities,” he said.
The measure could face significant resistance in the Legislature from cities that have fought previous bills to force them to build more housing. Several attempts in recent years have died amid opposition from local governments that did not want to lose control over how their communities develop.
The League of California Cities said it has not yet had an opportunity to review Chiu’s proposal.