The latest in housing: April 28th, 2022

by | Apr 28, 2022 | Newsletter | 0 comments

Take action: legalize housing in commercial zones statewide with AB 2011!

AB 2011 converts big box retail, surface parking lots, & strip malls into homes built by well-paid construction workers

The 2022 Statewide Housing Plan estimates that California needs to build approximately 2.5 million units of housing over the next eight years – including over one million units affordable to lower income households. According to HCD, the state will need 180,000 new units of housing each year just to keep up with existing demand, including 80,000 units affordable to lower-income households. Yet CA averages less than 100,000 new units per year, and has never produced more than 20,000 new affordable homes in any year.

Creating new by-right (no CEQA, no delays) housing opportunities is key to achieving this historic goal. Underutilized commercial sites such as big box retail and strip malls present an ideal opportunity to add new housing without the risk of displacement.

AB 2011 legalizes by-right housing on commercial zones statewide and pairs housing with well-paid construction jobs. It will face hearings in the legislature soon, please join AHLA in urging your state legislators to support AB 2011!

 

New in housing:

    • State bills introduced this year must pass out of the legislature’s policy committees by 4/29 to remain active. Our priority bills have all cleared this deadline.
    • Housing Element updates: the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) declined to certify housing elements from Culver City, Glendale, and Bell Gardens. It certified Calabasas’ housing element.
    • Executive Director of LA Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Heidi Marston resigns, citing difficulties in fulfilling LAHSA’s mission without “fundamental shifts”. In her resignation letter, Marston elaborates: “Power and funding alone control homelessness. But in our current system, organizations like the one I lead, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), are not given control over regulatory or policy decisions, service providers remain underfunded, and dedicated front-line employees of non-profit organizations and government entities are hamstrung by rules, red tape, and bureaucracy.”

      Marston also points to low wages, high rents, restrictive zoning laws, and other “shadow monsters” we must tackle in order to end homelessness.  Full statement here.

    • Nonprofit group Californians for Homeownership filed the lawsuits in L.A. and Orange County superior courts against L.A. County cities of Bradbury, La Habra Heights, Manhattan Beach, Vernon and South Pasadena, plus the Orange County city of Laguna Hills for failing to adopt new housing elements by the Oct 15th, 2021 deadline. Read more here

 

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