Please provide your input to "what we want" from the State.

Thanks to those of you that emailed suggestions for what we want and contributed toward this month's bills. Keep them coming!

At a previous teleconference, one of our members reported meeting with Assembly Member Phil Ting. Asm Ting told her, "I know what you don't want, but tell me what you do want". During the discussion, it became clear that a comprehensive list of what we want would be useful to all of us in meetings with our legislators. We used our last teleconference to develop that list and received a lot of great input from attendees. The list is below. For those of you that did not attend, you can review the list and provide your input via email to [email protected]

We did forget to ask for donations in that teleconference. We need $1765 more to pay this month's bills. Please Donate Now.

We could really use one or two large contributions.

Our next teleconference will be Sat December 2nd. Our guest will be Scoot Kaufman from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association to discuss Statewide ballot measures.

Legislative Agenda – What We Want

Major Changes to Fix the RHNA Process

Statewide RHNA to be updated / changed anytime during a current cycle when population / construction data shows it to be obsolete or unrealistic. Requests by cities would trigger the update.
The statewide RHNA process to be objective, stable, transparent, and accurate. All underlying data and formulas must be published and open to challenge by cities, including judicial review. ”Existing need” must be thoroughly validated through overcrowding and separated from “rent burdened”, which falsely assumes that more units would lower rents.
The local RHNA distribution by COGS to be objective, stable, transparent, and accurate. All underlying data and formulas must be published and open to challenge by cities, including judicial review.
Instead of putting more housing in resource rich communities, RHNA should focus on improving resource poor areas.
Cities may trade RHNA requirements with other cities within the same COG on any basis they choose.
RHNA to return to being a cooperative planning tool and not to be used as a basis for enforcement in any way.

Changes to HCD’s Housing Element Process

HCD to be cooperative rather than adversarial with cities.
Housing element approval criteria to be objective, stable, and transparent. All criteria must be published and open to challenge by cities, including judicial review. The same criteria must be applied to all cities. HCD must not make different requests / changes to different cities in order to get their housing element approved. Cities housing element will be deemed “approved as submitted” 90 days after 1st
After certification, cities may not be “decertified” for the current cycle.
Any time after 1st submittal, cities are protected from “builders remedy”

The State Must Not Require Affordable Housing Without Providing State Funds to Cover All Necessary Production and Operating Subsidies for Its Required Affordable Housing Production .

State funds must come from statewide sources and state coordinated federal sources, and the funding burden shall not be pressed down to counties and cities.
Streamline affordable housing funding.
State funds must also be made available for new infrastructure needs (e.g. schools) created by state housing demands.
Consider re-establishing some form of redevelopment funding (with appropriate fiscal review requirements) to help fund affordable housing, infrastructure renovation, and brownfield remediation.
Preservation of existing housing should be prioritized over new construction.
New development should be required to provide units for anyone displaced by the development at a cost consistent with their original rent or mortgage.

All New Housing Bills Must Require the Same Percentage of Affordable Housing that is in the Local Jurisdiction’s RHNA Requirement, with the Affordable Component Subsidized by the State.

The Legislature must stop trying to meet Affordable Housing demand through market-rate trickle-down and density bonuses to market-rate developments.

New Housing Bills Must Be Geographically Equitable.

Reduce the focus on building in existing dense high-cost cities and provide more incentive for building statewide in lower cost locations.
Provide for the type of housing choice people want, including focus on single family homes.
Survey and identify lower cost locations that actually need and want more housing and jobs. Redistribute RHNA to include these locations.
Incentivize employers to create offices / jobs in these lower cost locations.
Remove urban boundary constraints.
Within cities, focus on abandoned big box stores, unused office buildings and malls for redevelopment into housing.

Discourage Unused Housing / Vacant Units

Consider a vacancy tax for buildings over 4 units.

Support First Time and Middle-Class Home Ownership.

Control Speculation by Investors buying up housing supply.
Promote programs providing low-interest mortgage loans for first-time homebuyers.
Consider down payment support.

Require Large Corporations to be Responsible for the new Housing Needs Created by Expanding their Employment.

Protect the Environment

Take Climate Change into Account in Housing Legislation.

Minimize construction in high fire risk zones, and require rigorous fire- safety and evacuation standards in all new construction in those zones.
Avoid areas projected to be impacted by sea level rise and tsunami zones and flood zones.
Require cities to preserve green space / open space and meet standards for green space based on population.
Minimize “heat islands”.
Discourage increases in impermeable surfaces, preserve / restore natural creeks and drainages, and promote groundwater replenishment.
Promote inclusion of renewable energy sources in all new construction.

Promote efficient but effective CEQA review and apply it to all development that might have significant environmental impacts. Beneficial effects (e.g., providing jobs or affordable housing) should not be used as an excuse for excusing CEQA compliance.

Reinforce the Coastal Act and Coastal Commission

Coastal Commission to have final say over all development with no exceptions.

Cities Must Have a Significant Say in Land Use Decisions

Final say on where development goes.
Final say on all parking issues. (Restrictions on parking violate the state’s affirmative fair housing policies.)