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Legislative Bill Action
<br />The following are summaries of just a few of the legislative bills that are currently being acted upon by the
<br />League of California Cities. The League encourages you to review the bills and contact the appropriate
<br />committees to demonstrate your support or opposition of issues that are important to your community.
<br />)'our assistance is appreciated,
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<br />TRANSPORTATION, COMMUNICATION AN[) and incentives for developers to build lower income
<br />PUBLIC WORKS housing.
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<br /> AB 25~ (Durra), Public Utilities. Relocation. Further, the bill slates that its requirements shall
<br />Under current law, certain transit districts may be in addition to any other law that may restrict, or
<br />exercise the right of eminent domain to take any limit the reduction of residential density. If a court.
<br />property necessary or convenient to exercise their finds that an action of a city, county, or city and
<br />powers. When exercising this power, the transit county is in violation of this bill, the court shall
<br />district, in addition to the damage for taking, in. jury award the plaintiff reasonable attorney fees and
<br />or destruction of property, is also required to pay costs of suit.
<br />the cost of removal, reconstruction, or relocation of
<br />any structure, railways, mains, pipes, conduits, wires, AB 2292 removes both discretion and authority
<br />cables, or poles of any public utility which is re- away from the local government and gives it to the
<br />quired to be moved to a new location, state, and provides an incentive for litigation by
<br /> requiring local governments, and their taxpayers, to
<br /> ~ requires certain public utilities to enter pay the attorneys fees of those who sue them.
<br />into relocation agreements with public entities, as
<br />defined, in connection with a transit or transporta- Presumably, this bill is intended to address a
<br />tion capital improvement pro~ect. It also requires a common allegation by developers and housing
<br />relocation agreement to contain certain elements, advocates in Sacramento that local governments are
<br />and provides that if a public utility abandons utility always reducing residential densities for discrimina-
<br />relocation work under a relocation agreement, the tory reasons or to satisfy NIMBY concerns. However,
<br />public entity may assume from the public utility the this allegation is not necessarily supported by
<br />work of relocating related utilities and the public research. Even the State Department of Housing and
<br />utility would be required to reimburse the public Community Development's most recent statewide
<br />entity in accordance with the relocation agreement, housing plan, Raising the Roof, fails to identify a
<br />Staff: Amy Brown, Status: Unassigned, Position: significant trend in density reduction and states:
<br />Review and Comment.
<br /> "Among the pro~ects and_jurisdictions sampled,
<br />HOUSING AND LAND USE the local approval process did not result in systemic
<br /> reductions in density: most of the pro~ects were
<br /> AI]_ZZgZ (Dutra). State Pre-emption of Local approved at their requested density."
<br />Authority, Residential Density, AB2292 prohibits
<br />a city or county from reducing the residential To the extent that there are locally approved
<br />density for any parcel below the density that was reductions in zoned density, they are typically done
<br />utilized in determining compliance with the at the request of the developer or property owner.
<br />,iurisdiction's housing element by administrative, Is the private sector being forced by local govern-
<br />adjudicative, or legislative action or by a vote of its merits to build 5,000 sq. ft., upper-end housing, or
<br />electorate, unless the city, county, or city and county are developers lobbying for these monster homes,
<br />makes written findings supported by substantial and large lots, and gated communities because that
<br />evidence that the reduction is consistent with the is what their market surveys indicate will generate
<br />adopted general plan, including the housing ele- the most profit?
<br />ment, and other provisions of law relating to density
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<br />PAGE 4/PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site--www. cacities.org
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