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7A Page 5 HOUSING/LAND USE UPDATE: THAT'S A (LEGISLATIVE) WRAP By Bill Higgins housing elements will be subject to court sanction; the Anti-NIMBY Law will now be called the Housing Accountability Act; affordable housing eligible for expedited processing under the Permit Streamlin- ing Act is now specifically defined. The Legislature has adjourned, Gov. Schwarzenegger has finished signing bills, and the dust is just settling over the newly adopted bills. But outside of the redevelopment issue, 2006 will be remembered as rather a he-hum year for housing-unless, of course, either Prop. 90 or the Housing Bond (Prop. 1 C) passes in Novem- ber. Below is a summary of some of the League's legislative housing and land use efforts. The League started this year by sponsoring a number of bills that would help create incentives for local agencies to build housing. For example, SB 1754 (Lowenthal) would have created incre- ment finance zones for high density housing near transit; AB 2484 (Hancock) would have capped the application of the density bonus law where local agencies have already zoned at high levels; and AB 2468 (Salinas) would have allowed local governments to self-certify their housing elements if they voluntarily designate locations where their lower income housing allocations can be built "by right." Although these bills were held up at various points in the legislative process, they served an important purpose: they helped education the members of the Legislature of how local agencies are part of the housing solution. If the League was unsuccessful in getting its legislation passed however, it was very successful in stopping several bills that cities opposed-such as a the creation of "housing opportunity plans" and a 20-year land supply (SB 1800 [Ducheny]); increased state oversight over affordable house (AB 2526 [Arambula)); expand attorney fee provi- sions for affordable housing litigation (SB 1330 [Dunn]), or to tweak the incentive and waiver provisions of the density bonus law yet again (SB 1177 [Hollingsworth)). It would seem, then, that the year was a draw. Nevertheless, two bills were signed by the Gover- nor that deserve mention: AB 2511 (Jones). Makes several changes to affordable housing laws: local agencies that do not file an annual report on progress on their AS 2634 (Lieber). Clarifies that the very- low income number assigned under the RHNA process includes a proportional number of ex- tremely low-income households based on census data. A more complete list of housing bills will be available at the League's Legislative Update Conference to be held on November 15 in Sacra- mento and November 16 in Anaheim (see www cacities.org/events for details). Bills Vetoed. Also of note, however, were several bills that the Governor vetoed, not the least of which was S8 1322 (Cedillo), which limited local control over the siting and approval of emer- gency shelters and "super group homes" (seven or more beds). The Governor also vetoed AB 2922 (Jones). This was another bill that started on the League's priority list because of the sweeping impacts it would have to housing and redevelopment law. In the end, however, it was limited to expanding the rights of those who could sue to enforce affordability covenants in redevelopment areas. In his veto message, however, the governor cited this expanded standing as the primary problem with the law. Visit the League's Official Website--www.cacitles.org PRIORITY FOCUS - PAGE 5 October 6, 2006 - Issue #39