Over the last several decades, an increasing number of California cities have transitioned to “charter cities,” and many more could follow suit. The main obstacle? Recent elections show many residents don’t actually want that designation.
Charter cities in California are incorporated jurisdictions that can impose special taxes at higher rates and with greater flexibility than the state law allows. To become a charter city, a city has to adopt a charter through a majority vote of the city’s electorate.
In California, 2023 was a blockbuster year for housing legislation with bills that streamlined approvals in most major cities, doubled the affordable housing density bonus, created more options for townhouses, condos and ADUs, and allowed religious organizations to build affordable housing on their land, regardless of zoning.
As in previous years, California saw a significant volume of new housing legislation emerge from Sacramento in 2024. (See Holland & Knight’s previous annual recaps of California Housing Laws in the final section below.) This Holland & Knight alert takes a closer look at some of the most significant housing laws that the California Legislature passed and Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law, grouped into following categories
A recent Marin County Planning Commission agenda item to finalize the Corcoran v. County of Marin lawsuit, which the county lost, morphed into a much larger exposure of dysfunction between county interests and staff.
On Sept. 23, the commission voted 5-2 to simply follow a court order to remove unlawful language clauses from county documents that had been inserted by staff – over commissioners’ objections – in 2022.
Developers hoping for a faster and easier path to converting empty office buildings to housing in California’s downtowns will have to wait for another legislative session after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation that would have fast-tracked such projects.
The measure, AB3068, would have expedited adaptive reuse projects by mandating by-right approval for projects converting offices to residential or mixed-use in city centers.
Proposition 5 will introduce a tsunami of long-termdebt.
Prop 5 will reduce the approval threshold for localaffordable housing and public infrastructure bonds from the current two-thirdsvoter requirement to 55%, making it easier for cities, counties and specialdistricts to pass these measures.
A weekly Zoom call to talk about housing legislation and strategies to preserve local control. Bring your questions and ideas. Informal networking, announcements, and updates. PLEASE NOTE: You have to register in advance the first time to get the new Zoom link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The Zoom link will work for the rest of the year. REGISTER
A weekly Zoom call to talk about housing legislation and strategies to preserve local control. Bring your questions and ideas. Informal networking, announcements, and updates. PLEASE NOTE: You have to register in advance the first time to get the new Zoom link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The Zoom link will work for the rest of the year. REGISTER
A weekly Zoom call to talk about housing legislation and strategies to preserve local control. Bring your questions and ideas. Informal networking, announcements, and updates. PLEASE NOTE: You have to register in advance the first time to get the new Zoom link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The Zoom link will work for the rest of the year. REGISTER
A weekly Zoom call to talk about housing legislation and strategies to preserve local control. Bring your questions and ideas. Informal networking, announcements, and updates. PLEASE NOTE: You have to register in advance the first time to get the new Zoom link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The Zoom link will work for the rest of the year. REGISTER
A weekly Zoom call to talk about housing legislation and strategies to preserve local control. Bring your questions and ideas. Informal networking, announcements, and updates. PLEASE NOTE: You have to register in advance the first time to get the new Zoom link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The Zoom link will work for the rest of the year. REGISTER
