Let’s indulge in a fantasy. Imagine the California legislators and bureaucrats working on housing could see eight years into the future, when the next set of housing element plans are due. Maybe they can see 16 years into the future for the deadline after that.
Instead, we must face reality: A political steamroller is coming from Sacramento to deny local input on housing with the theory that any kind of housing is always good. And those driving that steamroller will tell you they know best.
A nonprofit organization that has sued more than a dozen California cities — including two in Marin — over their housing elements is financed and controlled by the California Association of Realtors.
Californians for Homeownership has pending actions against Novato and Belvedere that were filed on Jan. 25. Fairfax is facing a similar suit that was filed Feb. 7 by a separate group, Yes In My Back Yard, a nonprofit housing advocacy organization.
Hoping to build on an effort to get much-needed affordable housing approved across California, Sen. Scott Wiener on Monday announced plans to expand a contentious state law that forces cities to approve certain projects.
Senate Bill 35 — one of Wiener’s signature achievements — shook up the state’s building process when it was passed in 2017, and sparked intense pushback from some city leaders and residents.
Can the Bay Area build its way out of a deepening housing crisis? Should it?
Many experts and officials say constructing more homes — and a lot of them — is the only way to meet the region’s increasingly dire housing needs for people of all incomes.
Between now and 2031, state regulators are insisting the Bay Area add over 441,000 new homes of all kinds — a roughly 15% increase in the region’s total housing stock.
From CalMatters political reporter Ben Christopher:
In 2017, California lawmakers passed one of the state’s most controversial and consequential housing laws, but they included an expiration date — 2025 — to see how things panned out.
Sen. Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who authored the bill, is pleased with the results so far. Monday, he introduced a bill to make the law a permanent fixture — with a slight tweak that could kick off another union-on-union spat in the state Capitol.
For more than five years, a California law has allowed residential developers to circumvent local approval processes in cities that haven’t met state housing goals. Senate Bill 35, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017, was part of a 15-bill housing package meant to stimulate construction in a state where it is sorely needed.
