ACTION ALERT: Do this on Monday!
We need your HELP to defeat SB 828!
Tell Marin’s State Senator McGuire and the State Senate Transportation & Housing Committee to VOTE NO ON SB-828! Although State Senate Bill 827 was defeated in committee last week, another just as damaging housing bill is on the horizon. It's State Senate Bill 828 (SB-828) and it's scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Transportation & Housing Committee on Tuesday, April 24th. This committee is a gatekeeper. If they don't approve sending the bill to the floor for a vote, the bill dies. That's what happened last week with SB-827.
Our State Senator McGuire is on this committee: He has a lot of power in this, and to properly represent us, he needs to vote no and convince his committee members to vote no.
About SB-828: SB-828 changes Housing Element law to exponentially increase the number of housing units that cities and counties will have to plan for. It does this by...
• Doubling the amount of land intended to house all income levels of residents by setting aside more properties for apartments and condominiums; • Zoning land to account for homes not built under production goals from the prior eight years; • Zoning even more land for residential properties if a state audit shows there’s a shortage in that community; • Boosting targets higher where home prices are far outpacing wage increases.
ACTION NEEDED:
1. Attend the hearing on Tuesday April 24 at 1:30 pm. Bring signs that say "No on SB-828!" The hearing will be held in the John L. Burton Hearing Room (4203), Calfornia State Capitol, 1315 10th St. B-27, Sacramento, CA 95814 (10th and L streets).
2. If you can't attend the hearing, then you must call State Senator Mike McGuire's office on Monday. He is on this committee. Urge him to vote NO on SB-828 and to convince his fellow committee members to vote NO. The bill "dies in committee" unless it's approved by a majority of the committee members. To properly represent us, McGuire needs to vote no. His office: 916-651-4002
3. Call the other members of this committee on Monday, in addition to McGuire, especially the Chair and Vice Chair. Urge them to vote NO on SB-828. - Senator Jim Beall (Chair) 916-651-4015
- Senator Anthony Cannella (Vice Chair) 916-651-4012
- Senator Bill Dodd - 916-651-4003
- Senator Ted Gaines - 916-651-4001
- Senator Cathleen Galgiani - 916- 651-4005
- Senator Mike Morrell - 916-651-4023
- Senator Richard Roth - 916-651-4031
- Senator Nancy Skinner - 916-651-4009
- Senator Andy Vidak - 916-651-4014
- Senator Bob Wieckowski - 916-651-4010
- Senator Scott Wiener - 916-651-4011
You’ll be able to simply say "Vote NO on SB-828 in committee." The staff member will make note of that, and ask for your name and address. It will take very little of your time to make these calls.
Reasons to oppose Senate Bill 828:
1. There is a limit to growth and Marin’s water supply is insufficient to meet the demand of the County’s current allowable buildout, let alone the significantly greater allowable buildout that SB-828 would require:
Marin has a limited water supply. The 2007 Marin Countywide Plan’s EIR determined that land uses and development consistent with the Countywide Plan would increase the demand for water. As a result, water supplies would be insufficient in normal rainfall years. Development of additional water resources would be required. This was identified as a significant impact that cannot be avoided with mitigation (SU). Therefore, Marin’s water supplies would be insufficient to meet the demand generated by the additional allowable housing buildout that SB-828 would require.
2. The amount of potential buildout for housing is not the problem:
The bill would increase jurisdictions’ potential buildout of housing when this isn’t the problem. The vast majority of cities and counties have certified housing elements, meaning that they have identified enough sites and zoned for densities at levels necessary to meet their Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). Instead of increasing allocations, the State should help jurisdictions to carry out the housing plans they already have;
3. Jurisdictions are not in control of housing production:
Jurisdictions are not in control of what private parcel owners will build. Moreover, there are not enough subsidies to build the moderate and lower-income units that are currently included in the RHNAs. Adding more and more units and site requirements, and then blaming cities and counties for not producing their RHNA housing units when production is out of the jurisdictions’ control, punishes local agencies for results that are impossible to achieve, and will not solve the deficit;
4. Jurisdictions, without much vacant land, would be forced to prematurely annex or rezone areas for housing, when those areas would be better left for other purposes:
Requiring an exponentially ever-larger number of sites to be zoned for housing would not build those units, but instead, would force jurisdictions, without that much vacant land, to prematurely up-zone inappropriate sites (E.g. sites subject to sea level rise), annex areas to zone that many sites, or rezone agricultural and open space;
5. SB-828 would increase SB-35 streamlining:
SB-828 would increase the potential for developers to take advantage of SB-35 streamlining and avoid CEQA and its required public engagement process on sites that meet SB-35 criteria. Streamlining goes against the principles of local democracy and public engagement. Public hearings allow members of the community to inform their representatives of their support and/or concerns about potential development and leads to better project outcomes;
6. If excessive housing units were built, then the subsequent housing densification and population growth would increase the risk of adverse impacts:
If excessive housing units were constructed, then the corresponding housing densification and population growth would increase the risk of adverse impacts on the environment, public health and safety, traffic congestion, infrastructure, utilities (water supply), public services (schools, fire dept., police, etc.), neighborhood character, and quality of life;
7. The bill would create unfunded mandates:
There is no funding for dealing with the above listed impacts and the bill provides an official sidestep of addressing this issue. In addition, there are no subsidies provided for affordable housing programs. Moreover, jurisdictions tend to receive less tax revenue from residential developments than commercial and reserving a larger percentage of land for housing would squeeze local budgets. |
"SB 828 has garnered less interest [than SB-827] because its changes are harder to understand and predict, said Greg Morrow, director of the Fred Sands Institute of Real Estate at Pepperdine University. But Morrow said SB 828's increases to allowable zoning for housing across the state could be as dramatic as those anticipated by Wiener's other bill [SB-827]." -- LA Times, “"A little-known bill could reshape housing development across California"
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-under-the-radar-housing-bill-20180412-story.html
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TAKE ACTION ON MONDAY! TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS TO TAKE ACTION TOO! |