San Francisco Bay Area lawmakers target housing

Observing opposing factions taking sides over contested housing legislation, Lane lauded the injection of resources by Gov. Gavin Newsom in the effort to close the gap state’s housing shortfall worth an estimated 3.5 million units by 2025.

“There is an understanding that we need to solve this problem and we need to find ways to do that,” Lane said, regarding the general acknowledgement that it will take a variety of approaches to facilitate more housing development.

Regarding the state’s financial contribution, Lane lauded Newsom’s willingness to pull from the historic budget surplus to fuel efforts combating homelessness and driving housing development.

Among those investments include $750 million for Project Homekey, the state program designed to acquire hotel and motel properties to convert into housing for the homeless population. Lane also noted $500 million in low-income housing tax credits, $250 million for infill infrastructure grant programs though the state department of Housing and Community Development and $100 million to help finance construction of accessory dwelling units.

In all, Newsom proposed $1.75 billion in programs designed to address housing programs, which drew positive reviews from the county’s Housing Leadership Council.

“It’s worth highlighting the historic investments in the budget, particularly the $1.75 billion in equity for HCD-funded projects. This will help thousands of shovel-ready affordable homes get built,” council Associate Director Leora Tanjuatco Ross said in an email.

While a portion of the funding is drawn from federal pandemic relief payments, the bulk is drawn out of Newsom’s budget proposal that was crafted on the foundation of a $76 billion surplus.

Beyond the injection of funding, Lane said a policy focus exists on assuring that housing legislation approved in previous years in being effectively introduced and enforced.

The Housing and Community Development department is a critical state resource for working alongside cities to assure that existing housing goals are met, Lane said, and new legislation proposed looks to strengthen that work.

Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco, proposed Assembly Bill 215 that aims to allow HCD to meet with cities midway through the eight-year housing planning cycle and track progress.

“To address the housing crisis, we have to make sure cities follow through on their plans. While some cities are striving mightily, others are lagging, and this bill is about ensuring that all cities do what they say they are going to do,” Chiu said in a prepared statement regarding the bill that passed out of the Assembly and is expected to go before the Senate this summer.

The deadline for bills to pass out of houses or origin was Friday, June 4. Those that survived will continue to be negotiated over in advance of the Sept. 10 deadline, which is the last day for any bill to advance to Newsom’s desk.

Following the most recent deadline, Lane said it can be difficult to assess progress of specific bills — especially as most lawmakers turned their focus to budget deliberations before the Tuesday, June 15 approval deadline.

“A lot of this is incremental,” he said. “We always kind of expect this.”

But looking ahead, Lane anticipated clashes escalating over a slate of divisive bills proposed earlier this year by state senators, designed to facilitate additional housing construction with financial incentives and loosened regulations.

The package dubbed Housing Opportunities For All seeks to, among other goals, allow for residential development in commercial zones; streamline construction of developments meeting high environmental standards; allow for duplex construction in single-family zone neighborhoods; and upzone areas near job centers, transit stops and other residential hubs.

Senate Bill 9, aiming to facilitate construction of duplexes or lot splits to allow for additional construction on residential parcels, and Senate Bill 10, the upzoning proposal, are ardently opposed by neighborhood groups such as Livable California.

Critics claim the proposals will incentivize speculative developers to purchase properties with plans of rebuilding neighborhood lots into large projects incompatible with existing character.

If approved, they claim the bills will yield construction of more market-rate units unaffordable to most existing residents and worsen gentrification patterns throughout the state.

“We don’t see this bill’s vast expansion of luxury housing favors from the state as help for cities,” according to a Livable California press release regarding Senate Bill 10, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco.

Beyond neighborhood groups, Lane also acknowledged the opposition from construction trade groups lobbying to assure any housing development bills include mandates to hire union labor.

Because many development proposals, particularly those with a significant amount of affordable housing, often face tight margins, Lane said union labor requirements can often render financing infeasible.

To address the financial concerns, he expressed some hopefulness that more opportunities for funding development projects could be identified by lawmakers. More broadly, he was heartened by the variety of efforts to address the state’s housing issues.

“I think there is a growing understanding and commitment from the Legislature to continue to work on this,” he said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com