Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two high-profile housing bills that would allow residential lot splits for new duplexes and ease zoning restrictions in certain areas.
Senate Bill 9, authored by state Senate President Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, would allow owners of some single-family lots to build up to four units of housing on their property by splitting lots into two and building two units on each new lot, while Senate Bill 10, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would streamline the process for cities to rezone some single-family lots to contain up to 10 housing units in transit-rich or already urban areas.
Proponents of the bills say denser housing is necessary to meet growing needs while limiting urban sprawl which has had devastating environmental impacts, while critics say the bills will erode local governments’ control, imposing one-size fits all state rules onto communities who don’t want them.
“California’s severe housing shortage is badly damaging our state, and we need many approaches to tackle it. SB 10 provides one important approach: making it dramatically easier and faster for cities to zone for more housing,” Wiener said in a prepared statement, adding the legislation gives cities a “powerful” new tool.
Atkins said for too long the dream of home ownership or the ability for many to live where they work has been a far-off dream.
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“The years-long housing crisis has had a deep impact on our state, and has contributed to overcrowding, long commutes, and undue disadvantage for lower-income families. The intent of SB 9 is clear — to streamline the process so homeowners can create a duplex or subdivide their existing property up to four units — and aims to set California’s housing availability on a path of inclusion so that more families can attain the California dream,” she said in a prepared statement.
The League of California Cities, however, issued a statement expressing disappointment in the governor’s signature on Atkins’ bill.
“SB 9 undermines the ability of local governments to responsibly plan for the types of housing that communities need, circumvents the local government review process, and silences community voices. Even worse, there are no provisions in SB 9 that require new housing to be affordable, continuing the cycle of the construction of new units that are out of reach for many working-class families,” Carolyn Coleman, league executive director and CEO, said in a prepared statement.
Others have raised concerns that the bills don’t specifically require new housing be affordable, and believe home prices could actually increase as developers bid up properties in hopes of building denser housing to turn a profit, causing neighborhoods to gentrify in the process.
Concerned homeowners have alleged the bills will hurt neighborhood character, and that apartment buildings or duplexes don’t belong in some low-density suburbs.
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