San Jose Adopts Commercial Linkage Fee for Affordable Housing
After more than five years of stalled talks, the City of San Jose will begin charging commercial developers fees to fund affordable housing. Under the new plan, office developers with projects more than 100,000 square feet will pay between $12 and $15 per square foot unless they agree to build affordable housing. Projects below the 100,000 square foot threshold will be exempt. The fee amounts were higher than those proposed by city housing and economic development officials who recommended $10 per square foot for downtown office developments with 100,000 square feet or more and $5 per square foot for outside of downtown. Retail developers fees will be $0, regardless of their size, due to increased retail vacancies during the pandemic. The council will explore allowing incentives such as fee reductions for developers who choose to build affordable housing right away and will create an additional fee structure for projects above one million square feet in the future Councilmembers called for a future feasibility study in two years to monitor the impact of the fees in an economy recovering from COVID-19.
ADU Permitting Increases Threefold Statewide
Largely through recently adopted legislation, California has spurred accessory dwelling units (ADUs) construction, especially in urban areas, according to an analysis from UC Berkeley's Terner Center. Between 2018 and 2019, permits increased from almost 6,000 to almost 16,000. To build upon the early success of ADU legislation, the Terner Center’s study suggests more financial tools are needed to facilitate ADU development amongst homeowners who don't have access to cash or equity. Constructing an ADU in California remains prohibitively expensive for many. An analysis of ADU construction data found that the average ADU cost in California is $167,000. Many owners reported needing to use multiple sources of financing. Programs like the Backyard Homes Project in Los Angeles, a pilot program that provides loans for homeowners that rent ADUs to low-income residents. The authors recommend making these financing options widely available on both the federal and state level.
SCAG Adopts Updated Sustainable Communities Strategy and Transportation Plan
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) regional council voted unanimously to approve Connect SoCal, which among other things will serve as the basis for the region's Regional Housing Needs Assessments through 2029. SCAG staff will now notify each of the region's six counties and 191 cities of its draft allocation of new homes based on population, household, and job forecasts contained in the report. Local governments that disagree with those allocations will be able to appeal those numbers starting Sept. 11. The state Department of Housing and Community Development determined that the region must provide sufficient zoning for more than 1.3 million new homes--more than triple what they were in the latest RHNA cycle. The appeals will be heard by SCAG's RHNA subcommittee in December and January, and final allocations will be adopted in February. RHNA subcommittee members have publicly stated they expect a considerable number of appeals. (Further CP&DR coverage forthcoming.)
CP&DR Coverage: Duplexes on the Rise
Bill Fulton attended two panels on land use and housing last week, where housing experts said the problem of restrictive zoning may be more complicated because even when housing is allowed, costs are so high. But the solution may come back to housing reform – and, in particular, allowing small-scale projects that would have been facilitated by the doomed SB 1120, a duplex bill that died on the last night of the legislative session.
Quick Hits & Updates
Amid a push for policies that promote racial equity, San Diego city officials will consider paving 40 miles of dirt streets in low-income neighborhoods and take over long-term maintenance costs. In areas where roads were never paved, many residents have a lesser understanding of the political process, and can't afford to donate to political campaigns, activists say. Community leaders reasoned that dirt streets and alleys can leave visitors and developers with a negative image of the areas.
A stretch of concrete and asphalt in Alameda that was once an aircraft taxiway will be removed so the site along San Francisco Bay can be converted to a wetlands park, according to a proposal being considered by the city. The $14 million project would potentially come from the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority through a grant under Measure AA, a 20-year parcel tax passed in 2016 to fund habitat restoration.
Based on data provided to San Francisco's Chamber of Commerce by credit-card companies, San Francisco restaurant sales are down 84 percent year-over-year; restaurant sales have dropped by 91 percent since March, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. About 51.5 percent of the city's restaurants aren't currently ringing up any sales, suggesting that they've closed temporarily or for good.
Los Angeles Metro CEO Phil Washington announced a new internal task force intended to plan and implement a fareless transit system pilot. The initiative is billed as "a moral obligation to explore how a fareless system can aid those that have been hit hardest by the pandemic" and "a mitigation for targeting BIPOC on the system." Washington stated the task force will deliver its recommendations in December for implementation starting early 2021.
The Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors has awarded a $48.3-million contract to move forward on the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project, a public transit line between the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles. The contract will fund advanced conceptual engineering and environmental studies for current Metro concepts and recently submitted proposed, private-industry concepts. Metro's designs include an underground subway or a partially above-ground aerial train.
The Sacramento City Council approved a controversial revitalization plan that leaves the door open to a large historic public housing complex to be demolished and rebuilt. The West Broadway Specific Plan creates a vision for the area for the next 20 years. While it does not require the demolition of more than 750 units for low-income families, the plan contains language that leaves demolition as an option. That has concerned residents, activists and preservationists, including a former mayor and former NFL player Malcom Floyd, who participated in demonstrations at the site.
