Focus
San Francisco Board of Supervisors passes amendment to ease office-to-housing conversions
CBS News – March 5
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has approved a resolution amending the city’s planning code to encourage the conversion of commercial buildings into housing. The amendment will remove select fees and application deadlines for certain downtown spaces being converted from non-residential to residential use. Development impact and inclusionary fees—the largest source of city-imposed costs for commercial to residential projects—will be waived for these projects. City staffers have estimated that about $70,000 to $90,000 can be saved per unit for these developments.
News
La Cañada Flintridge abandons ‘builder’s remedy’ appeal
Los Angeles Daily News – March 7
The La Cañada Flintridge City Council voted on March 4 to abandon its efforts to block low-income housing at a former church rather than post a $14 million bond to continue fighting it in court. Developers argued they had the right to build the complex regardless of zoning under the “builder’s remedy” provision of the state’s 35-year-old “Anti-NIMBY Law.” The builder’s remedy allows construction that includes low-income housing virtually anywhere in a city or county that fails to adopt housing development plans on time. La Cañada Flintridge’s “housing element” plan didn’t win state approval until more than two years after Southern California’s October 2021 due date.
San Diego City Council votes to begin rolling back controversial ADU program
MSN/KSWB – March 5
The San Diego City Council voted on March 4 to begin rolling back a landmark housing program that let single-family homeowners build more accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their property if they reserve units for low to moderate-income households. The scaling back of the program, called the bonus ADU program, marks a notable shift in the city’s approach to housing development. It came amid growing pressure to reverse course from residents, who argued it has allowed for full apartment buildings in backyards.
Los Angeles launches effort to encourage starter homes on city-owned vacant lots
Los Angeles Times – March 5
The city of Los Angeles is launching a new initiative to encourage the construction of starter homes on small lots, an effort to provide relatively lower-cost for-sale housing and show how Los Angeles can densify without turning into Manhattan. The initiative, called Small Lots, Big Impacts, kicked off with a design competition for architects and others to craft innovative plans for multiple small homes on one lot, with the hope those units will be less expensive than larger options being built by developers today. Winning designs are meant to eventually serve as preapproved city templates that all developers could use.
To encourage homebuilding, San Diego moves to rein in historic building protections, tax breaks
The San Diego Union-Tribune – March 7
San Diego’s plan to make its historic preservation rules more developer-friendly is likely to include shrinking the power of the city’s Historical Resources Board and limiting property tax breaks for historic homes. City Council members praised those two proposed changes last Thursday and several others, including plans to eliminate a policy that required automatic historical review for all city buildings when they hit 45 years old.
Palo Alto hopes to lure housing projects with zoning revisions
Mountain View Voice – March 4
Eager to see more housing, Palo Alto’s elected leaders have approved a series of zone changes that relax height, density, and parking restrictions for residential developments at major commercial strips. The City Council voted 6-0 to both expand and beef up the city’s “housing incentive program.” The city adopted the program in 2018 but limited it to downtown, California Avenue, and the El Camino Real corridor. Since then, the council modified the HIP three times to capture additional areas. The fourth adjustment, which the council adopted on March 3, is the most significant one yet in that it both expands the program to other areas and enhances the bonuses that it provides to potential builders.
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