California Governor Proposes Streamlined Affordable Housing Process

Liam Dillon reports on a policy proposal by California Governor Jerry Brown designed to make it easier to build homes for low-income residents by "[streamlining] the permitting process for developers building affordable homes."

Dillon takes the recommendation, included in a revised budget release on May 13, 2016, to mean that Gov. Brown agrees with the supply-side argument for lowering the cost of housing. Dillon explains a few of the details from the proposal:

The plan exempts from detailed local government reviews urban development projects that have at least 20% of their units set aside for low-income residents. For developments near transit, the projects only need to have 10% of their units designated affordable to qualify.

Additionally:

Brown’s plan requires local governments to already have zoned land for high-density residential projects. For instance, a developer proposing to build 300 condominiums on land now planned for 100 units wouldn’t qualify even if the project included affordable housing because of the existing zoning.

Dillon predicts that the proposal will likely meet resistance from organizations with missions to protect local regulations, such as the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties. The article also includes a status report on other measures moving through the California State Legislature aimed at building low-income housing.