The Water Tower House sits along Pacific Coast Highway as the USS Pearl Harbor is docked in Alamitos Bay at the Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach, CA on Monday, July 25, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Over the past five years, there haven’t been many happy housing stories in California, with rents and home prices hitting all-time highs, forcing many hundreds of thousands of families out of the state. But Senate Bill 35 is an exception: Since enactment in 2018, the law has helped enable at least 18,000 new homes overwhelmingly affordable to low- and moderate-income Californians.
The idea behind SB 35 was simple: if a jurisdiction is behind on housing production, projects that aim to build mixed-income housing and comply with underlying zoning should enjoy streamlined permits. The law expires soon, but Senate Bill 423, which is under consideration in this legislative session, would extend it for 10 years. A slam dunk for the politicians, right?
Not so fast: As part of SB 423, lawmakers are working to expand applicability to include urban areas along the coast, which are currently exempt from permit simplifications. Sure, nobody wants to see the natural coastal areas developed, but the coastal area covers over 225,000 acres of land that are Already developed. Subjecting anything built in these areas to further levels of overhaul simply doesn’t make sense.
This area includes some of the wealthiest parts of the state, including cities like Coronado and Carmel-by-the-Sea, as well as affluent coastal sections of cities like Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. By any reasonable measure, these locations are well suited for additional housing: All enjoy easy access to jobs and universities, and as our states’ interior burns, their temperate coastal climates remain resilient.
Yet, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) has said it opposes any streamlined permits for affordable housing within its domain. The commission insists that the additional hurdles they impose are no barrier to affordable housing, insinuating that the bill would strip the CCC of all its oversight authority and ignore environmental risks. But they are wrong on all three counts.
First, few can doubt that California makes it unique difficult to build housing anywhere near the coast. Even in the best-case scenario, further hearings and appeals can prolong the proceedings for months, if not years, as was the case recently with mixed-income housing proposals in Santa Cruz AND Venice. According to a team from UCLA researchersthis further discretionary overhaul served to hamper housing production along the coast, driving up prices and driving gentrification.
Second, the bill in no way deprives the commission of its oversight power. Instead, all that would change is that the commission would be held to the same standards as any other agency in California: Permission should be objective, predictable, and fair. Unnecessary public hearings and arbitrary decisions would go, but the rules that truly protect the coast would remain on the books.
Finally, in areas at risk of sea level rise, SB 423 would virtually never apply. The vast majority of the coastal area is not at risk, even in a scenario of extreme sea level rise of five feet. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration only projects a one foot sea level rise to 2050). And those pockets at risk are already largely excluded by SB 423 prohibitions against building wetlands, waterways and protected habitats.
The CCC has a mandate to protect public access to the coast. And in many ways, they’ve done a commendable job. But in opposing rationalizing bills like SB 423, the commission misses the mark. What more could it do to improve coastal access than allow more Californians of all incomes to live along the coast? How does one improve access by limiting our coastline to a strip of old apartment buildings and shopping malls?
If California is to get back on the road to housing affordability, every part of the Golden State needs to build its fair share. This includes the coast.
Nolan Gray is the director of research for California YIMBY and a professional urban planner.
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Image Source : www.ocregister.com