Bay Area Cities Face Next Deadline in State's Housing Push

One year ago, cities and counties in the Bay Area were supposed to turn in housing blueprints to state regulators on how to build 441,000 new homes by 2031.

One year later on Jan. 31, many of those same jurisdictions now must make key components of those “housing element” plans into law — or face a range of penalties by the state, CalMatters reported via the San Jose Mercury News.

The looming deadline is part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s goal of requiring California cities to plan for more than 2.5 million new homes by the end of the decade.

Cities and counties in the nine-county region face the task of rewriting zoning laws and reshaping suburban tracts into apartment-ready parcels to combat the state’s persistent housing shortage.

This zoning crunch marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle between California’s housing agency and local governments over the magnitude and location of new housing developments.

The upcoming deadline is the first in a series of regional dates across the state, with Santa Barbara County next on Feb.15.

Whether Bay Area local governments comply — and how the state responds to those that don’t — could indicate how seriously the Newsom administration takes its ambitious housing goals.

“This is kind of the test case,” Will Sterling, a land use attorney with San Francisco-based Holland & Knight, which regularly represents real estate interests in cases against development-averse cities, told CalMatters. “It’s going to be interesting to see what (the state) does, how firm they are.”

The state’s Department of Housing and Community Development has recently gained legal and political backing to take stringent actions against non-compliant jurisdictions. This newfound authority has led to increased attention to the once-obscure Regional Housing Needs Allocation process.

Local officials, grappling with rezoning decisions, are facing political pressure as they navigate the balance between community concerns and the state’s demand they build more homes.

Changing a zoning code could raise maximum building heights, reduce parking requirements or increase the allowable density of a specific parcel, according to CalMatters. These are changes that neighbors can readily identify, envision and, frequently enough, oppose.

The rezoning deadline has proven challenging for many, with towns such as Fairfax in Marin County engaging in lengthy debates over potential impacts on their small-town character.

The state plans to review the work of the Bay Area cities and counties that are on the hook for rezoning. If found lacking, they will be issued a warning and given 30 days to catch up. After that, the department will revoke its findings that those local governments are complying with state housing law.

For local governments, penalties could include cuts in state funding for affordable housing and transportation. The state’s housing department could also refer a city to the state Attorney General, who has sued local governments such as Huntington Beach, San Bernardino and Coronado for failing to plan for enough new housing.

In addition to the state, legal nonprofits such as Californians for Homeownership are taking an aggressive stance, suing cities for failing to meet housing planning and zoning obligations. The organization, sponsored by the California Association of Realtors, has sued a dozen cities across the state for failing to plan or zone for enough housing.

Last month, the group secured a court judgment against Beverly Hills for its failure to pass a state-sanctioned housing plan on time. The penalty for Beverly Hills is a moratorium on home improvement permits for such residents as Jeff Bezos, Leonardo DiCaprio and Taylor Swift.

— Dana Bartholomew