California Legislature Votes to End Common Housing Delay Tactics
SB 677 Cleans Out Weeds on Subdivision Mapping, Affordable Housing Finance
“Housing delayed is housing denied”
Los Angeles – Today, the California Legislature voted to approve SB 677, a bill by Sen. Scott Wiener (San Francisco) that ends common delay tactics cities and anti-housing activists use to block new housing construction. The bill now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk for signature into law.
“When a new application for housing is approved by a city, that should signal the end of delays, but many cities abuse a loophole to prevent homeownership opportunities,” said Brian Hanlon, CEO of California YIMBY. “SB 677 closes some of the more common loopholes that anti-housing activists use to block urgently-needed homes. Thanks to Senator Wiener for his leadership on making homes more affordable for hard-working Californians.”
Even after a housing project is approved, opponents often take advantage of procedures to prevent it from being built. SB 677 will protect already-approved housing projects from common delay tactics involving the creation of subdivisions, and over approval of federal financing for affordable housing.
Many developers use the subdivision process to divide a piece of land into smaller lots for the purposes of selling the final project or turn newly-built multifamily units into condominiums. While these maps are usually submitted after a project has cleared entitlement, they can still be appealed by anyone, even on grounds unrelated to the subdivision itself. These appeals can delay homes and put projects’ financing at risk.
Another kind of delay often ensnares affordable housing financed through tax-exempt bonds. Federal law requires local jurisdictions to hold a hearing and pass a resolution endorsing the financing – at no cost to the cities themselves. But hostile local jurisdictions often either fail to hold the hearing, or decline to pass the necessary resolution. That forces developers with existing funding commitments to find an alternative path forward, adding months of delay, inflating costs, and preventing affordable homes from being built.
SB 677 limits third-party appeals of subdivision maps for urban infill housing. It also authorizes the State Treasurer to grant approval for federally-funded affordable housing projects, if a local government agency is causing a delay. These fixes mean fewer late-stage delays that increase costs, and ultimately, more homes built.