1 Damien O'Bid
Subject: FW: ACTION ALERT: AB 2011 (Wicks) Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022 Attachments: AB 2011 (Wicks) CITY SAMPLE Oppose Letter 05.17.22.docx Members of the North Bay Division,
Attached please find a sample letter for your consideration to help us oppose AB 2011 (Wicks).
More information below.
-Nancy
ACTION ALERT
AB 2011 (Wicks)
Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022
OPPOSE
ACTION:
AB 2011 will be voted on the Assembly Floor by May 27.
All Assembly Members need to hear from their cities. Voice your opposition to AB 2011 by calling your Assembly Member and submitting a letter TODAY. A sample letter is attached.
Background: California is a geographically and demographically diverse state, which is reflected in its 482 cities and 58 counties. Local elected officials are charged by the California Constitution with protecting the many needs of their citizens. One way local governments do this is by determining what gets built in their community.
Local officials balance the need for additional housing with the need to create jobs and spur economic growth to fund essential local services like police and fire departments. Where appropriate, those officials enact ordinances to shape their communities based on local conditions and desires. These planning actions and decisions take place within the confines of state laws that require local governments to plan and zone for new housing, subject to certification by the California Housing and Community Development Department, and under threat of fines for improper denial.
What Does AB 2011 Specifically Do?
Disregards state-mandated local planning efforts and forces cities to allow certain affordable housing and mixed-use housing developments in zones where office, retail, or parking are a principally permitted use regardless of any inconsistency with a local government’s general plan, specific plan, zoning ordinance, or regulation.
Restricts a city’s ability to designate certain areas for commercial and retail activity only, regardless of whether housing is a compatible use.
2 Requires a local government to ministerially approve these projects, without condition, discretion, or a public hearing to allow members of the community to participate in the process.
Talking Points:
AB 2011 is a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to land use policy that fails to recognize or incorporate local flexibility, decision-making, and spur economic growth to fund essential local services like police and fire departments.
We ask you to oppose AB 2011 to uphold local government decision-making and community involvement in the housing planning and approval process. Cities are committed to planning and zoning for more housing in a manner that acknowledges state housing goals, but also respects community needs, input, and involvement.
Nearly all cities are currently updating their housing plans to identify sites for more than two million additional homes. AB 2011 would disregard this process and mandate more housing in areas already zoned for office, retail, or parking.
Lawmakers must avoid pushing new, unproven policies that would undermine local planning, change the rules mid-stream, or conflict with the myriad of new housing laws recently passed that cities are now implementing.
Nancy Hall Bennett (Ms./She/Her)
Public Affairs Manager, North Bay Division
League of California Cities
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Under the Public Records Act (California Government Code §6250-6270), e-mail messages of local agencies are public records which are subject to disclosure to the public or may be subpoenaed.
Under the Public Records Act (California Government Code §6250-6270), e-mail messages of local agencies are public records which are subject to disclosure to the public or may be subpoenaed.