Monday Noon Is Deadline For Single Councilmember To Agendize <nobr>SB 50</nobr> For <nobr>May 7</nobr> Council Action (Support/Oppose/Oppose Unless Amended As Specified)

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Monday Noon Is Deadline For Single Councilmember To Agendize SB 50 For May 7 Council Action (Support/Oppose/Oppose Unless Amended As Specified)

In Oct. 2018, Council's "State Legislation Committee" (Austin, Gonzalez, Richardson) sent Council local control policy that Council approved in Nov. 2018 but City hasn't cited to oppose SB 50

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(April 29, 2019, 9:50 a.m.) -- Noon Monday (April 29) is the deadline for a single LB Councilmember (with or without up to three others) to agendize SB 50 (proposes to override aspects of single family home zoning on re density/parking) for a May 7 LB Council vote on whether to support, oppose, or oppose the measure unless amended. The initial agenda for the May 7 Council meeting will become visible online by roughly 5 p.m. Monday.

LBREPORT.com has recently learned that 5th dist. Councilwoman Stacy Mungo briefly mentioned SB 50 during remarks at an April 18 meeting of the Lakewood Village Neighborhood Association. Councilwoman Mungo said SB 50 is "going to try to overturn all of the work we did with LUE [Land Use Element]" and added "I stand opposed to that and I'm bringing it back to City Council..." (drawing applause.)

ELB's 5th district and adjoining eastern portions of the 4th Council district were developed after WWII with single family home tracts that could be impacted by SB 50.

Density is an especially sore point in Long Beach, where 1980's City Hall pro-developer policies enabled "crackerbox" apartment density in single-family home neighborhoods surrounding downtown. The result saddled the City with a number of chronic issues (including parking.) LB's experience with "crackerbox" density was among the reasons for grassroots LB neighborhood opposition to increased density proposed by LB city staff in 2017-2018 Land Use Element changes.

On April 16, the Los Angeles City Council voted 12-0 to oppose SB 50 (unless amended to exclude Los Angeles). A few days earlie, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (SF's City Council) voted by a super-majority to reverse support for SB 50 voiced by SF's Mayor.

At the April 24 state Senate Governance and Finance Committee meeting, state Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg (D, Los Angeles-SFV) criticized SB 50, and while supporting Governor Gavin Newsom's housing plans, Sen. Hertzberg cited the L.A. City Council's voted opposition in casting his vote to oppose the bill. (Committee vote was 6-1-1 to advance SB 50 to the state Senate Appropriations Committee (for state budget impacts), one vote from a full state Senate vote.

A little over three weeks earlier, LB-area state Senator Tom Umberg (D, SE LB [908015/90803]) voted "yes" on SB 50 in the state Senate Housing Committee, and his "yes" vote helped send SB 50 to the April 24 Governance/Finance Committee which has now advanced it further with amendments summarized in this document (source: office of state Sen. Mike McGuire (D, No. Cal coast). To view SB 50's text prior to the agreed amendments, click here. A revised text for SB 50 won't be online for some time.

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In a Sunday April 28 Facebook comment, Senator Wiener noted that a New York Times editorial has endorsed SB 50:

In advance of the April 24 Committee meeting, the Senate's Governance and Finance Committee's legislative analysis listed support and opposition as of April 19 as follows:

Support: 3,025 Individuals; 6beds, Inc.; AARP; Bay Area Council; Bridge Housing Corporation; Building Industry Association of The Bay Area; Burbank Housing Development Corporation; Calasian Chamber of Commerce; California Apartment Association; California Chamber of Commerce; California Community Builders; California National Party; California Yimby; Dana Point Chamber Of Commerce; Emeryville; City of; Facebook, Inc.; Fieldstead and Company, Inc.; Fossil Free California; Greater Washington; Hamilton Families; Local Government Commission; Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce; Ms.; Murrieta Chamber of Commerce; Natural Resources Defense Council; North Orange County Chamber of Commerce; Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce; Office of The Mayor, San Francisco; Orange County Business Council; Oxnard Chamber of Commerce; Related California; Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce; Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce; Schott & Lites Advocates Llc; Silicon Valley At Home (Sv@Home); Silicon Valley Leadership Group; South Bay Jewish Federation; South Bay Yimby; Spur; State Council on Developmental Disabilities; Stripe; Technet-Technology Network; The Silicon Valley Organization; Tmg Partners; Valley Industry And Commerce Association; Yimby Action

Opposition: 1,850 Individuals; Aids Healthcare Foundation; Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (Acce) Action; American Planning Association, California Chapter; Asian Pacific Environmental Network; Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association; Bay Area Transportation Working Group; Berkeley Tenants Union; Brentwood Community Council - West Los Angeles; Causa Justa :: Just Cause; Central Valley Empowerment Alliance; Century Glen Hoa; City of Brentwood; City of Chino Hills; City of Cupertino; City of Downey; City of Glendale; City of Lafayette; City of Lakewood; City of La Mirada; City of Palo Alto; City of Rancho Cucamonga; City of Rancho Palos Verdes; City of Pinole; City of Redondo Beach; City of San Mateo; City of Santa Clarita; City of Solana Beach ;City of Sunnyvale; City of Vista; Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods; Preserve LA; Concerned Citizens of Los Feliz; Cow Hollow Association; Dolores Heights Improvement Club; Dolores Street Community Services; East Mission Improvement Association; East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice; City of Glendora; Grayburn Avenue Block Club; Homeowners of Encino; Housing for All Burlingame; Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco; Jobs with Justice San Francisco; Jordan Park Improvement Association; Legal Services for Prisoners with Children; League of California Cities; Los Angeles Tenants Union - Hollywood Local Case Worker; Los Angeles Tenants Union -- Networking Team; Miraloma Park Improvement Club; Mission Economic Development Agency; New Livable California Dba Livable California; Noe Neighborhood Council; Northeast Business Economic Development Dba Northeast Business Association; City of Pasadena; Planning Association for the Richmond; Poder; Redstone Labor Temple Association; Regional-Video; Sacred Heart Community Service; San Francisco Senior And Disability Action; San Francisco Rising Alliance; San Francisco Tenants Union; Save Capp Street; Senior and Disability Action; SF Ocean Edge; Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association; South Bay Cities Council Of Governments; South Brentwood Residents Association; South of Market Community Action Network; Stand Up For San Francisco; Sunset-Parkside Education And Action Committee (Speak); Sutro Avenue Block Club/Leimert Park; Telegraph Hill Dwellers; Tenant Sanctuary; Tenants Together; The San Francisco Marina Community Association; Toluca Lake Homeowners Association; United to Save the Mission; Urban Habitat; West Mar Vista Residents Association; Yah! (Yes to Affordable Housing)

Sponsor

The City of Long Beach has taken no public stated position on SB 50 to date despite the Council's November 2018 vote (without dissent) to approve a 2019 "state legislative agenda" that included the following declared policies: "Oppose legislation that would reduce the City's local land use authority" and "Oppose legislation that preempts the City's existing control over local matters."

SB 50 was introduced on Dec. 3, 2018 by state Senator Scott Wiener (D, SF). For nearly five months, any individual LB Councilmember(s) could have been placed an item on any Council agenda to take a publicly voted position. (LB Mayor Robert Garcia doesn't set city policy; a City Council majority does.) On December 14, 2018, Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez announced her candidacy for a vacated LB-S.E. L.A. County state Senate seat) and was swiftly endorsed by LB Mayor Robert Garcia and (among others) state Senator Wiener.

Sponsor

SB 50 would basically preempt certain aspects of locally-enacted single family zoning, It would prevent cities from limiting density within a half mile of fixed rail, or a quarter mile of high frequency bus stops (amended April 24 to specify every ten minutes) or -- regardless of transit -- in areas deemed "jobs-rich" (at or above regional median income and near quality schools.) It would require cities to allow apartments, duplexes/triplexes/fourplexes with 0.5 parking spaces per unit in residentially zoned areas (including the Coastal Zone for infill.) In addition, within half a mile of fixed rail stops, SB 50 would override local height limits lower than either 55 feet or 45 feet. (Areas adjacent to high frequency bus stops and areas designated "job-rich" areas would become subject to density increases and reduced parking requirements but not the specified building height increases; in those non-rail transit adjacent areas, local height limits will apply.)

Sponsor

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