CommentsPLANNING DEBACLE-Housing has been a hot topic in Sacramento over the last few years.
The California Legislature has produced scores of bills dealing with this issue, and their merits have been hotly debated. Unfortunately, some of these proposals have been reckless efforts to negate local planning by imposing mandatory upzoning. SB 9 is one such bill, and unless something happens to stop its momentum, it could become law by the end of the year.
SB 9 would allow by-right approval of two dwelling units on lots zoned for single-family homes. It would also allow these lots to be split in two, meaning a total of four units could be built where zoning previously allowed only one. According to its authors, the bill “[P]rovides options for homeowners by streamlining the process for a homeowner to create a duplex or subdivide an existing lot. [….] SB 9 strikes an appropriate balance between respecting local control and creating an environment and opportunity for neighborhood housing that benefits the broader community. To that end, the bill includes numerous safeguards to ensure that it responsibly creates duplexes and strategically increases housing opportunities for homeowners, renters, and families alike.”
To start with, the authors’ claims about the bill’s benefits are pretty dubious. If they really believe that it will primarily be a boon to homeowners, they’re completely clueless about the realities of the California housing market. SB 9 opens the door wide for developers to jump into the suburbs, cashing in on the potential for instant upzoning. Because the bill makes approval of these projects ministerial, real estate speculators wouldn’t have to worry about public hearings or environmental review. They could just start building. The authors also claim that SB 9 will “[S]trengthen the fabric of our neighborhoods with equity, inclusivity, and affordability.” It’s hard to say why they believe this, because the bill contains no affordability requirements. More likely, SB 9 will produce a lot of expensive new housing, as anyone familiar with LA’s Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance knows. SLS projects often involve demolishing a house or duplex and replacing them with 5, 10 or more new units. These new units generally start around $700,000 and go up from there.
But that’s not even the worst of it. The real problem with SB 9 is the impact it will have on the environment. There are good reasons to be critical of the 20th-century planning practices that spurred the creation of suburbs. The rapid expansion of communities dominated by single-family homes involved covering much of California’s natural landscape with concrete, and led to the explosion of the state’s car culture. But ironically, the suburbs are now the areas that hold the majority of our urban forests, while suburban front and back yards constitute much of the permeable surface to be found in developed areas. Both of these things are absolutely crucial to California’s survival right now.
Those who are skeptical of this claim might want to check out what the Governor's Office of Planning & Research has to say on the subject: “Trees and the urban forest provide a variety of important benefits in the urban environment. Environmental benefits include removing carbon from the atmosphere, reducing energy use, improving air quality, moderating stormwater flows, protecting water quality, improving economic sustainability, and providing habitat for wildlife.” The OPR web site goes on to say: “The urban forest can play a role in meeting carbon reduction mandates required by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.”
Unfortunately, urban forests are already in decline across the US. A 2018 report from the US Forest Service gives us these dire statistics: “National results indicate that tree cover in urban/community areas of the United States is on the decline at a rate of about 175,000 acres per year, which corresponds to approximately 36 million trees per year.” The same report calculates that from 2009 to 2014, California saw an annualized loss of 7,890 acres of tree cover. There are a few different causes for this loss, but new development is a factor. Also, development is the driving force behind the urban heat island effect, which is pushing up temperatures in cities across the state. Trees are one of the best defenses against rising temperatures. By ramping up development on suburban parcels, SB 9 will be one more factor driving the decline of our urban forests.
You’ve probably noticed that, in addition to being an unusually hot year, 2021 has been an unusually dry year. In May Gov. Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency, noting that two consecutive years of dry conditions have led to water shortages in many California communities. Even if we see more precipitation in the next few years, recent research indicates that California snowpacks will continue to decline through this century, which means reduced deliveries from the State Water Project. One of the primary strategies cities are using to offset this reduction is enhancing groundwater recharge, but water can only filter down to aquifers through permeable surfaces. Of course, when you jack up the number of units you can build on a parcel, you’re cutting down the amount of permeable surface. Unbelievably, at a time when California cities are trying desperately to recharge shrinking aquifers, the State Legislature is poised to pass this bill, which will flush more rainfall into the streets and down storm drains.
Members of the State Legislature are once again trying to tell us that just boosting production of new housing, any kind of housing, will solve our problems. But the millions of tenants struggling to pay their rent and the homeowners burdened with high mortgage payments need housing they can actually afford. SB 9 will give developers the opportunity to make a fortune by jacking up density in communities across California without requiring them to build a single affordable unit. And the environmental impacts will be disastrous. By making these projects exempt from environmental review, SB 9 will allow real estate investors to do away with trees and green space that are vital to the survival of our communities, our cities and our State.
California is already facing an environmental crisis due to rising temperatures, declining urban forests and receding water tables. SB 9 will exacerbate all of these trends. And yet the bill has already passed the Senate, and it’s sailing through the Assembly. It’s hard to believe that legislators who regularly pat themselves on the back for their environmental awareness have embraced this toxic bill. SB 9 is an assault on California’s environment. If it passes, the results will be disastrous.
(Casey Maddren is a CityWatch contributor.) Photo Illustration by Nix + Gerber Studio for The New York Times. Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
