By Justin HAGER
State Senator Anthony Portantino will have a big voice this week in the legislative battles over housing development and the future of largely single-family housing communities in California, which include La Crescenta, Montrose, Glendale, Sunland-Tujunga and La Cañada Flintridge. Portantino chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which will hear this week two bills related to housing development. Both focus on opportunities to subdivide single parcels into multi-family dwellings such as duplexes and small apartment complexes.
SB-9, authored by Senators Atkins, Caballero, Rubio and Wiener, would provide for ministerial (assumed to be automatic) approval of proposed housing developments with two residential units in a single-family residential zone. In other words, proposed plans for duplexes would be assumed to be approved unless specific legal cause can be shown to prohibit the development. SB 9 would also require cities to consider similar ministerial approval of urban lot splits, resulting in the potential for two new homes to exist on a single-family lot. For communities like La Crescenta, this could mean the opportunity to double the available housing supply by doubling the density on existing single-home lots, threatening the single-family community character. When combined with the legislature’s recent loosening of regulations on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and junior ADUs, it is feasible that current single-family parcels could be occupied by as many as six housing units.
SB-9 is a nearly word-for-word recreation of last session’s SB 1120, which narrowly died in the legislature last year after passing both houses but failing to get concurrence from the Senate to approve new amendments. Senator Portantino voted in favor SB 1120 on three separate occasions in 2020, twice in the Senate Appropriations Committee and once on the Senate Floor. Assemblymember Laura Friedman, the region’s other representative in the state legislature, voted against SB 1120 on Assembly Floor.
SB-10 allows a local government to zone a parcel for up to 10 units of residential density if the parcel is located in a transit-rich area, a jobs-rich area, or an urban infill site. It also exempts local agencies from complying with CEQA for the approval of these projects, as long as they adopt appropriate zoning ordinances, meaning they won’t be compelled to analyze the environmental impacts of their decisions.
SB-10 is very similar to last session’s SB 902, which died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee last year. Senator Portantino voted in favor SB 902 on three separate occasions in 2020, twice in the Senate Appropriations Committee and once on the Senate Floor. Assemblymember Laura Friedman, the region’s other representative in the state legislature, did not have the opportunity to vote on SB 902 as it was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense file.
One criticism of both bills is that they attempt to apply a one-size-fits-all solution to California’s housing crisis without considering the ability for existing infrastructure, such as roads, water, and other utilities, etc., to accommodate the increased density. This is especially concerning given that the California snow-pack is at only 15% in the southern half of the state, making ongoing drought a near-certainty. This criticism leads to a second critique, of particular importance to local communities, which is that increasing density will increase wildfire risks to a larger population. It should be noted that some portions of the region, including all of La Cañada Flintridge, most of Briggs Terrace and Alta Canyada and a very small portion of Montrose, are exempted from both laws because they are classified as a Very High Fire Severity Zone (VHFSZ). However, the VHFSZ designations were largely assigned years ago before the Camp Fire, Thomas Fire and Woolsey Fire demonstrated that high-density residential communities are not immune to the destructive force of the new era of high-intensity wild fires. As a result, the vast majority of residential La Crescenta, Montrose, Sunland, and Tujunga do not have VHFSZ designation.
Both bills are set for a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 10. Residents who would like to express their position of either bill may contact Senator Portantino’s Capitol office at (916) 651-4025 or his Glendale District office at (818) 409-0400 or via email at senator.portantino@sen.ca.gov.