- JENNY ZYCH
- “The rent is too damn high!”
The California Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of cities’ and counties’ ability to require that developers include affordable units in new housing projects, according to this LA Times article.
“It will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with California‘s current housing market that the significant problems arising from a scarcity of affordable housing have not been solved over the past three decades,” Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauyne (what a great name) wrote in her decision. “Rather, these problems have become more severe and have reached what might be described as epic proportions in many of the state‘s localities.”
The ruling came as a result of a San Jose housing ordinance passed five years ago that required developers building 20-plus units to reserve 15 percent of them at below-market rates or pay into a city fund instead. The building industry and real estate folks sued, claiming the ordinance amounted to the unconstitutional “taking” of private property.
In a sweeping victory for cities and counties, the court disagreed.
READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP
If affordable housing advocates get their way, Oregon may soon be able to require developers do the same here.
The Oregon Legislature is currently considering House Bill 2564, which would remove the preemption on inclusionary zoning (IZ). In 1999, state lawmakers banned IZ, a policy that requires developers to set aside a certain number of units in a new development as affordable.
HB 2564 would partly end that prohibition, allowing municipalities statewide to set aside up to 30 percent of homes in a new development for sale at below-market rates in exchange for offering developers incentives like increased density, fee waivers, and speedier permit processing.
HB 2564 only applies to for-sale new construction, a detail which Portland Commissioner Steve Novick recently called “very troubling.” Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau, is floating an amendment to HB 2564 that would add rental units into the mix.
HB passed in the House last month, 34-25, and is now awaiting consideration by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Kimchi, I have been wondering the same thing, and also about vertical and underground parking lots. It baffles me that with the development Portland has gotten in the last 15 years, very little has been done about parking.