SB 50: A Real Estate bill that won’t solve California’s affordability problem
Concern about many aspects of SB 50, State housing agenda
Overburdened infrastructure: schools, freeways, housing structures are out of scale, changing the character of neighborhoods, and threatening historic downtowns.
Our Governor has said California must build 2.5 million new housing units in ten years. How many schools is that? Where is the funding going to come from? How much more traffic does that create, who will pay for road improvements?
The answer is..you, existing homeowners will pay… in the form of billions of dollars in state and local bonds. Our legislators are laying the groundwork by passing legislation like ACA1 that reduces the required voter approval from two thirds to a 55% making it easier to pass bonds.
They will increase the profits to big business, Developers, Real Estate, Big Tech… putting the financial burden on Cities and homeowners. These bills will not produce significant quantities of affordable housing, workforce housing or solve the California affordability problem.
I support Pleasanton’s 20% inclusionary housing ordinance. We strive to support our vulnerable populations. Our low income housing is income qualified for very low income, primarily people on fixed and limited incomes. Because the 20% is subsidized, the remaining 80% becomes high market rate. That creates a void of starter workforce housing in-between. The Bay Area’s economic success, land value, labor cost and building materials are the factors that have driven up housing costs. I want my millennial children to be able to own a home, we all want the same thing for our next generation and vulnerable populations, SB50 is not the answer.
Tell your legislators to distribute Job Centers to housing rich, less congested parts of the state and require large employers to use a portion of their record profits to pay to offset the housing problems that they create.
ABOUT SENATE BILL 50
Senate Bill 50 would allow developers to build much denser, taller housing near major transit stops and “high-quality” bus corridors as well as within high-income areas that are close to jobs and schools. This would be accomplished by exempting “transit-rich housing projects” and “job-rich housing projects” from local regulations concerning zoning, density, floor area ratio, setbacks, design guidelines, and parking requirements. The bill would also mandate that minimum height limits of such housing range from 45 to 55 feet (5 to 7 stories) OR from 75 to 85 feet (9 to 10 stories) if the State Density Bonus is applied. Immense developments could be approved in single family neighborhoods with hardly any public input.
TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW!
1. If you agree Senate Bill 50 should be defeated, then please do the following:
Send a letter or email regarding “OPPOSE SB-50” to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee via Anton Favorini, who is a consultant for the committee. He will enter your comments into the official public record, provided he receives them by the April 17th deadline. Email: Anton Favorini →
If you don’t have time to write your own letter, then you can send in a quick email endorsing Sustainable TamAlmonte’s letter (dated April 10th), which is attached below.
2. Call and email the Senate Governance & Finance Committee Members and urge them to vote “NO” on Senate Bill 50 and, instead, support locally-grown sustainable strategies that enable our communities to meet all housing needs. If you live outside a Senator’s jurisdiction, then the Senator’s website may reject your email. If so, it is best to contact the Senator’s staff. Contact information for the Senators and their aides are below.
• Senator Mike McGuire, Chair: (916) 651-4002 – senator.mcguire@senate.ca.gov
• Christopher Nielsen (Senator McGuire’s Office): christopher.nielsen@sen.ca.gov
• Senator John Moorlach, Vice Chair: (916) 651-4037 – https://moorlach.cssrc.us/content/my-offices
• James Moore (Senator Moorlach’s Office): james.moore@sen.ca.gov
• Senator Jim Beall: (916) 651-4015 – https://sd15.senate.ca.gov/send-e-mail
• Sunshine Borelli (Senator Beall’s Office): sunshine.borelli@sen.ca.gov
• Senator Robert Hertzberg:(916) 651-4018 – https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/contact/email
• Michael Bedard (Senator Hertzberg’s Office): michael.bedard@sen.ca.gov
• Senator Jim Nielsen:(916) 651-4004 – https://nielsen.cssrc.us/content/email-me
• Colin Sueyres (Senator Nielsen’s office): colin.sueyres@sen.ca.gov
• Senator Melissa Hurtado:(916) 651-4014 – https://sd14.senate.ca.gov/contact
• Senator Scott Wiener:(916) 651-4011 – https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/contact
• Annie Fryman (Senator Wiener’s Office): annie.fryman@senate.ca.gov
3. Write to your local representatives (Marin County Board of Supervisors and City Council Members) and ask them to write letters of opposition to Senate Bill 50. The Marin County Board of Supervisors’ email is: bos@marincounty.org
Write to your Pleasanton City Council Members at citycouncil@cityofpleasantonca.gov, and ask them to write letters of opposition to Senate Bill 50.
Thank you in advance for taking action. Together we can make a difference!
Julie Testa