Plan-it sustainably - Northern California Section

Governor vetoesredevelopmentsurrogatesBy Naphtali H. Knox, FAICPBelow are Governor Brown’s veto messages onredevelopment and related bills.“I am returning Senate Bill 1156 without mysignature. This bill would allow local governmentsto establish a Sustainable CommunitiesInvestment Authority to finance activities withina specified area. …“I prefer to take a constructive look atimplementing this type of program once thewinding down of redevelopment is complete andGeneral Fund savings are achieved. At that time,we will be in a much better position to considernew investment authority. I am committed toworking with the Legislature and interestedparties on the important task of revitalizingour communities.”“I am returning Assembly Bill 345 withoutmy signature. This bill makes changes to theCommunity Redevelopment Law regardingredevelopment agencies’ use of the Low andModerate Income Housing Fund. The intent ofthis bill is to govern use of the 20 percent setaside for low and moderate income housingestablished in SB 1156. Given my veto of SB1156, this bill is premature.”“Sincerely, Edmund G. Brown, Jr.”In addition, the governor vetoed three bills modifyingrules for the establishment of InfrastructureFinancing Districts (IFDs) by local governments —AB 2144, SB 214, and AB 2551 — saying thenew measures “would likely cause cities to focustheir efforts on using the new tools … instead ofwinding down redevelopment. This would preventthe state from achieving the General Fund savingsassumed in this year’s budget.” n2012 Legislative Year in Review forLand Use PlannersBy Alexandra Barnhill, Legislative Director, APA California–NorthernSeptember 30th marked the end of another busy California legislativesession. While it is not possible to summarize all the actions takenon bills that are relevant to land use planners, some of the mostsignificant developments are described below.Redevelopment-related bills vetoed as “premature.” The lossof redevelopment as a tool for economic development has deeplyimpacted local governments. Numerous bills were drafted this sessionto create a replacement tool for redevelopment; however, none ofthem secured the Governor’s approval. (See sidebar for Governor’sveto messages. –Ed.)• SB 214 (Wolk), AB 2144 (Perez), and AB 2551 (Hueso)would have modified the cumbersome rules for the establishmentof Infrastructure Financing Districts (IFDs) by local governments.• AB 345 (Torres) would have made changes to the CommunityRedevelopment Law regarding redevelopment agencies’ use ofthe Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund.• SB 1156 (Steinberg) would have allowed local governmentsto establish a Sustainable Communities Investment Authorityto finance activities within a specified area.Though these bills were not signed into law, the Governorindicated via his veto messages that he is committed to working onrevitalization efforts in upcoming sessions. For now, Brown wants localagencies to focus their efforts on the winding down of redevelopment.Although the Governor does not yet broadly support the use ofIFDs for redevelopment, one exception was made. Brown signedAB 2259 (Ammiano), which creates an IFD for San Francisco’supcoming America’s Cup yacht race. This, along with the vetomessages, signals that IFDs or other redevelopment replacementtools may be approved in the future.Parking Reform measure fails. AB 904 (Skinner) would haveimposed a single statewide parking standard for both nonresidentialand residential infill and close-to-transit projects across California.Facing strong opposition, the author dropped the bill. Similarproposals also failed to gain support in prior sessions. APA Californiaconceptually supports reduced or “smart” parking requirements neartransit-rich areas and has agreed to work with the bill’s sponsors todevelop a new parking proposal for 2013. Northern California APAwill be hosting a forum representing all stakeholders’ views on thistopic on November 9, 2012. More information on the workshop isavailable on the following page.(continued on next page)Northern News 13 November 2012