AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON PUBLIC LAND? Part 1

While cities and towns are required to plan for a certain number of affordable units—getting those units built has been a struggle. With the demise of redevelopment agencies (and funding) in 2012, jurisdictions have been forced to rely upon private for-profit and non-profit developers to create that housing. Along with public opposition, the high cost of land is a significant barrier to creating new affordable housing, especially in Marin. Many have wondered whether publicly owned lands could be offered to jump-start this process.  Providing public land for affordable housing could reduce development costs, especially if it is offered at a discounted rate, can allow the developer to offer deeper affordability for those most in need and/or more affordable units, and can reduce the amount of tax-payer subsidy needed to create and maintain the housing.  

Finding new ways to incentivize developers to build affordable housing will become more imperative as the State of California finalizes and assigns a new round of Regional Housing Needs Allocations (RHNA) to jurisdictions around the state.  The draft number of new homes assigned to jurisdictions in Marin County is much higher than prior allocations.  If this draft were accepted, Marin could see its assigned numbers rise from 2,298 in the current cycle to 14,210 in the 2023-31 cycle. And unlike the prior cycle, this time around these requirements have teeth–Assembly Bill 101 authorizes the state attorney general to fine jurisdictions from $10,000 to $600,000 per month for not complying.

Regardless of the RHNA numbers, creating housing for low-income households in Marin’s overheated housing market is the right thing to do.  The state of California has enacted some laws to facilitate the use of public land for affordable housing.

California’s Surplus Lands Act

California’s Surplus Lands Act requires jurisdictions (including towns, cities, and special districts such as school, sewer, water, utility, and local and regional park districts) wishing to dispose of surplus land to give first priority to organizations that will create residential developments where at least 25% of units are affordable to low-income households (use for schools, parks, and open space is also a priority). The Surplus Lands Act defines “surplus land” as “land owned by any local agency that is determined to be no longer necessary for the agency’s use, except property being held by the agency for the purpose of exchange.”

AB 1486 (Ting, 2019) strengthened and clarified this law by requiring jurisdictions to give notice to the California Housing and Community Development Department as well as to a list of authorized developers when these lands become available for sale, and to include potential surplus lands in their housing elements. AB 1255 (Rivas, 2019) requires that cities, towns, and other jurisdictions inventory their surplus lands and provide them to the State by April 1, 2021 for inclusion in a statewide database.  Jurisdictions are not required to dispose of these surplus lands—but if they do wish to dispose of them, they need to give priority to buyers willing to use these lands for schools, parks, open space, or affordable housing.

There have only been a few attempts to use publicly owned land for affordable housing in Marin, either through sale or lease. With new state emphasis on inventorying and publicizing surplus land, it is possible that we will see more in the near future.

Next month: actual and proposed uses of public land for affordable housing in Marin.