Bill Text: CA AB2910 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: State Housing Law: City of Los Angeles: conversion of nonresidential buildings.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2024-09-22 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB2910 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2910-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  March 19, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2910

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Introduced by Assembly Member Santiago

February 15, 2024

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An act to amend Section 17958.11 of add Section 17958.10 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2910, as amended, Santiago. State Housing Law: application and scope. local regulations: conversion of commercial or industrial buildings.

The California Building Standards Law establishes the California Building Standards Commission within the Department of General Services. Existing law requires the commission to approve and adopt building standards and to codify those standards in the California Building Standards Code, which is required to be published once every 3 years.

The State Housing Law establishes statewide construction and occupancy standards for buildings used for human habitation. That law requires the building department of every city or county to enforce within its jurisdiction the provisions of the California Building Standards Code, the provisions of the State Housing Law, and specified other rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to that law. That law authorizes a city or county to adopt alternative building regulations for the conversion of commercial or industrial buildings to joint living and work quarters, as specified.

This bill would additionally authorize a city or county to adopt alternative building regulations for the conversion of commercial or industrial buildings to residential uses, as specified. The bill would require a city or county to have a housing element compliant with law and to be designated prohousing, before the city or county is authorized to adopt alternative building regulations pursuant to this bill.

This bill, before the city or county is authorized to adopt alternative building regulations, would require the city or county to submit proposed alternative building regulations to the commission. The bill would require the commission, in consultation with specified state agencies, to review the proposed alternative building regulations within 30 days of receiving the proposed regulations. The bill would authorize the commission to request the city or county to revise or amend the proposed regulations in order to protect public health, safety, and welfare. If the commission does not request revisions or amendments within 30 days, the bill would authorize the city or county to proceed with the adoption of alternative building regulations.

This bill, if the commission requests revisions or amendments to the proposed alternative building regulations, would require the city or county to consider the requested revisions or amendments and to respond, as specified, within 30 days of receiving the request for revisions or amendments. Within 30 days of receiving the response from the city or county, the bill would require the commission, in consultation with specified state agencies, to approve or deny the proposed alternative building regulations. The bill would require the commission to provide written comments regarding the revisions or amendments to the proposed regulations needed to protect public health, safety, and welfare, if the commission denies the proposed alternative building regulations.

This bill, if the city or county adopts the alternative building regulations, would require those regulations to be adopted at a public meeting of the legislative body of the city or county. The bill would require the city or county to submit the adopted alternative building regulations to the commission.

This bill would authorize the commission and other specified state agencies to request additional information from the city or county regarding regulations adopted pursuant to this bill.

Existing law, the State Housing Law, establishes statewide construction and occupancy standards for buildings used for human habitation. That law requires the building department of every city or county to enforce within its jurisdiction the provisions of the State Building Standards Code, the provisions of the State Housing Law, and specified other rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to that law. That law authorizes a city or county to adopt alternative building regulations for the conversion of commercial or industrial buildings, as specified.

This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to the provision authorizing alternative building regulations.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(a) The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a significant shift in the way people work, reducing the amount of time spent working in offices and increasing the amount of work done on a hybrid schedule or entirely remotely.

(b) Shifts in current and projected office demand have led to concerns that declining commercial office building valuations may pose fiscal challenges for local governments, which rely heavily on property taxes levied on commercial real estate to provide public goods and services.

(c) In 2022, the national office vacancy rate reached an almost three-decade high of about 17 percent, according to a report from the real estate company CBRE.

(d) According to Bloomberg News, over $900,000,000,000 of debt in commercial real estate nationally will mature in 2024.

(e) According to the sixth Regional Housing Needs Assessment cycle, local governments must plan for more than 2,500,000 homes by 2030 to meet the housing need in California.

(f) Residential homes built further away from existing neighborhoods and infrastructure are more likely to face greater risk for fires, storms, flooding, extreme heat, and other severe weather events.

(g) Homes built further away from city and town centers force residents to commute longer distances to jobs, schools, and other community services resulting in higher household transportation costs. Residents in these communities are more likely to rely on personal vehicles for daily commutes and errands, therefore increasing overall vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state, and continuing to contribute to climate change.

(h) Converting vacant commercial space into residential housing, through adaptive reuse, could greatly reduce underutilized and vacant buildings that have been decreasing in value, thereby helping to stabilize the commercial real estate market and filling those spaces with more valuable tax generating uses.

(i) Adaptive reuse projects can also increase activity and foot traffic in neighborhoods across the state which help support local businesses and enhance the cultural life of cities and towns.

(j) Adaptive reuse projects create new construction jobs and preserve historic structures.

(k) Adaptive reuse projects are more environmentally friendly than new construction, repurposing existing materials, reducing transportation emissions, and preserving embodied carbon.

SEC. 2.

 Section 17958.10 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

17958.10.

 (a) A city or a county may adopt alternative building regulations for the conversion of commercial or industrial buildings and structures, or portions thereof, to Residential Group R-1 or R-2 uses, as described in the California Building Standards Code.

(1) The buildings and structures subject to the alternative building regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall remain subject to local zoning regulations.

(2) The alternative building regulations adopted pursuant to this section are not required to impose the same requirements as regulations adopted pursuant to Section 17922. However, in permitting repairs, alterations, and additions necessary to accommodate the conversion to Residential Group R-1 or R-2 uses, the alternative building regulations shall, in the determination of the local governing body, impose requirements that protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

(b) Before a city or county may adopt alternative building regulations pursuant to this section, the city or county shall meet both of the following requirements:

(1) The city or county shall have a housing element that is compliant with law, including, but not limited to, Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 65100) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, as determined by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

(2) The city or county shall be designated prohousing pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65589.9 of the Government Code.

(c) (1) Before a city or county may adopt alternative building regulations pursuant to this section, the city or county shall submit proposed alternative building regulations to the California Building Standards Commission.

(2) The California Building Standards Commission, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development, Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission, and State Fire Marshal, shall review the proposed alternative building regulations within 30 days of receiving the proposed regulations. The California Building Standards Commission may request the city or county to revise or amend the proposed regulations in order to protect public health, safety, and welfare. If the California Building Standards Commission does not request revisions or amendments within 30 days, then the city or county may proceed with the adoption of alternative building regulations.

(3) If the California Building Standards Commission requests revisions or amendments to the proposed alternative building regulations, the city or county shall consider the requested revisions or amendments and to respond with at least one of the following within 30 days of receiving the request for revisions or amendments:

(A) Revised or amended proposed alternative building regulations.

(B) Written findings explaining why the city or county believes that the proposed alternative building regulations sufficiently protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

(4) The California Building Standards Commission, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development, Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission, and State Fire Marshal, shall approve or deny the proposed alternative building regulations by the city or county within 30 days of receiving the response from the city or county.

(5) If the California Building Standards Commission denies the proposed alternative building regulations, the California Building Standards Commission shall provide written comments regarding the revisions or amendments to the proposed regulations needed to protect public health, safety, and welfare.

(6) If the city or county adopts the alternative building regulations, the regulations shall be adopted at a public meeting of the legislative body of the city or county. The city or county shall submit the adopted alternative building regulations to the California Building Standards Commission.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that local governments have discretion to define geographic areas that may be utilized for residential uses and to establish standards for occupancy, consistent with the needs and conditions peculiar to the local environment.

(e) The Legislature recognizes that building code regulations applicable to residential housing may need to be relaxed or altered to provide residential uses in buildings previously used for commercial or industrial purposes.

(f) The California Building Standards Commission, Department of Housing and Community Development, Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission, State Fire Marshal, and any member of the working group established pursuant to Section 17921.9 may request additional information from the city or county regarding regulations adopted pursuant to this section.

SECTION 1.Section 17958.11 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

17958.11.

(a)A city or county may adopt alternative building regulations for the conversion of commercial or industrial buildings, or portions thereof, to joint living and work quarters. As used in this section, “joint living and work quarters” means residential occupancy by a family maintaining a common household, or by not more than four unrelated persons, of one or more rooms or floors in a building originally designed for industrial or commercial occupancy which include (1) cooking space and sanitary facilities in conformance with local building standards adopted pursuant to Section 17958 or 17958.5 and (2) adequate working space reserved for, and regularly used by, one or more persons residing therein.

The alternative building regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall be applicable in those geographic areas specifically designated for such occupancy, or as expressly permitted by a redevelopment plan with respect to a redevelopment project area. The alternative building regulations need not impose the same requirements as regulations adopted pursuant to Section 17922, except as otherwise provided in this section, but in permitting repairs, alterations, and additions necessary to accommodate joint living and work quarters, the alternative building regulations shall impose such requirements as will, in the determination of the local governing body, protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

(b)The Legislature hereby finds and declares that a substantial number of manufacturing and commercial buildings in urban areas have lost manufacturing and commercial tenants to more modern manufacturing and commercial premises, and that the untenanted portions of such buildings constitute a potential resource capable, when appropriately altered, of accommodating joint living and work quarters which would be physically and economically suitable particularly for use by artists, artisans, and similarly-situated individuals. The Legislature further finds that the public will benefit by making such buildings available for joint living and work quarters for artists, artisans, and similarly-situated individuals because (1) conversion of space to joint living and work quarters provides a new use for such buildings contributing to the revitalization of central city areas, (2) such conversion results in building improvements and rehabilitation, and (3) the cultural life of cities and of the state as a whole is enhanced by the residence in such cities of large numbers of persons regularly engaged in the arts.

(c)The Legislature further finds and declares that (1) persons regularly engaged in the arts require larger amounts of space for the pursuit of their artistic endeavors and for the storage of materials therefor, and of the products thereof, than are regularly found in dwellings, (2) the financial remunerations to be obtained from a career in the arts are generally small, (3) persons regularly engaged in the arts generally find it financially difficult to maintain quarters for their artistic endeavors separate and apart from their places of residence, (4) high property values and resulting rental costs make it particularly difficult for persons regularly engaged in the arts to obtain the use of the amount of space required for their work, and (5) the residential use of such space is accessory to the primary use of such space as a place of work.

It is the intent of the Legislature that local governments have discretion to define geographic areas which may be utilized for joint living and work quarters and to establish standards for such occupancy, consistent with the needs and conditions peculiar to the local environment. The Legislature recognizes that building code regulations applicable to residential housing may have to be relaxed to provide joint living and work quarters in buildings previously used for commercial or industrial purposes.