The predictions were grave. Senate Bill 9 would ruin California. Municipalities across California expected to see an increase in SB 9-related proposals in 2022. Whole communities feared they’d see a tsunami of applications that would change the landscape of their neighborhoods forever.
Why?
Senate Bill 9 made significant changes to the zoning laws in California, aimed at eliminating overly burdensome requirements that slow qualified applications for infill housing units, like accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Simply put, the law, that was signed in September 2021 and went into effect in January 2022, allows owners of property in residential zones designated single-family to build two units, and/or to subdivide their existing lot into two parcels, up to a total of four units.
Most concerning for local planning departments was the section designating applications to be processed with ministerial review. That process means without a discretionary hearing or review. Local planning staff are limited to sticking to the letter of the law, ensuring that the SB 9 application meets only the eligibility criteria along with the applicable objective design, zoning and subdivision review standards. Staff can’t use their own judgement if they have concerns about whether a project might work for a specific parcel.
The bill as it was passed raised the alarm that it was too liberal and would cause irreparable harm. The list of concerns included:
- Fear that local municipalities would lose all regulatory authority
- Corporate investors would buy up housing to redevelop into multiple units
- Historic and/or landmark neighborhoods would be decimated to make way for new housing units
- Lax limitations on the allowable number of units to a parcel
- Building would take place in areas, regardless of any specific vulnerability to fire, floodplains, earthquakes or its value as agricultural land.
To address those concerns, a series of amendments followed that are explained in detail on this site dedicated to Senate Bill 9 – the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency (HOME) Act https://focus.senate.ca.gov/sb9 and outlined below:
- Respects local control. As long as local planning departments don’t restrict the bill’s lot-split and duplex options, local restrictions on lot size, setbacks, height restrictions and the like are allowable. The planning department for your jurisdiction can provide you with the specific details.
- A homeowner-occupancy requirement was added as a condition of receiving a lot-split through the ministerial review, so the bill does not benefit institutional investors.
- SB 9 has a provision that excludes historic and landmark districts.
- A limit of 4 units was imposed to restrict the number of allowable units per parcel.
- Due to geographic concerns about vulnerability to fire, floodplains, earthquakes or its value as agricultural land, if local governments restrict the building of homes in a vulnerable area, SB 9 does not apply.
So far this year, Marin County’s Planning Department has seen a minimal number of SB 9 proposals actually submitted for consideration. That could be due in part to the newness of the legislation, as individuals continue to express interest by dropping by the office to ask questions or call in for more information.
That will come as no surprise to those who’ve studied the issue. A report created by the Tenant Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley released in July 2021 on the impact of SB 9 appears to be holding true. They predicted that due to market conditions and other restrictions statewide, about 1.5% of single-family properties would take advantage of the bill. (Report, pg. 9)
This analysis finds that SB 9’s primary impact will be to unlock incrementally more units on parcels that are already financially feasible under existing law, typically through the simple subdivision of an existing structure. Relatively few new single-family parcels are expected to become financially feasible for added units as a direct consequence of this bill. While this analysis does not attempt to measure the actual rate of uptake for adding new units to single-family parcels, it is reasonable to assume that SB 9 will modestly accelerate the addition of new units relative to the status quo by facilitating access to conventional mortgage products for multiple households able to purchase homes on newly subdivided single-family parcels.
“Will Allowing Duplexes and Lot Splits on Parcels Zoned for Single-Family Create New Homes?” July 2021 Report (Introduction, pg. 2)
Each municipality will have their own local rules and guidelines for how to proceed. In May of this year, Marin County passed interim ordinances to be in compliance with SB 9. Sausalito passed interim rules in June, and San Rafael approved an ordinance to be in compliance with SB 9 in July.
Clearly, local governments had to adjust to the new law, and the wheels of government often move slowly, as indicated by the dates of adopting new ordinances to comply. This may also be another indication of why SB 9 applications are trickling in rather than flooding in.
If you are looking at your property anew, in light of the passage of SB 9 and want to explore design options, we’d love to discuss the possibilities. Working with a professional who is familiar with the permitting process and can assist with the design could save you time, headaches and money in the long run.