Dear Neighbors, Please share with your friends and neighbors... Thank you! United Neighbors Marin Post https://marinpost.org/blog/2021/3/28/the-american-dream-is-dying-a-slow-death-in-california

The American Dream is dying a slow death in California Posted by: Bob Silvestri - March 28, 2021

It’s easy to become numb to warnings about the future, these days. Every minute of every day the mainstream media bombards us with shrieks about some new “crisis” or another “war on…” whatever, to the point of exhaustion.

However, every once in a while, the fire drill is for real.

This week, I watched an extraordinary analysis of two new California housing laws coming up for a vote in Sacramento: SB-9 and SB-10. The presentation was the work of Maria and Jeff Kalban, the founders of United Neighbors in Sherman Oaks, California.

It would be an understatement to say that, if passed, this legislation will bring about the biggest changes to zoning law and city planning in California, in the past 100 years… and none of it for the better.

What’s at stake? If SB-9 and SB-10 are passed and if SB-10 is fully adopted by local agencies, they will give real estate developers the power to transform all single-family neighborhoods in California—no matter where, rural, urban, or suburban, in regular old neighborhoods with small lots or in exclusive, gated communities—into dense, multi-family, zones.

The ability to take any small, single-family, residential lot (i.e., there is no minimum size requirement) and subdivide it into two lots that can contain 4 separate dwelling units each, for a total of 8 units--2 duplexes and 4 accessory dwelling units or one 10 unit apartment building (within a half-mile of a bus stop)-would become “by-right” and have ministerial review without regard to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

“By-right” development with ministerial review means proposals must be automatically permitted, by law, without any public hearings, environmental review, requirements that any of the units be affordable, requirements to pay infrastructure impact fees, or local parking requirements.

Basically, there is no way for a city to deny an application without facing a torrent of litigation.

It also means no longer having any protections from your homeowner association CC&Rs, your city’s General Plan, city zoning laws, or local code limits on floor area ratio (FAR), lot coverage, height, or setback requirements (only a 5-foot side yard and 15-foot backyard).

Developers can also ignore view ordinances, water quality, air quality, or endangered species protections, limits on traffic congestion, or lack of schools, water, sewer capacity, or any other reasonable considerations.

All of that will be wiped away.

SB-9 and SB-10, combined, will essentially result in the complete loss of local control of planning, zoning, and development in neighborhoods currently zoned for single-family homes.

For full story:

https://marinpost.org/blog/2021/3/28/the-american-dream-is-dying-a-slow-death-in-california......