EPS has assisted the California Legislature with technical analysis of proposed bills designed to advance housing production, including Assembly Bill (AB) 2011 and Senate Bill (SB) 423. Approved in 2022, AB 2011 paves the way for converting underutilized commercial property for housing while SB 423 would extend SB 35 which allows “ministerial” approval of housing projects in jurisdictions that are not meeting their Regional Housing Needs Allocations (RHNA).
Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, EPS contributed to a study quantifying the housing production, as well as fiscal and environmental benefits, likely to result from provisions of AB 2011 that allows “by right” housing development on commercial lands that front arterial roadways (if the project meets specific mixed-income targets and a host of other objective criteria). For SB 423, EPS quantified the implications of various inclusionary housing requirements on housing feasibility and production. As part of the effort, EPS led several webinars and authored publications designed to address key concerns expressed by some lawmakers, including the fiscal implications of new housing that replaces existing commercial uses.
