HomeMy WebLinkAboutSB 423 (Wiener) - City of SLO OPPOSITION Letter
August 17, 2023
The Honorable Dawn Addis,
Member, California State Assembly
1201 O Street, Suite 5350
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 423 (Wiener) By-right housing approvals: multifamily housing developments: SB 35
(Chapter 366, Statutes of 2017) expansion.
Notice of Opposition
Dear Dawn Addis:
The City of San Luis Obispo writes to express our opposition to SB 423, which would greatly
expand SB 35 (Chapter 366, Statutes of 2017), extend the Jan. 1, 2026 sunset date to Jan.1,
2036, and allow the Department of General Services (DGS) to control housing developments on
state-owned or -leased property, regardless of the locally required zoning or development
standards.
The City of San Luis Obispo is actively pro-housing and intimately understands the affordable
housing and homelessness crisis as it plays out in our community every day. The City
consistently prioritizes increased housing production; City Council has selected housing as a
Major City Goal since 2015. As a result, the City of San Luis Obispo’s 2022 General Plan Annual
Report shows that the City has made 51.8% progress in meeting its RHNA numbers for the
City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element.
The City is only one of many local jurisdictions across the state working to find creative
solutions so homes of all income levels can be built. T ogether we are taking on these difficult
and complex tasks, and in many cases successfully planning for more than 2.5 million new
homes statewide, all while navigating the state’s overreaching housing bills that have thus far
demonstrated limited success.
SB 423 is the latest overreaching bill. This measure would double-down on the recent trend of
the state overriding its own mandated local housing plans by forcing cities to approve certain
housing projects without regard to the needs of the community, opportunities for
environmental review, or public input. While it may be frustrating for some developers to
address neighborhood concerns about traffic, parking, and other development impacts, those
directly affected by such projects have a right to be heard , and circumvention of public
engagement processes adversely affects the livability and sustainability of new housing for both
Oppose – SB 423 (Wiener) By-right housing approvals: multifamily housing developments
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existing and anticipated residents of our communities. Public engagement often leads to better
projects. Not having such outlets will increase public distrust in the government, diminish the
quality of our new development, and result in additional housing resistance and potentially
ballot measures limiting housing development.
Instead of continuing to pursue top-down, one-size-fits-all legislation, lawmakers should
partner with local officials to empower thoughtful local responses to facilitate local housing
production that engenders community support and builds on the positive momentum cities like
ours are building. That’s why the League of California Cities continues to call on the Governor
and lawmakers to annually invest $3 billion to help cities prevent and reduce homelessness and
spur housing development. Targeted, ongoing funding is the only way cities can find
community-based solutions that get our residents off the streets and keep them in their homes.
California will never produce the number of homes needed with an increasingly state -driven,
by-right housing approval process. What is really needed is a sustainable state investment that
matches the scale of this long-term crisis and vests trust and capacity in the local officials best
situated to advance creative local solutions that are accountable to their local communities.
For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo respectfully opposes SB 423.
Sincerely,
Erica A. Stewart
Mayor
City of San Luis Obispo
cc: Senator John Laird, Fax: (916) 651-4017
Dave Mullinax, League of California Cities, dmullinax@cacities.org
League of California Cities (via email: cityletters@calcities.org)