on Wednesday signed a package of housing bills aimed at tackling the affordable housing crisis, which he called the “original sin” of the state.
There are 38 bills in the package total, dealing with everything from farmworker housing, to construction financing, to homelessness, to mobile homes to accessory dwelling units. But the two Newsom highlighted on Wednesday both make it easier to build housing on commercial-zoned properties. With both bills' passage, developers can choose which of the two processes they want to follow for each project.AB 2011 will create a streamlined approval process that bypasses some requirements in the California Environmental Quality Act and some hurdles that local governments often put in front of development projects, such as parking requirements.
Newsom also used the news conference Wednesday to warn cities that have been slow to approve some of the new housing the state needs to ease the housing crisis.The remarks came after the California Department of Housing and Community Development announced last month that it was investigating the city of San Francisco’s housing construction approval process.