“Basically, we’re making it cheaper and easier to build new housing near transit,” Newsom said in a. “This means more housing at lower prices close to walkable neighborhoods and public transit — again, reducing costs for everyday Californians and eliminating emissions from cars.”
Some jurisdictions – San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and San Diego among them — have already moved away from parking minimums, and state density bonus law allows residential developers to request waivers from jurisdictions that do require them, so long as at least 20% of their units will be below-market rate. Fully affordable housing projects have been exempt from minimums since 2019.
told me last fall during a discussion about the Irvine-based developer’s efforts include build higher density housing in its portfolio, which spans much of the North and East Bay. The new law allows local governments to enforce parking minimums within a half-mile of transit if they can make written findings “supported by a preponderance of evidence” that not doing so will harm the jurisdiction’s ability to meet its housing goals or on existing parking. But it offers several ways developers can circumvent that requirement, including dedicating 20% of a project’s units to students, the elderly, persons with disabilities or below market rate rents.