Eber: Housing’s dismal future in the Golden State

At the same time that California is losing 2-300,000 thousand people, net, every year, the government is forcing mandates to make housing more expensive, trying to pass more bonds to add to your property tax—in effect, making you either poorer or a resident of another State.

• “Under the guise of confronting climate change, construction of single-family homes is being virtually outlawed in the future.  Where they presently exist, it will be easy to construct multi-family units that do not fit the demographics or aspirations of most residents. 

• Affordable Housing, without massive government subsidies, is not accessible to much of anyone.  Insistence on costly Project Labor Agreements, (PLA’s) increase construction costs by at least 20%.  Minimizing parking space requirements, density discounts, and reducing setbacks, sets the stage for the slums of tomorrow.”
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The Hollywood Slicky is using Sacramento to create a State of Crime, a State for easy drug sales, a state of illiterate, racist students, a State of expensive, unreliable energy and transportation—and a State, from San Diego to the Oregon border that is a crime ridden slum.

Housing’s dismal future in the Golden State by Richard Eber 

Richard Eber, Exclusive to the California Political News and Views,  11/10/23   www.capoliticalnewsandviews.com 

It doesn’t take Alex Trebek or his successors on Jeopardy to answer the question What happens when kerosene is poured over a fire? 

Unfortunately, the legislature in California just doesn’t get it. 

In the last session some 59 bills were approved promoting the development of needed  housing.   Judge by the results. There was little of a positive nature that took place with the passage of new laws. 

Most of this legislation is intended to: 

• Transfer local control in making zoning decisions. This task will be taken over by the State. Speeding up the approval process appears to be more important than the negative consequences for local communities.  

• Under the guise of confronting climate change, construction of single-family homes is being virtually outlawed in the future.  Where they presently exist, it will be easy to construct multi-family units that do not fit the demographics or aspirations of most residents. 

• Affordable Housing, without massive government subsidies, is not accessible to much of anyone.  Insistence on costly Project Labor Agreements, (PLA’s) increase construction costs by at least 20%.  Minimizing parking space requirements, density discounts, and reducing setbacks, sets the stage for the slums of tomorrow.  

Just ask worried property owners in Huntington Beach and around California what they think about the increased concentration of planning power in Sacramento? 

Led by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) Progressive Democrats, with virtually no viable opposition from the GOP, are attempting to fix the States housing shortage.  Their remedy is having “Big Brother” (The State) making crucial planning decisions; allegedly for best interests of the people. 

Big government is completely oblivious to promoting housing starts people actually want.  They are joined at the hip with environmentalist extremists to further a questionable Green Agenda. This includes the use of public transportation and bike lanes as a substitute for the family car. 

Gavin Newsom and his Progressive followers believe California’s future belongs with stack and pack housing adjoining mass transit systems.  The problem is the majority of middle-class families don’t wish to reside in these Section 8 magnets that dictate sardine like living conditions. 

The State is unaware since the onset of Covid, many people prefer to work from home rather than commuting into large metropolitan areas for their employment.  Further exasperating this societal change is rampant crime and homeless problems in big cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. 

Proof of this cultural transformation is found with the diminishing ridership of mass transit systems in the Bay Area and Southern California.  Ironically, most of the people who would be living in Project Development Area (PDA) complexes do not have sufficient income to afford riding on most BART or LA Metro services. 

Bringing the so-called Bullet rain into this conversation belongs to the genre of Theater of the Absurd. 

Below is a partial list of the highlights and lowlights of the legislature on housing that Governor Newsom signed into law last month. 

SB-330  It eliminates most local sanctioned hearings on applications for approving new housing permits. The State sets standards for criteria used for this process.  Costly litigation is encouraged because City’s can be sued if they reject a developer’s application. This same strategy was used several years ago to impose district elections on municipalities who previously voted for their members on an at large basis. 

SB-423 extends SB-35 which was due to expire in 2026.Along with SB-439, and SB-684, these billsstreamline approvals of multi-unit and priority housing development projects.  423 virtually insists union labor be required for any project with a height of over 85 feet.  No wonder come election time, Senator Scott Wiener D-SF) has no problems raising funds from construction unions. 

AB-1449 Exempts affordable housing from the same environmental reviews required for other housing construction.  What does this say about the litany of bureaucratic red tape that plagues the lack of construction in California?  Why not repeal some of the restrictive-useless legislation passed in previous years that contribute to bloated construction costs in the Golden State? 

AB-1308 & 1317 & 894 regulating parking spaces needed for new construction.Of these 3 bills that define government overreach, 1308 is the worst.  Sacramento will now determine how many parking spaces will be allocated regardless of what nearby neighbors might think. 

Hello density discounts! They will result in requiring parking permits similar to what has transpired in many metropolitan areas. Enforcement expenses dealing with congestion will naturally be for the account of local governments.  

SB-4: This is another Scott Wiener special.  It exempts property owned by churches, schools and nonprofits from a normal approval process of local government in constructing affordable housing.  It might be asked if any of these institutions exhibit special professional expertise to avoid hometown scrutiny? 

In reality SB-4 and the other 58 bills passed in 2023 illustrate the movement of California from a capitalist to a socialistic society where decision making is done by a powerful central government. 

They take on the policy that “size does not matter” in formulating housing policies.  Collateral damage be damned! 

This trend appears to be the wave of the future. Unless the Republican Party and residents of the Central Valley emerge from their Rip Van Winkle like trance, Progressives will continue their destruction of the once Golden State.