The Anaheim City Council on June 22 will consider opposing a bill that one councilor said would make many new housing projects “infeasible and unachievable.”
At the request of Councilman Trevor O’Neil, the council will discuss passing a resolution opposing Senate Bill 12 (SB 12).
“SB 12 would take away an element of local control and make it more difficult to approve and build housing in areas designated by a bureaucratic state agency as being in a high fire risk area, which would increase the cost of housing at a time when we need it least, given our RHNA allocation,” O’Neil said during a June 8 city council meeting.
The state bill was introduced by Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) last December to increase local government responsibilities by requiring cities and counties to create fire safety standards prior to permitting development in high fire risk areas.
Anaheim was allocated 17,453 housing units as part of its 2021 to 2029 Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). It must demonstrate that it has enough land designated and made available for residential development, but it’s not responsible for building the units.
The city’s proposed resolution says the bill gives the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research “control over the state’s decision-making process with regards to planning for future housing needs and further erode local control.”
SB 12 has been approved by the state Senate and is awaiting California State Assembly approval.