San Rafael council hears legal briefing on statewide housing laws and local implications
Loading...
Summary
City legal counsel Neera Daugherty gave a study-session briefing on California housing laws — including the Housing Crisis Act, state density bonus rules, SB 35 and recent amendments — and described how the changes affect project processing, waivers and replacement of affordable units in San Rafael.
At a March 17 special study session, San Rafael legal counsel Neera Daugherty summarized recent California housing laws and how they change local review and approvals for housing projects.
Daugherty told the council that the Housing Crisis Act (2019) introduced a state‑defined preliminary application intended to give developers certainty early in the review process: "There's 17 pieces of information the developer submits," she said. The law also caps local hearings on a completed project and contains a no‑net‑loss rule for protected units — generally deed‑restricted or naturally occurring affordable housing — meaning redevelopment that removes protected units must replace them or concurrently upzone elsewhere and notify the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
On state density bonus law, Daugherty said qualifying projects that commit a share of units to specified affordability levels are entitled to density bonuses, incentives or concessions and, under recent changes, unlimited waivers of local physical development standards (height, setback, coverage) where those standards would prevent the proposed density. She highlighted recent stacking rules that can substantially increase allowable density when multiple affordability categories are combined.
Daugherty also reviewed SB 35 and its 2024 amendment (SB 423), which create ministerial approval paths for certain sites in jurisdictions that fall below mid‑cycle RHNA permitting thresholds. She said San Rafael’s most recent mid‑cycle report keeps it outside the most onerous category but warned HCD reclassifications in June can change the city’s status.
Two other laws — AB 2011 and SB 6 — were described as additional ministerial routes that can require CEQA exemption for qualifying affordable projects in commercial or mixed‑use corridors. On single‑family zoning, Daugherty noted the broad ADU changes, SB 9 lot‑split/duplex provisions and SB 684’s streamlined path for up to 10 new lots on qualifying vacant parcels.
Council members used the session to probe how those legal changes translate into built projects in San Rafael. Director Micah Hinkle and other staff answered that significant constraints remain: construction financing, lack of staging and high material costs (notably steel) limit developers’ appetite for very tall infill projects. Staff also emphasized that ministerial entitlement does not obviate utility and building‑permit checks — projects still need water, sewer and fire signoffs before breaking ground.
Daugherty said many of the laws are newly written and will be fleshed out through litigation and administrative action; she noted the attorney general has begun intervening in some local cases to clarify state implementation.
The study session was informational only; no policy decisions were made. Council members asked staff to return with follow‑up clarifications — including RHNA threshold numbers, how replacement rules apply to demolition, and how the city will help entitled projects reach construction.
