Building Industry Advocacy

State

• AB 1000 defeated – A follow-up to last year’s legislation which would have placed a moratorium on industrial projects in the Inland Empire and also killed residential projects. BIASC joined CBIA and a broad coalition in opposition to help kill the bill.
• SB 122/AB 122 – Budget Trailer Bills signed by Governor
  • BIASC continued to support the CBIA led advocacy efforts to advance the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act. Among other things, the new law authorizes project proponents to mitigate take by paying a per tree fee in lieu of conducting project-specific mitigation.

Entering our centennial year, BIASC has introduced a Veterans Housing Policy Framework featuring key reforms including support of the following legislation.

• Assembly Bill 1474 (Reyes)
  • AB 1474 requires that the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) consider and incorporate the housing needs of veterans into the statewide housing plan and requires that HCD consult with the State Department of Veterans Affairs when developing the plan.

• Assembly Bill 1386 (Gabriel)
  • Ensures available beds for homeless veterans do not go empty. This bill would allow the State Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program (VHHP) program to expand its housing resources to veterans who do not typically qualify.

Regional

• SCAG GreenPrint
• The SoCal GreenPrint (GP) planning tool proposed by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), has the potential to dramatically undermine local control through an unprecedented expansion of CEQA.  This year, BIASC staff led the charge to successfully pursue the formation of a SCAG Technical Advisory Committee to review this issue.

Local

• Fontana DIF Reduction
  • The City Council voted to support a temporary 50% DIF reduction through July of 2023.
• Ontario DIF Reduction
  • Current fees for some mechanical, electrical and plumbing fees have been reduced by 50%, equating to roughly $2,500 for a 2,200 sq ft home. This would result in permitting fees in line with building permit fees in 2021

• Victor Elementary School District
  • The school district officials originally proposed a fee increase to approximately $7.00 per sq ft and after reviewing the BIASC fee analysis adjusted the study to a reduction of $3.96 per sq ft.
• Streamlined Building Code adoption and implementation across OC jurisdictions.
• Fire/Insurance
  • Reopened clear lines of communication with OCFA to streamline development gridlock.

• Anaheim
  • Supported multiple new housing project approvals.
  • Worked to limit harmful impacts from a proposed Inclusionary Zoning policy.

• Buena Park
  • Helped secure approval for 1,300 units of housing at the Buena Park mall.

• Coastal Commission
  • Supported an important project before the Commission.

• Costa Mesa
  • Worked to limit harmful impacts from a proposed Inclusionary Zoning policy.

• Huntington Beach
  • Helped secure approval of an important new housing project.
  • Engaged on the “front line” of new Housing Law implementation currently being litigated by the city.

• Irvine
  • Helped prevent implementation of a burdensome natural gas ban.
  • Prevented a 77% fee increase.
  • Worked to streamline issues with site inspection.

• Newport Beach
  • Lowered Inclusionary Zoning policy from 30% to 15%.

• Santa Ana
  • Engaged on the “front line” of new Housing Law implementation to support housing opportunity.

• Los Angeles County
  • Successfully engaged the County to mitigate negative impacts of their Residential Design Standards Ordinance.
  • Helped secure approval for various housing projects.
  • Successfully engaged the County to stall the adoption of their Wildfire Ordinance until the state has finalized their Fire Hazard Severity Zone process.
  • Successfully engaged the County to delay the creation and adoption of their Climate Action Plan into the General Plan.

• Los Angeles
  • Supported Mayor Karen Bass’s Executive Directive 1 aimed at streamlining affordable housing by expediting processes, clearances and approvals though the new ministerial approval process.
  • Working with City staff to ensure that the city’s new Wildlife ordinance doesn’t purposely limited development in the Santa Moncia Mountains.

• Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency
  • Working with the water agency to ensure the creation of the Valencia water capacity fee to be transparent and fair.

• Ventura
  • Lowered Inclusionary Zoning policy from 20% to 10%.

• Banning
  • Assisted several builders with issues regarding state environmental agency attempts to take additional conservation lands from previously approved projects.

• Riverside
  • Secured further delay of City consideration of a new inclusionary housing ordinance.
  • Currently working with the City to implement a VMT mitigant bank for housing projects. Working to insure the In-lieu fee is fair and reasonable.

• Eastern Municipal Water District
  • Working with the district we were able to achieve a phase in for new water capacity fees.

• Western Municipal Water District
  • Working with the district we were able to secure a delayed implementation for the new water and sewer capacity fees in the City of Murrieta.