State Moves To End Single-Family Zoning
Mark Fernwood
By Mark Fernwood, a member of the Contra Costa Republican Central Committee and Danville resident.
The left wants to compress society, to convert single family residential neighborhoods into high-density. This is driven by false claims that we have a “housing crisis” in California, crisis of shortage and “affordability.” However, Governor Newsom recently signed two new bills, SB9 and SB10, that intend to accomplish this.
“A crisis of “shortage” is very easily disprovable, just Google “average apartment vacancy in the San Francisco Bay Area.” You will find a wide variety of data, but none suggest only long waiting lists. Apartment locating web sites will show specific availability and prices in selected areas.
“Affordability” is a subjective term. Areas that are very desirable always are far more costly. According to the Building Industry Association, the average cost to build a new Bay Area unit is $500,000. With this hard cost burden, we cannot build our way to cheap.
High density: A further assertion is that if populations are tightly packed, near transit hubs, residents will not need cars. In fact, no parking will be provided in many new complexes. The reality is that most, if not all, will own cars and will have visitors with cars. This will further burden limited public and street parking. A stated goal is to reduce the amount traffic on highways. How will imposing high density on outlying communities, where there are few jobs or mass transit, possibly help this?
Senate Bill 9: Mandates that “single family” zoned property must be allowed to be subdivided into two lots. Each new lot will be allowed to have two units. This will result in a single familky homes being converted into a 4-plexes. There is no requirement for on-site parking. This will change quiet residential streets into car-lined, busy throughfares. As the character of neighborhoods will be so drastically changed, home values will be severely impacted.
SB10: Provides that local agencies may adopt an ordinance to allow up to 10 dwelling units on any parcel, at a height specified in the ordinance, if the parcel is within a “transit-rich” area. What is a “transit rich” area? It is not defined.
Opposition, hopefully will grow to this destruction of our communities. One new group taking this up is Our Neighborhood Voices.com as well as LivableCalifornia.com. It should be of great concern how agencies can dictate such destructive changes in our lives. Our communities will be wrecked for “reasons” that are False. Consider: what will they do to us next?
If one’s main concern is housing affordability, consider Detroit. Houses can be bought for cash for as little as $100. Detroit is so cheap is because no one, in their right mind, wants to live there. Once Detroit was considered a “Model City,” it was referred to as the “Paris of the Midwest” but it now represents the result 60 years of Democrat and union control.