Post by High Priestess on Feb 3, 2018 2:55:36 GMT
CA senate bill 827 would potentially bring dramatic change to neighborhoods, by overriding city zoning and development laws at the state level and giving developers permission to build tall and large in many of what are now quiet residential neighborhoods consisting of mostly single family dwellings.
See here:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB827
Many groups are critical of this bill. Some city leaders like Berkeley mayor Jesse Arreguin have gone so far as to call it a "declaration of war upon our neighborhoods"
www.berkeleyside.com/2018/01/22/berkeley-mayor-wiener-skinner-housing-bill-declaration-war-neighborhoods/
other groups including the Sierra Club, reject the bill.
la.curbed.com/2018/2/1/16960380/sb-827-wiener-transit-bill-map
www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2018-01-06/article/46357
I oppose this bill. I agree that it essentially "declares war" on neighborhoods by removing control from communities and cities about what they want in their neighborhoods. Sometimes city governments can be overcontrolling, and so I don't disagree with overriding the city in some cases. But I think it's really bad to allow someone to plop down an 8 story apartment building (or 4 or 5 of them) in the middle of a quiet block of all one and two story single family dwellings, which under this bill would apparently be allowed. Essentially, this bill would destroy the kinds of low-key, peaceful residential environment that people were attracted to when they bought their homes. Some also argue against the bill saying it would destroy low income neighborhoods by replacing affordable housing there with new multi unit buildings offering market rate units.
This image shows for instance how most of the inner bay area could be "gobbled up" by developers building huge units in quiet neighborhoods of single family homes.
See here:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB827
Many groups are critical of this bill. Some city leaders like Berkeley mayor Jesse Arreguin have gone so far as to call it a "declaration of war upon our neighborhoods"
www.berkeleyside.com/2018/01/22/berkeley-mayor-wiener-skinner-housing-bill-declaration-war-neighborhoods/
other groups including the Sierra Club, reject the bill.
la.curbed.com/2018/2/1/16960380/sb-827-wiener-transit-bill-map
www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2018-01-06/article/46357
I oppose this bill. I agree that it essentially "declares war" on neighborhoods by removing control from communities and cities about what they want in their neighborhoods. Sometimes city governments can be overcontrolling, and so I don't disagree with overriding the city in some cases. But I think it's really bad to allow someone to plop down an 8 story apartment building (or 4 or 5 of them) in the middle of a quiet block of all one and two story single family dwellings, which under this bill would apparently be allowed. Essentially, this bill would destroy the kinds of low-key, peaceful residential environment that people were attracted to when they bought their homes. Some also argue against the bill saying it would destroy low income neighborhoods by replacing affordable housing there with new multi unit buildings offering market rate units.
This image shows for instance how most of the inner bay area could be "gobbled up" by developers building huge units in quiet neighborhoods of single family homes.
