May 6, 2014

California State Assembly

Committee on Local Government
1020 N Street, Room 157
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Honorable Committee Members,

I am writing in strong support of Assemblymember Adrin Nazarians affordable housing
density bonus bill, AB 2222, which is scheduled to be considered by your committee on May 7,
2014. AB 2222 offers much needed clarification and correction to Californias affordable housing
density bonus law, commonly referred to as SB 1818.

Nearly a decade ago, an idea about how to create more affordable housing throughout
the state was adopted. The concept was straightforward enough - if developers agreed to build
more affordable housing units as part of a new apartment or condominium project, they would
be eligible for certain incentives in return. In exchange for providing more housing opportunities
for lower- and middle-income families, cities would allow developers to benefit from density
bonuses and incentives such as allowing more height or requiring less parking for a project.

What started as a well-intentioned legislative attempt to ensure economic diversity in all
communities has become sadly manipulated, and in the process has changed the character of
our communities - without delivering on the promise of more affordable housing. Instead of
creating more housing that is affordable for lower- and middle-income families, SB 1818 has
become a grab-bag of incentives, littered with loopholes that create more density and traffic,
without increasing our affordable housing opportunities for those who need them.

This problem is felt even more acutely in cities such as Los Angeles, which have rent
stabilization regulations designed to mitigate against the impacts of ever-increasing housing
costs. Those rent-controlled units are at risk with SB 1818 as it currently exists. It is becoming
far too commonplace that rent-controlled apartments are being demolished to make way for
condominium projects containing the bare minimum of affordable units needed to trigger the SB
1818 density bonus. In my district, a building with 32 rent-controlled apartments was recently
demolished to make way for a 49-unit condominium project, with only four affordable units.
Many of the tenants who lived in those units will no longer be able to afford to live in their
neighborhood, as the availability of housing that teachers, firefighters, nurses, and other middle-
class professionals can afford continues to decrease.






AB 2222 takes critical steps to close the loopholes and prevent density bonus projects
from resulting in a net decrease in affordable housing. Instead, AB 2222 requires a net increase
in the number of affordable units on a property. AB 2222 would amend SB 1818 to require that
an applicant replace any existing affordable units on a property with at least the same number of
affordable units in order for the applicant to be eligible to seek a density bonus. The applicant
would be required to provide the percentage of affordable units specified in SB 1818 in addition
to the replacement units in order to qualify for additional density, incentives, and concessions.
This would prevent the net loss of affordable housing as property with rent-controlled or other de
facto affordable housing is redeveloped.

AB 2222 also ensures the long-term affordability of very low and low-income units that
are used to trigger density bonuses. This bill would increase the term of affordability from 30 to
55 years. We not only need to increase the number of affordable units, we need to increase the
amount of time in which we can count on them being affordable.

As our lower- and middle-class families continue to suffer through a slow economic
recovery, and as housing costs continue to rise at a frightening pace, we owe it to our
communities to ensure that they remain economically diverse and that the vision to create more
affordable housing is realized. I request that you support AB 2222, as proposed, to increase the
supply of desperately needed affordable housing.

Regards,

MIKE BONIN
Councilmember, District 11

cc: The Honorable Holly Mitchell
The Honorable Ted Lieu
The Honorable Richard Bloom
The Honorable Sebastian Ridley-Thomas
The Honorable Steve Bradford
The Honorable Al Muratsuchi