Understanding how state housing laws affect Carlsbad
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, we saw an example of how recent state housing laws have significantly limited our city’s ability to deny new housing development projects. 

We’re not alone
Carlsbad is not alone in navigating the impacts of recent state housing laws. You only had to look to the front page of the local section of The San Diego Union-Tribune on July 30 to see almost identical headlines about Carlsbad and La Mesa being required to approve higher density development projects with reduced parking because state law limits local discretion.

The project our City Council held a public hearing for on Tuesday is a mixed-use project proposed to replace the vacant former bank building located on Carlsbad Village Drive between Harding and Jefferson Street. Here’s how state housing laws influenced the project and restricted our City Council’s ability to say “no”.

Density Bonus Law
State law provides benefits to developers that allow a project to build more units and more height than normally permitted under local zoning rules. Under the state’s Density Bonus Law, this project was allowed to increase the total number of homes allowed on the property by up to 100% because they made 15%, or four, of the units designated for affordable housing.

Assembly Bill 2097 – Parking exemptions
Under Assembly Bill 2097, this project was exempt from minimum parking requirements because it is within a half-mile of the Village Coaster Station. As a result, the project included 50 parking spaces for residents, compared to the 89 spaces the city would have required without this law in place.

State Housing Accountability Act
This state law limits our ability to deny or reduce the density of qualifying housing projects unless there is clear evidence of an unavoidable impact on public health or safety. This project met the city's adopted zoning, development standards and objective design criteria in effect when the project application was deemed complete, so under California's Housing Accountability Act, the city was required to approve it.

State Housing Crisis Act
The project was also reviewed under the Housing Crisis Act (Senate Bill 330), which further limits the city’s discretion over qualifying housing projects and sets timelines for permit review. These state requirements ensure eligible housing developments are reviewed using the standards in effect when the application was submitted and restrict cities from adding new requirements during the review process. In this case, this meant the city was not able to apply objective design standards that help ensure new projects fit in better with the existing character of the city.

If a city violates state housing laws, the consequences may include something called the “builders remedy,” which allows housing to be built at any location, height and density until the city complies with required housing laws, as determined by the state’s housing agency.

Retaining what control we can 
Carlsbad is in a better position that many other cities when it comes to retaining some local control over housing. You can read about several important actions the City Council has taken in recent years.

Conditions
One way the city can help address community concerns about development projects is to put conditions on the project’s approval, when feasible. The list of things that can be addressed through conditions is smaller than it used to be as a result of state laws. One project condition from Tuesday night the City Council added was prohibiting the condos from being used as short-term vacation rentals.

There is no way a few hundred words can summarize all the nuances and provisions of these new state housing laws, so please look at our new state housing laws webpage to see the exact language, exceptions, conditions and other important details.