Originally published in Law360, July 24, 2020.
When the California Legislature enacted S.B. 35 in 2017, the goal of the law was clear: to increase the state’s housing production by requiring swift approval of housing in communities often opposed to new development.
The law was designed to bypass community opposition from vocal neighbors or anti-development groups, as well as from local elected officials, who often feel beholden to the interests of local neighbors rather than the needs of the greater regional community.
Recent research highlights the problem with the existing entitlement process for housing. In a series of papers[1] coming out of the University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University, researchers studied the entitlement process and timelines for housing in several Bay Area and Southern California cities.
For those in the industry, the results were not surprising: Housing entitlements are generally discretionary, and the type of approval, the timing, the number of hearings, the approval body and compliance with California Environmental Quality Act all vary considerably between jurisdictions.
In some jurisdictions, getting through the process is relatively straightforward. In others, it is a slog. The number of units approved also varies significantly, but jurisdictions with efficient, shorter timeframes produce more units.
