As reported in our prior blog post, Assemblymember Phil Ting (D – San Francisco) introduced amendments to the State Density Bonus law (AB 915) that would specifically require all local jurisdictions to impose their local inclusionary housing requirements on density bonus units, unless the jurisdiction expressly exempts them by ordinance.
AB 915 was recently amended to (1) only apply in San Francisco and (2) grandfather density bonus projects with an application on file or processed before January 1, 2018. “Application” is not defined in AB 915, but where that term is used in the existing State Density Bonus law, it refers to the density bonus application itself.
The Assembly’s Committee on Local Government passed AB 915 by a 6-3 vote on May 10, 2017, and the bill is now before the full Assembly.
On the local level, imposition of inclusionary housing fees on density bonus units is currently being considered by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as part of their deliberations on the Affordable Housing Bonus Program and competing inclusionary housing ordinances. We summarize that legislation in “Wading Through the Flood of New Housing Legislation.” Whether inclusionary housing fees can be imposed on density bonus units may ultimately depend on the success of AB 915.