Novato Might Not Get What it Asked For in Huffman's Housing Bill

Don’t blame state Assemblyman Jared Huffman if you wake up next year to find high-density affordable housing developments green-lit in Novato.

On April 27, Huffman, D-San Rafael and Novato's representative in the Assembly, pushed his version of affordable-housing reform legislation, Assembly Bill 1103, as far as he could before getting a crucial element of the bill removed while in committee. That element was the one that should be the key to the entire bill, at least in Novato’s eyes.

AB 1103 was unanimously approved by the committee on Housing and Community Development only after Committee Chair Norma Torres had Huffman remove the part of the bill that said Marin cities could appeal “metropolitan” density requirements (30 units per acre) in favor of “suburban” (20 units per acre).

Unfortunately, though Torres assured the assembled group that Huffman had been working diligently to help give individual cities flexibility regarding density requirements, the bill passed by her committee has been stripped of its primary purpose. According to Huffman’s original press release about AB 1103, that purpose was to “allow a local government to petition the regional governing body for a density designation that more appropriately reflects the area.”

“This bill also clarifies that a local government does not have to apply the default density throughout the region, provided they can demonstrate an ability to meet their regional housing need,” the document continues.

After the committee meeting, Huffman promised to continue his efforts and pointed out something significant: “The only flexibility I’m asking for is the ability of local governments to make their case, not even to get automatic relief,” he said. He wasn’t asking for that the committee make a de facto ruling on suburban affordable housing (that it should all be lower-density). He was asking that municipalities have the right to make those decisions themselves or at least to get the chance to make those decisions at the local level.

Here’s my take: The key element of the bill was not density; it was giving cities the power to make their own decisions regarding density. The original wording of AB 1103 would not have assured low-density affordable housing, but it would have put the issue into the hands of local government and residents, rather than ask them to accept a one-size-fits-all solution determined at the state level. By removing that language from AB 1103, the fight to limit density becomes much more difficult, as it remains a decision made at 10,000 feet, not at the street level.

Local arguments for and against higher density become moot. It’s not Novato’s decision to make.

At the Housing and Community Development meeting with Huffman were Marin County Supervisor Judy Arnold and Novato Mayor Madeline Kellner, plus Katie Crecilius, an affordable housing developer. In a dated April 29, Kellner and Arnold all lauded Huffman’s efforts, but curiously neither mentioned what seems to me like a pretty important “but …” 

“I am pleased to announce that AB 1103 was approved by the committee (April 27) – with some amendments,” Arnold wrote.

The important part came next: “Assemblyman Huffman intends to pursue flexibility on density default designations as the bill progresses through the legislative process.”

Whatever your opinion of Novato’s density needs, you should be watching these next steps very closely. Minus the option to appeal on a case-by-case basis, Novato will be getting plenty from AB 1103, but it won’t be getting what it asked for.