Oppose AB 3107

Oppose AB 3107 7/22/20

Dear Senator

Although this bill was undoubtedly meant to help turn local business districts and neighborhood shops into useful housing containing up to 20% affordable units, it is fatally flawed due to its highly arbitrary approach to allowing tall apartment projects where local businesses now stand. The core concept is to raise the height of proposed buildings to equal the height of the tallest commercial or residential areas within one-half mile.

With all due respect, every city has dramatically different building height rules that reflect unique physical locations, tremendously diverse histories and decades of community planning. This bill cannot foresee — and thus is silent on — the havoc and upheaval that would come to bear on cities that would suddenly be forced to allow 9-story buildings next to homes, in the spots where a small corner convenience store once stood, solely because one-half mile away that particular city has a robust business district that allows 9-story buildings. In another city, the AB 3107 building could be 14 stories, or five stories, all based on the tallest zoning in a carefully planned district one-half mile away.

This bill is not one-size-fits-all, but instead a scattershot approach that will set off speculation and shutdowns of local businesses as developers scoop up commercial lots that have  long been, and should remain, at heights and sizes the street can handle.  Throughout the most diverse communities, particularly in Southern California and the Central Valley with their huge working-class populations, this bill will speed up gentrification despite the 20% affordable units on offer, introducing large market-rate buildings into working-class areas that won't survive AB 3107. I urge you to vote no.

Please Oppose AB 3107

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