California
California Clears the Way for Building Teacher Housing on School Property
A brand new California laws, signed into legislation by Gov. Gavin Newsom Sept. 28, will take away some restrictions on zoning necessities to make it simpler for California faculty districts to construct reasonably priced housing for academics and workers as quickly as subsequent yr.
Underneath the brand new legislation, faculty districts can construct workers housing on any property owned by the district with out requesting a zoning change.
Usually, builders are required to hunt such modifications from the town or county to construct housing on property designated for different makes use of.
The invoice’s writer, Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), stated in an announcement he hoped the brand new legislation will result in extra housing and entice educators who’re leaving the state attributable to excessive hire and residing prices to remain.
“Academics and workers are leaving as a result of the skyrocketing value of residing and stagnant salaries make it virtually not possible to afford residing within the communities the place they train,” Bloom stated.
“We’re hemorrhaging proficient academics. … [The new law] provides faculty districts an important instrument in addressing staffing challenges by using properties they already personal.”
The Los Angeles Unified Faculty District officers, who supported the invoice, agreed, saying they thought the plan would increase trainer retention.
“This invoice will improve certainty, enhance flexibility, and streamline the method of growing educator workforce housing on faculty land, which is able to assist districts recruit and retain academics and categorised workers,” district officers stated in an announcement.
The cities of Chino, Thousand Oaks, and Santa Clarita, nevertheless, opposed the invoice, arguing the state shouldn’t be usurping native governments’ land use authority.
Thousand Oaks officers additionally stated the brand new legislation has the potential to vary the character of the encircling neighborhoods, as a result of it permits constructing housing as much as three tales.
“With faculty properties usually situated in residential zones, there are issues [this law] will impression the encircling neighborhood and the quick neighborhood with extra site visitors, lack of playfields, and for some residents’ issues about property values,” the town stated in an announcement opposing the invoice.
The invoice was initiated after a UC Berkeley and College of Southern California research that discovered that California faculty districts personal about 150,000 acres of land—half of which might be transformed into greater than 2 million items of housing all through the state.
The brand new legislation might be in impact from Jan. 1, 2023, till Jan. 1, 2033, and is part of a slew of 41 housing payments lately signed by Newsom in late September.
Representatives for the Los Angeles Unified Faculty District, in addition to the cities of Chino, Santa Clarita, and Glendale didn’t reply to a request for remark by press deadline.
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