ASSOCIATION POINTS FINGER AT 1970S REGULATIONS.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer Blame it on the '70s. That's what the California Building Industry Association did last week for the fix the state's housing market is in. And a good fix can always be summed up in a word. Like crisis, expensive, shortage, softening and under-built they all apply to California's housing situation. There is not enough of it, it's so pricey that some residents may be lifetime renters, the market is coming down from an all-time high and builders remain tangled in bureaucratic tape. Last week the association outlined its case for blame in "Homeownership in California: A CBIA CBIA California Building Industry Association CBIA Connecticut Business & Industry Association CBIA Coastal Barrier Improvement Act of 1990 CBIA California Background Investigators Association CBIA Crisis Briefing & Information Area Economic Treatise." It showed California wallowing at the bottom of the nation's states in homeownership rates, this year keeping company with the likes of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . It's not a new situation, nor is the fact that the supply of homes and apartments has not met demand since the 1960s. This year the association has a plan to fix the fix we're in. "The widening disparity in home prices, and the homeownership gap, stems in large measure from legislation and court rulings in the 1970s that placed increasing numbers of constraints on new home development," CBIA chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the Alan Nevin wrote in his report. Now the CBIA wants to modify some tough controls on development enacted in the 1970s, including the California Environmental Quality Act The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a California law (California Public Resources Code section 21000 et seq.) passed in 1970, shortly after the Federal Government passed the National Environmental Policy Act. (1970), the federal Endangered Species Act The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C.A. §§ 1531 et seq.) was enacted to protect animal and plant species from extinction by preserving the ecosystems in which they survive and by providing programs for their conservation. (1973) and the California Coastal Act (1976). Some of the goals are reforming the land use process to ensure that a sufficient supply of land is zoned for residential uses, changing policies that act as barriers to downtown development and creating infrastructure financing programs using long-term bonds. It's going to be a fight that involves some old foes the association, the Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club California and the League of California Cities. Megan Taylor Megan Taylor (1920 - 1993) was a British figure skater competitive in the 1930s. She won the World Championships in 1938 and 1939. Taylor's father was Phil Taylor, a speed skater.[1] Megan and fellow Brit Cecilia Colledge participated in the 1932 Winter Olympics. , spokeswoman at the League of California Cities, said that in 2004 that group began discussing fixing the state's housing problem with the association. Those talks lasted for more than a year. "We could not reach agreement on the details, the devil always being there," Taylor said. Cities don't want their ability to plan and control growth eroded. "I do think we have some shared goals but different concerns on how to get there," she said. Bill Allayaud, director of the state's Sierra Club chapter, takes issue with the CBIA claim that "rampant NIMBY NIM·BY n. pl. NIM·BYs Slang One who objects to the establishment in one's neighborhood of projects, such as incinerators, prisons, or homeless shelters, that are believed to be dangerous, unsightly, or otherwise undesirable. lawsuits" filed under provisions of the environmental act have stalled development. Less than 1 percent of CEQA CEQA California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 actions end up in court and the CBIA knows this, Allayaud said. And he notes that the association is sounding a familiar refrain. "They've been pounding this drum for two or three years. I looked at the report and it's the same old, same old." He could be right. I first started writing about local government in 1974 for a newspaper in Thousand Oaks. Many long nights were spent in the Civic Center listening to the Planning Commission and City Council struggle with the issue of expensive housing and controls on growth. Three decades later the issue is still with us. Three decades from now, it will probably be with us still. greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3743 |
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