- Furkan Yalcin
- furkan.yalcin@asm.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO - Assemblywoman Schiavo kicked off the legislative year by introducing AB 1820, a bill designed to demystify housing developer fees and provide information needed to ensure affordable housing is delivered as quickly as possible without surprise costs. Introducing this as her first bill demonstrates Schiavo’s commitment to removing barriers and getting affordable housing online as quickly as possible, one of her “3 H’s” of policy focus - housing, homelessness and healthcare.
“Affordable housing developers already operate on razor thin margins, and knowing what fees they’ll need to pay ahead of time provides a level of certainty and will reduce the number of projects that fall short of funding,” said Assemblywoman Schiavo. “I’m grateful that Speaker Rivas highlighted the need to address fees for housing development at the start of this legislative year, and I’m excited to introduce AB 1820 to help address one of the roadblocks to creating more housing people can afford.”
Affordable housing developers often face a lack of transparency when local agencies don’t provide the costs for local permitting fees up front. Currently, developers submit an initial permit to their local jurisdiction for approval, but fees that cities and counties impose are disclosed only after each phase of the project moves forward. In some cases, these fees can account for up to eighteen percent of the cost of the project, making affordable housing construction that much more costly and sometimes leading to delays, or stalling of projects, while additional funding has to be secured. Current law requires cities and counties to clearly post fees online. To date, many local jurisdictions have not complied with the mandate, make fees difficult to find on their web-sites, or provide incomplete and unreliable information.
AB 1820 would allow developers to request a fee and exaction statement estimate from their local jurisdiction. This request would allow developers to have a better financial picture of the cost of a development before committing to building the project, which would ensure affordable housing developments are brought online quickly and to completion.
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Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo was elected to the California State Assembly in November of 2022 to represent the 40th Assembly District, representing the Northwest San Fernando Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley. Upon her election, she was appointed as Assistant Majority Whip by the Speaker of the Assembly and now serves as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs. Prior to her election, Assemblywoman Schiavo was a Nurse Advocate and Small Business Owner who worked in the labor movement for more than 20 years. Throughout her career, Assemblywoman Schiavo helped deliver healthcare, including reproductive healthcare, to more than one million people. In the Northwest San Fernando Valley, she co-founded an organization that helped secure housing for Veterans experiencing homelessness, has delivered more than 50,000 meals to people in need, and increased resources to help keep our communities safe. Assemblywoman Schiavo lives in Chatsworth with her daughter Sofia where they love to hike in the Santa Susana Mountains.