Consensus Builds on Need for Housing

Such longtime adversaries as California cities and the building industry are also discussing ways they can work together to address a state housing shortage.

Even some environmentalists say it may be time to consider revising a landmark law that requires stringent environmental analysis of even small projects, if change can lead to affordable housing in revitalized urban centers.

"A home of your own is part of the American dream," Schwarzenegger said in his State of the State address last month. "So I will propose legislation that eliminates regulatory and legal hurdles that delay construction and increase the costs of new housing."

The administration is expected to file a package of housing bills with the Legislature this week.

Leading Democrats are backing their own reform legislation because they say the current system is unnecessarily complicated and allows for opponents to delay needed projects for years.

"We're trying to put some certainty in the development process," said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland). "It's just too easy now to let NIMBYs drag a project out, and what you're left with is something no one really wants."

Perata said that while the state law has been used to block good projects, other factors have also proven to be obstacles to housing. The biggest, he said, is the political power of community groups that often object to developments, particularly those with small lots or high concentrations of condominiums or apartments. Projects are often approved with far fewer dwellings than the law and local plans allow, he said.

In Defense of the Law

Meanwhile, some defenders of the landmark California Environmental Quality Act said they would fight any effort to weaken its protections.

"It's inaccurate to see CEQA as a barrier," said Caroline Farrell, attorney for the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment. "It may slow down a project, but it ensures it will be designed in a way to minimize environmental damage. It holds developers accountable."

But political analysts say a unique set of conditions has led to an emerging consensus that something needs to be done so the typical Californian can again afford a house.