CBIA Thanks Governor for Quickly Signing Crucial Industry Recovery Bill
July 16, 2008
SACRAMENTO – California homebuilders today thanked Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for quickly signing legislation designed to give homebuilders and slumping housing markets more time to turn around before local project authorizations expire.
The Governor signed SB 1185 by Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, the centerpiece of three industry-recovery bills proposed this year by the California Building Industry Association, shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday. Because the bill is an urgency measure, it took effect immediately. He signed the measure just one day after it received final passage by the Assembly and Senate on unanimous bipartisan votes.
SB 1185 extends the lives of hundreds of subdivision maps in California that have been approved by cities and counties for one year, giving the industry more time to begin construction on nearly 250,000 homes and apartments, and authorize local governments to extend the maps by an additional year.
Ray Becker, a developer from San Benito County and this year’s CBIA Chairman, said the bill is tremendously important for the industry, and for the economy.
“This bill gives homebuilders the ability to quickly respond when the housing market improves by giving them more time to begin construction on homes and apartments throughout the state,” Becker said.
“Dozens of subdivision maps were already expiring because market conditions have forced housing construction to fall to the lowest levels since World War II. We strongly thank the Legislature and the Governor for their quick action to help shore up the homebuilding industry.”
Becker noted that both the Governor’s office and bill author Senator Lowenthal worked to move the bill quickly through the formal “enrollment” process and to the Governor’s desk Tuesday afternoon, knowing that a number of builders had reported that their maps would expire at midnight Tuesday.
The bill is similar to two bills enacted during the housing downturn in the early- and mid 1990s that preserved the ability of builders and developers to ramp up construction when the economy picked up.
The bill is crucial because once a subdivision map expires, builders are often forced to begin the lengthy local government approval process all over again, which in many cases can typically take five to 7 years.
“Had these maps expired, dozens of homebuilders representing hundreds of housing projects would have been sent to the back of the line,” Becker said. “We’re pleased that the Legislature and the Governor recognized how important to a housing recovery keeping those projects in the pipeline was.”
CBIA’s other two industry recovery measures have also been passed by the Legislature.
The first, AB 2604 by Assembly Member Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, would encourage local governments to defer the collection of most development impact fees until a new home sells instead of when the building permit is obtained. The bill also passed Monday and is on its way to the Governor’s desk.
The second bill, AJR 45 by Assembly Member Joe Coto, D-San Jose, urges Congress and the President to permanently increase the federal conforming mortgage loan limit and the Federal Housing Administration loan limit to up to $729,750. It was approved on June 30 and is being transmitted to Congress.
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The California Building Industry Association is a statewide trade association representing thousands of homebuilders, remodelers, subcontractors, architects, engineers, designers, and other industry professionals. More information is available on the Association's Web site, www.cbia.org.