Temecula Affordable Housing Project Illustrates State Control

TEMECULA, CA — A development that calls for 270 housing units, including 55 affordable units, next to Temecula Duck Pond is moving forward, although the public wasn't given a voice in the matter. Neither was the city.

"There's not a whole lot we can do to oppose the project," Mayor Pro Tem Matt Rahn said during Tuesday night's Temecula City Council meeting. "We're prohibited from even daylighting the project. It puts us in a very difficult position."

Council members received an update on the Rancho Highlands project by city staff during the meeting; no public hearing was held. Instead, council members were reminded that in October 2020, the city's Community Development Department approved an application for the project located at the southeast corner of Rancho California Road, on the north side of Ynez Road. The project application was approved "ministerially," with neither city planners nor the public having much sway in the matter.

The state's housing crisis and the applicant's commitment to include affordable units in the project mandated that the application be approved without a public hearing — as long as requirements under state law and Temecula Municipal Code were met. This is because California has laws on the books that require cities to evaluate certain housing projects through a "streamlined ministerial process" (SB 35 as amended by AB 1485, AB 2162, and AB 101 are a few such laws).

Red Tail Acquisitions LLC is the developer and Temecula will likely see more applications like it in the coming years. The same streamlined ministerial process will apply because of state laws on the books, and three that were signed into law last month by Gov. Gavin Newsom that take effect Jan. 1:

Senate Bill 9 will allow most homeowners to build two homes or a duplex on a plot zoned for a single house, and in some cases, split their lot and build two additional homes. The new law allows a lot zoned for a single-family to have up to four units on it. Senate Bill 10 makes it easier to “upzone” areas near transit hubs, allowing more dense projects to be built. SB-10 is voluntary for cities, but it limits the ability of opponents to block such projects using the California Environmental Quality Act. Senate Bill 8 extends 2019’s Housing Crisis Act to 2030 (instead of expiring in 2025), limiting cities like Temecula and others to turn down affordable housing projects that meet criteria under state and local laws — such as the Rancho Highlands project.

The bills' proponents argue the laws are needed to bolster housing production in California. Critics say the laws take away local control and will have a negative effect on neighborhoods that are zoned single-family.

Temecula Mayor Maryann Edwards criticized state control during Tuesday's meeting and agreed with a public speaker that the project location is not ideal, but she said the Red Tail development is a "good project."

"They are providing a project that's needed ... to meet state requirements to provide affordable housing for our residents," she said.

The proposed multi-family Rancho Highlands community will be built on 12.32 acres and is slated to feature a clubhouse, fitness center, pool, spa, barbecue areas, tot lot, and a dog park, according to city documents.

The city is one of many in California pushing back on the state's control over housing development, Rahn said.

The opportunity to scale projects, or even turn them down, due to traffic and other environmental concerns has "been taken away entirely," Rahn said. If a project is compromised of at least 20 percent affordable units, the development is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.

With the Rancho Highlands project, the city was able to ensure the affordable units were intermingled with the rest of the development instead of being outcasted in a separate building, Rahn explained.

"We're going to fight for every little scrap of local control," he said.

With the new housing laws that take effect Jan. 1, Rahn said it is "extraordinarily challenging. Unfortunately, the state continues to strip us of local control."