HomeMy WebLinkAboutOpposition Letter - AB 648 (Zbur) - 05.14.2025
May 14, 2025
The Honorable Rick Chavez Zbur
Member, California State Assembly
1021 O Street, Room # 4250
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 648 (Zbur) Community colleges: housing: local zoning regulations: exemption.
Notice of OPPOSITION (As Amended May 5, 2025)
Dear Assemblymember Zbur:
On behalf of the City of Cupertino, I am writing to express our strong opposition to your
Assembly Bill (AB) 648. This bill would exempt the construction of faculty, staff, and student
housing projects from local zoning regulations if the project is proposed on property owned or
leased by a community college district.
Housing for students, faculty, and staff continues to be a challenge that postsecondary
institutions struggle with across California. We acknowledge that this is an important
issue across the state that needs to be addressed. However, a one-size-fits-all approach
to local zoning will not achieve our shared goals. Under the existing law, all congregate
housing, such as college dorms and similar housing does not count for local
government's progress in achieving their Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)
process, even though local governments diligently work with state and local community
colleges and universities to site for and plan to develop affordable student housing.
Existing law allows land owned or leased by the University of California (UC) or California
State Universities (CSU) to bypass local zoning. These entities are owned by the state.
However, community colleges are not. It is also important to note that Government
Code Section 65913.6 provides specific conditions that student housing must comply
with, and AB 648 does not have the same conditions for community college districts.
The author should consider harmonizing what is required for UCs and CSUs in this bill.
Additionally, while the University of California and California State Universities are
governed by board’s controlled by the state, community college boards are made up
of locally elected individuals which are primarily responsible to the constituents of the
district they represent. The state’s decision in 2023 (AB 358, Addis) to remove community
colleges from having to comply with the Field Act’s requirement to have their facilities
construction plans reviewed by the state Department of General Services indicates a
state desire to relinquish direct oversight of these types of projects. However, we believe
it is prudent for cities and counties to retain their oversight role of the land use process
to take over the role the state recently abdicated itself from. Retaining local land use
authority that County’s Board of Supervisors and City Councils have under existing law
would provide an effective partner that could work with their local Community College
Board that is pursuing a housing development to ensure the community benefits from
the proposed housing.
This measure would extend the exemptions to community college districts’ land owned
or leased by the local jurisdiction without specifying the development must comply with
general plan requirements. The general plan is the blueprint for local jurisdictions and is
important for local governments to plan for smart economic growth and residential
development. By exempting any lands owned or leased from local zoning regulations,
local governments cannot account for their multiple-year process to plan for and
develop the community. In addition, local community college districts do not have
planners on staff with experience that can balance the needs of local communities
and the campus. Further, state housing laws require local governments to affirmatively
further fair housing by working to prevent the concentration of housing for specific
groups in a single area. The broad exemptions in this bill favor housing development for
one group, community college students, over others, which is the antithesis of
affirmatively further fair housing.
For these reasons, the City of Cupertino strongly opposes AB 648.
Sincerely,
Liang Chao
Mayor
City of Cupertino
cc. The Honorable Josh Becker
The Honorable Patrick Ahrens