By Tyler Durden
A controversial bills was recently passed, signed into law by Governor Newsom, and enacted that could have an affect on our community. It’s called SB9, aka the California Home Act. The law’s stated purpose is to develop solutions to California’s housing crisis by allowing two dwellings per lot, and lot splits that homeowners associations like ours might otherwise say no to.
SB9 allows construction of two dwelling units on each legal lot. It also allows lots to be split, regardless of local zoning requirements.
The only exception to SB9 is if the property is “located within a historic district or property included on the State Historic Resources Inventory, as defined in Section 5020.1 of the Public Resources Code, or within a site that is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or historic property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance.”
Given that all or part of our Covenant’s land has already been designated historic under the California State Historic Landmark (#982) in 1989, and a Cultural Landscape Amendment in 2004 (read Holly Manion’s helpful article about that here), it remains to be figured out if those areas are exceptions to SB9.
Meanwhile, here is a link to the law. If you have any insight or thoughts about this new legislation and its impact on the Covenant, please comment.