(SACRAMENTO, CA) – Governor Newsom has signed AB 1255, authored by Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister). “I am thrilled the Governor signed my bill, AB 1255, opening the door to new opportunities to build housing on sites that may have been overlooked or unknown.”
“This measure was borne out of meeting with constituents and discussing commonsense solutions to help meet the challenges we face. The bill builds upon Governor Newsom’s executive order to create a digitized inventory of surplus state property that could be used for affordable housing. In the same manner, AB 1255 creates a public, searchable online inventory of all surplus and excess lands owned by cities or counties, to identify potential housing opportunities.” explained Rivas.
“Local cities and counties own thousands of parcels of land throughout the state, many of which exceed their foreseeable needs. By simply identifying these overlooked, underdeveloped areas, there is tremendous potential for local leaders and developers to collaborate and build smart affordable housing to better serve the needs of their communities.”
“I can’t think of a better use for property the government no longer needs than to build affordable housing on it,” said Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), joint author of AB 1255. “Creating a centralized list is a critical step in understanding how much public land is available so we can ensure these tracts are used to their fullest potential.”
Pedro Galvao, Senior Policy Manager at Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California stated, “NPH was proud to co-sponsor AB 1255 which will create a statewide public lands database that will shine a light on the number of statewide public lands potentially available for the public good. Most potential sites for affordable housing are simply not known and by creating a database of potential sites available for affordable housing AB 1255 will provide a critical tool to help our state address its need for more affordable homes.”
“This bill provides a great opportunity for local governments to stimulate local collaboration, identify new housing opportunities, and bridge unexpected partnerships to make more housing a reality,” stated Rivas.
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Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) represents the 30th Assembly District. This district includes the communities of Aromas, Big Sur, Chualar, Gilroy, Greenfield, Gonzales, Hollister, King City, Morgan Hill, Salinas, San Juan Bautista, Soledad, Spreckels, and Watsonville.