Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed two bills that amend existing shelter and ADU laws in an attempt to increase supply and make a dent in the state's housing and homelessness crisis.
One of the bills, Assembly Bill 3057, focuses on something called junior ADUs: units created within existing homes that can be up to 500 square feet and don't need their own bathroom.
Under the new law, junior ADUs, like larger ADUs, will be exempt from California Environmental Quality Act requirements that can add time and costs to projects.
The bill's author, Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), called the exemption “a small but significant technical change that provides Californians with more accessible and efficient options for building affordable housing solutions.”
The second bill, Assembly Bill 2835, was authored by Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino). It makes permanent a set of temporary rules that have made it easier to house homeless people in privately owned hotels and motels for more than 30 days.
Local governments, including Los Angeles, have increasingly turned to that strategy to get people off the streets, sometimes relying on state funding.
“The homelessness crisis demands immediate and innovative action, not the status quo,” Newsom said in a statement. “With these new laws, local governments have even more tools to provide housing. I urge them to make full use of the state’s unprecedented resources to address homelessness.”
