Check out the upcoming News & Events section below for NEW upcoming events and industry news. We can't wait to see you next week at our BIAOC Women's Leadership Conference and Networking Event on Thursday, August 26th - Click HERE to register now to reserve your spot! Batter up for our SOLD OUT BIAOC's 10th Annual Baseball Night as we watch the Angels v Yankees. Plus - only ONE team spot left for our BIAOC Softball Tournament on September 10th! Click here to sign up now!

Scroll down to our Government Affairs Updates section for the latest BIAOC member advocacy wins and calls to action. Your continued advocacy makes a difference in our industry and in our community. Contact slamotte@biaoc.com to become an industry advocate today!

For questions or more information on BIAOC click here.

BIA Orange County Chapter 55^th Annual Installation Gala

The City of Tustin will be bringing their Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) Policy back to council for discussion. At the August 17th Council Meeting, several council members questioned the lack of development in the multiple specific plans that the IZ applies to. As many of you know, in 2018, the City passed an aggressive IZ policy on the Red Hill Corridor Specific Plan and the Down Town Specific Plan resulting in no new development in these areas. Due to this fact, the majority of the council asked for an analysis to hopefully understand why no new housing units have moved forward. The BIA advocated against this policy in 2018 on this very premise and supports either a pause or to outright remove the policy.

The City of Huntington Beach is looking to amend their inclusionary zoning policy in an effort to clarify and streamline the development process. On August 10th, the City held a planning commission study session to look at the current policy and several amendments proposed by staff. In a nutshell, staff is proposing that the in-lieu fee be expanded to larger projects (compared to an on-site requirement), clarifying rental and for-sale income levels, and moving to a square foot in-lieu fee and a sq. ft. cap on units the fee can be applied to. The City will bring this policy back to planning commission and ultimately the city council.

The City of Santa Ana recently held a public stakeholder meeting to consider changes to the recently lowered Inclusionary Zoning policy, otherwise known as the Housing Opportunity Ordinance, or HOO. As you may remember, the BIA led a successful effort to lower the Per Square foot fee from $15 dollars to $5, as not one permit was pulled during the $15 fee timeframe. Since the fee was lowered, thousands of units have moved forward in the city of Santa Ana. However, the new city council feels the fee needs to be increased!

The current proposal could increase the sq. ft. fee back to $15, add a fee to projects under 20 units, possible mandate skilled and trained labor, apply fee to conversions, and remove the covenant timeline on affordable units. This is bad precedent and completely removed from all logic – this will kill housing in the city.

The BIA, and several board members, testified in opposition of this proposal – and can’t understand why the city would look to increase a fee to levels that literally stopped development in their city. Check out a recent article HERE. If you have any questions, please contact Steve LaMotte.

OC Fair & Event Center, Costa Mesa, California

Thursday, September 30, 2021

8:30AM - 3:00PM

NextGen Membership Co-Chair chad@daviesimaging.com