Land Use

AB 1147 (Bonilla) – Support
Chapter 406, Statutes of 2014

AB 1147, by Assembly Members Susan Bonilla, Jimmy Gomez, and Chris Holden, will recast the California Massage Therapy Council and restore the ability of local governments to regulate massage therapy businesses in local communities. Specifically, the measure change the composition of the Council’s board to include, in addition to existing representatives from CSAC and the League of Cities, a representative of the California Police Chiefs Association, a representative of an “anti-human trafficking” organization, and a local or state public health official, among others. Importantly to counties, the bill would restore local land use authority to regulate massage businesses and provides that cities and counties can adopt and enforce local ordinances governing zoning, business licensing, or reasonable health and safety requirements for massage establishments.

CSAC supported this measure because it will restore tools local governments can use to address an increasingly problematic local land use and public safety issue. CSAC appreciates the hard work and leadership of the League of California Cities, the City and County of San Francisco and the County of Sacramento in securing the passage and signature of this important bill. Governor Brown signed AB 1147 on September 18.

CSAC Comments on Disadvantaged Communities Guidance Documents

CSAC submitted comments on the California Environmental Protection Agency document discussing different methodologies for identifying disadvantaged communities. SB 535 (De León) requires that twenty-five percent of cap and trade auction proceeds revenue benefit disadvantaged communities, while ten percent of the funding must be expended within disadvantaged communities. CalEPA developed a tool called EnviroScreen, which identifies disadvantaged communities based on the environmental and demographic characteristics called out in the bill.

CSAC’s comments encouraged the use of both the demographic and environmental factors to identify disadvantaged communities, but also encouraged flexibility to allow for different quantifiable criteria to identify communities on a program-by-program basis. For instance, CSAC argues that certain criteria for disadvantaged communities may be more applicable for a program targeting transportation and land use planning than one that aims to fund conservation of agricultural and resource lands. This flexible approach toward disadvantaged community criteria was recently used in the guidelines for the Active Transportation Program.

CSAC encourages counties to review the methodology document, as well as the California Air Resources Board’s draft Guidance related to maximizing investments in disadvantaged communities are available here. CSAC’s comment letter is available online here.