Signed into effect in October 2023, and authored by San Diego’s own State Assemblymember Tasha Boerner (District 77), AB 812 authorizes cities and/or counties to set aside up to 10 percent of very low, low, or moderate-income housing units for working artists if the projects are in or within one-half mile of a state-designated cultural district or within the boundaries of a locally-designated cultural district. Click the button below to read the full, official bill language.
Because Space 4 Art’s key goal is to expand affordable artist housing in one of the country’s least affordable cities, we have begun the effort to learn about and drive the implementation of AB 812 in San Diego. Below are key take-aways and action items we’ve been discovering along the way.
After hosting our Rally 4 Culture, which features guest speakers about affordable artist housing, we ask everyone present to share the following links. If you’re reading this now, please share these links, too!
Sign the Open Letter by October 29 - Join us to ask our local City Council leaders to create a Local Tenant Preference Ordinance for Artists. On October 30 we will attend the next ED&IR sub-committee meeting to make public comments about AB 812 again, at which time we will deliver this letter and all electronic signatures.
Join the AB 812 Coalition - This will be a marathon, not a sprint, and we cannot do this work alone. Many arts leaders, arts supporters, and civic leaders need to unite to work on all the possible ways our city can increase affordable artist spaces. Please look at this google form to see the many different ways you can help the affordable artist housing efforts in San Diego!
Two district policy makers advise us that the most powerful starting point will be with Land Development Code (LDC) updates, but warn that the deadline has already passed for 2025 input.
As good fortune would have it, later this same day we receive word from a policy maker in the Mayor’s office that City Planners are already reviewing AB 812 for adoption and we do not need to submit a request for an LDC update!
After speaking with one of Assemblymember Boerner’s policy advisors in Sacramento, we learn that AB 812 was passed to provide an immediate solution for pre-existing housing to help prevent any further displacement of artists that we’re seeing in the cultural districts.
When we mention the City’s new Cultural Plan, whose number one goal is to increase affordable artist spaces, possibly by re-examining use of empty city buildings, we are advised that:
“If the City wants to repurpose empty city buildings and turn them into affordable artist spaces in cultural districts, they would have to:
Find out if the building was constructed using local funds vs. federal tax credits. (If local funds were used, continue. If federal funds were used, stop here.)
Turn it into affordable housing.
Now apply AB 812 to designate a portion of it as artist housing.
A local district policy maker reaches out to suggest we submit a Land Development Code update request, and shares the web link to do so.
Space 4 Art’s Michelle Hoyt and California for the Arts’ Tracy Hudak both make public comment at the City Council sub-committee meeting for Land Use and Housing (LU&H), and Michelle shares a One-Sheet about AB 812 with committee members. A local policy advisor reaches out to us afterward to suggest we learn how to submit a Land Development Code Update request for AB 812. https://www.sandiego.gov/planning/programs/land-development-code/ldc-update-request.
During a meeting with leaders from California for the Arts and San Diego ART Matters, we gain more clarity about specific parts of the bill, as well as the order in which the first action steps must occur for our City Council to begin implementing AB 812. California for the Arts is creating a toolkit about AB 812 that will be ready sometime in November. It is strongly recommended that we investigate our city’s current Land Use & Housing policies for precedence. (For example, are artists already mentioned as a subgroup in the Economic Development or Work Force Housing sections of our General Plan’s Housing Element?)
Space 4 Art’s Jennifer de Poyen makes public comment at the City Council sub-committee meeting for Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations (ED&IR) and S4A’s Michelle Hoyt shares a One-Sheet about AB 812 with committee members. A local arts leader, also in attendance, recommends we meet with representatives from California for the Arts, who might share successful models from other states that have implemented similar bills.
Local policymakers advise us to reach out to the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce to get connected with that organization’s Land Use & Housing Committee. They also suggest that leaders of the AB 812 coalition could ask for brief quarterly check-in meetings with at least one council member.
A key local political leader suggests convening a roundtable discussion with AB 812 author Tasha Boerner and local developers to help these key stakeholders understand the needs and goals for partnership.
Local policy advisors recommend a strong focus on the following action items:
Press the San Diego City Council to create a local tenant preference ordinance for artists. Nothing else can happen until this basic ordinance is passed.
Map all state-designated and any locally-designated cultural districts.
Ask the authorized housing authorities (see just below) to help map affordable housing projects that may qualify under the bill’s provisions.
HUD (Housing & Urban Development) authorizes affordable housing projects in San Diego and is a source of information about projects in the works.
The San Diego Housing Commission is another source of information about projects in the works.
The Housing Authority for the County of San Diego covers eight (8) other municipalities countywide; which of those municipalities might have qualifying cultural districts and also qualifying affordable housing projects in the works?
We learn that we need to:
Increase overall awareness that AB 812 exists and is waiting to be implemented; it appears that no other municipality in California has implemented AB 812 to date;
Let our representatives know that we want AB 812 to be implemented in San Diego;
Learn, ultimately, how to get it implemented and lobby local civic leaders to get the job done.
The normal process is that city planners would develop a workable plan as part of their yearly Land Development Codes update, which takes place every spring. The way to accelerate that process and ensure a plan that actually works for artists, is to advocate with the governing city council sub-committees beginning in September, 2024.
Simply put, the more we learn about AB 812 ourselves, and the more we share that intel with our government reps, the sooner and more likely they will be to implement it.
So, in the interest of positively affecting affordable artist housing throughout San Diego County, please consider three action steps:
Attend our October 5th event and bring your friends. Spread the word to others— particularly those within or close to the three state-designated cultural districts: Barrio Logan, Balboa Park, and Oceanside cultural districts.
Join this broad coalition of arts leaders, supporters, artists, and government reps. Let’s actively learn the ins and outs of AB 812 together. There are so many different ways each person or organization in the coalition can help us collectively learn about AB 812. Contact us for more information!
Raise your voice about AB 812. With the pressure of upcoming local elections, there is no time like the present to attend some specific arts & culture and/or housing and land-use meetings. Please consider attending any of the meetings below. Show up and sit in solidarity with others who speak about AB 812— your presence is a show of support and also allows speakers more time to make their case. Or consider making a supportive public comment yourself! The coalition can assist with talking points, if needed.
*All ED&IR or LU&H council committee meetings listed below should be confirmed on the official City Council Legislative Calendar, as there are sometimes last-minute changes in dates, times, or locations of these meetings.
Date Time Meeting Location
W 9/4 2 pm *ED&IR 202 C St., 12th Floor, Committee Room
Sa 9/7 9a-12p ***CCOH Comic-Con Museum, Balboa Park
Th 9/19 1 pm **LU&H 202 C St., 12th Floor, Committee Room
Th 10/17 1 pm **LU&H 202 C St., 12th Floor, Committee Room
W 10/30 2 pm *ED&IR 202 C St., 12th Floor, Committee Room
*ED&IR: Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee
Members: Raul Campillo D7 (chair), Kent Lee D6, Jennifer Campbell D2, Henry Foster III D4
Click here to view ED&IR Committee agendas, actions, and public comments.
**LU&H: Land Use & Housing Committee
Members: Kent Lee D6 (chair), Joe LaCava D1, Stephen Whitburn D3, Vivian Moreno D8
Click here to view LU&H Committee agendas, actions, and public comments.
***CCOH: Creative Cities Open House
After more than 70 community meetings, pop-ups, and targeted industry convenings, a draft of San Diego’s first-ever cultural plan will be shared during the Creative City Open House. In addition to hearing remarks from Mayor Todd Gloria, the morning will include informal conversations with the consulting team about draft input and recommendations. They want to hear from you, and this is a great opportunity to advocate for affordable artist housing and AB 812! Click here to RSVP for this free event.
Affordable artist housing is one of the top objectives of this cultural plan. Let’s show up, support the drafters of this groundbreaking Culture Plan, and discuss how AB 812 implementation can help them achieve their top goal!
(The ED&IR Committee oversees the Cultural Plan and other matters related to Arts & Culture.)