UCLA community members said a new California housing bill has the potential to increase affordable housing, but may bring little change to Westwood.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 893 into law Oct. 10. AB 893 will modify local zoning and environmental review barriers, specifically targeted at encouraging housing development in “campus development zones” – areas within half a mile of a UC, California State University or California Community College main campus – implementing a faster ministerial review process.

AB 893 expands on the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, which streamlined approval for affordable housing on commercially zoned land while requiring heightened labor standards, such as prevailing wages and health benefits for construction workers.

To qualify for development under ministerial review, projects must meet affordability requirements – 8% of units must be designated for very low-income households, 5% for extremely low-income households and 15% for lower-income households.

Jacob Lawson, chair of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council’s Planning, Housing, and Business committee, said the bill will have minimal impacts on the Westwood community, as many of the measures within the bill already exist in Westwood Village – such as the removal of parking minimums.

“When I look at this bill, to be honest, I don’t see it having the most dramatic impact – and that’s because a lot of the things in the bill already exist in Westwood,” said Lawson, a third-year public affairs and architectural studies student. “I could definitely see that playing a big impact in other places – here, not as much in the North Village.”

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AB 893 addresses affordability concerns not only for students, but also for low-income faculty and staff – something that Lawson said UCLA does not adequately address.

“We have a lot of student housing, but there’s also so many lower-income staff that work at UCLA – and a lot of times they can’t live anywhere near campus, so I think that’s important,” Lawson said.

Michael Lens, an associate professor of urban planning and public policy, said analyzing current rates of homelessness in the UCLA student population is an effective way to indicate how impactful AB 893 will be. Eight percent of undergraduate UC students reported that they did not have a “safe, regular and adequate” place to stay and sleep for any length of time, according to a 2022 UC Undergraduate Experience Survey.

Catalina Jacinto, a third-year political science and public affairs student, said she approves of the bill and is glad Newsom signed it into law. She added that she lives in University Apartments solely because the off-campus apartments surrounding UCLA’s campus are out of her price range.

“I do think if there were more affordable housing units in the area, a lot of students would move,” Jacinto said.