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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />June 14, 2022 <br /> <br /> <br />To: All Cities and Counties in California <br /> <br />RE: Addressing Land Use and Zoning Barriers to Fair Housing for People with Disabilities <br /> <br />Dear Colleague: <br />Discriminatory local land use and zoning processes continue to create significant barriers <br />to housing opportunities for Californians with disabilities. These continuing problems have been <br />documented in, for example, the California Department of Housing and Community <br />Development (HCD)’s Final 2020 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice,1 where <br />stakeholders identified problematic local land use and zoning restrictions among the factors <br />imposing barriers to housing choice for people with disabilities.2 People with disabilities are <br />highly likely to experience the “worst case” housing needs.3 They often experience difficulties <br />finding suitable housing at a reasonable cost because of reduced employment options,4 shortages <br />of housing with accessibility features designed to accommodate the needs of people with sensory <br />and mobility disabilities,5 and discrimination.6 <br /> <br />1 Cal. Dept. of Housing and Community Development (HCD), Final 2020 Analysis of <br />Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (June 2020) <https://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-research/plans- <br />reports/docs/final2020ai.pdf> (as of May 20, 2022). <br />2 Ibid. Other factors included a general lack of compliant and accessible units, market forces, and <br />community pushback against the construction or preservation of existing accessible units. <br />3 “Worst case” housing need is defined as having very low income while not receiving housing <br />assistance and paying more than half of household income for rent, living in severely inadequate <br />conditions, or both. U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Worst Case Housing Needs: <br />2021 Report to Congress (July 2021) <https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Worst-Case- <br />Housing-Needs-2021.pdf> (as of May 23, 2022). <br />4 Ibid. <br />5 White, Nowhere to Go: The Housing Crisis Facing Americans With Disabilities, The Atlantic <br />(Dec. 15, 2015) <https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/12/renting-with-a- <br />disability/420555/> (as of May 20, 2022) (noting that only 1% of all U.S. rental housing has all five basic <br />accessibility features, which include a step-free entry, a single floor layout, and wide doors and hallways). <br />6 See, e.g., Nat. Fair Housing Alliance, Making Every Neighborhood a Place of Opportunity: <br />2018 Fair Housing Trends Report (2018) <https://nationalfairhousing.org/wp- <br />content/uploads/2018/04/NFHA-2018-Fair-Housing-Trends-Report.pdf> (as of May 20, 2022).