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All Cities and Counties in California June 14, 2022 Page 4 o Physical accessibility efforts in compliance with the FHAA, the ADA, and federal and state laws and access standards (e.g., retrofit efforts or other measures that provide disability access).10 Any reasonable accommodation procedure that your jurisdiction uses should operate promptly and efficiently to ensure that people with disabilities have access to affordable, accessible housing options. The reasonable accommodation procedure should also be independent of existing variance and conditional permit procedures. Several considerations counsel against a local jurisdiction’s reliance on such procedures to process reasonable accommodation requests. First, the criteria for determining whether to grant a variance or conditional use permit differ from those that govern reasonable accommodation requests within the meaning of fair housing laws. Municipalities relying on these land-use-oriented procedures to process reasonable accommodation requests risk wrongful denial of projects in violation of fair housing laws. (See City of Edmonds, supra, 18 F.3d at pp. 805-806 [noting that enforcement of otherwise neutral rules on health, safety, and land use may discriminate against people with disabilities].) Not only would this violate the affected people with disabilities’ housing rights, it would expose the jurisdiction to liability for monetary damages, penalties, and attorneys’ fees and costs under state and federal fair housing laws. Further, reliance on these alternative procedures, with their different governing criteria, serves at least in some circumstances to encourage community opposition to projects involving desperately needed housing for people with disabilities. Opposition to such housing is often based on fears, generalizations, stereotypes, and myths about decreases in property values. While these concerns are largely unfounded,11 they persist nevertheless. The typical variance or conditional use permit process relies on a general “health, safety and welfare” standard which invites opposition based on these fears and stereotypes. In contrast, the reasonable accommodation process evaluates whether a zoning policy change or exception is necessary to make housing accessible for people with disabilities Ensuring that local jurisdictions’ land use and zoning processes comply with state and federal disability rights laws is critical to promote equal housing opportunities for Californians with disabilities. Thank you for your time in reviewing this letter, and your anticipated effort to review your land use and zoning processes to analyze constraints for people with disabilities, and 10 Ibid. For further information regarding accessibility requirements for people with disabilities, please see “Accessible Design Standards for People with Disabilities,” Attorney General Rob Bonta, letter to all city and county building officials in California, June 14, 2022. 11 For example, studies across the country have revealed a steady rise in property values for homes surrounding supportive housing for people with disabilities. (See, e.g., Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, Policy Brief on the Impact of Supportive Housing on Surrounding Neighborhoods: Evidence from New York City (2008) p. 6 <https://furmancenter.org/files/FurmanCenterPolicyBriefonSupportiveHousing_LowRes.pdf> (as of May 20, 2022); Galster, et al., The Impacts of Supportive Housing on Neighborhoods and Neighbors (Oct. 1999) p. xii <https://www.huduser.gov/publications/pdf/support_1.pdf> (as of May 20, 2022).)