California’s state legislature is currently considering AB 1401, a state bill that would prevent municipal zoning codes from imposing parking minimums near public transit. The bill would mitigate one of the worst elements in California’s morass of anti-growth housing regulations. Parking minimums constrain development in urban areas, as underground parking garages can cost tens of thousands of dollars per spot.
Many California environmentalist groups and affordable-housing activists, however, have opposed AB 1401. And AB 1401 is far from an isolated case: left-wing interest groups are often the fiercest supporters of housing regulations that impoverish California’s working class while enriching landowners. The reason: complicated, capricious development laws give politically connected groups more opportunities to extort concessions from developers.
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