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A.  The legislature finds that:

(1)  In many municipalities and parishes, there is a serious shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary residential housing available at prices or rents that are affordable to low and moderate income families.

(2)  The affordable housing shortage constitutes a danger to the health, safety, and welfare of all residents of the state and is a barrier to sound growth and sustainable economic development for the state’s municipalities and parishes.

(3)  These conditions have been exacerbated by the damage to the state’s housing stock caused by Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina.

(4)  The state will undergo an unprecedented residential construction boom over the next decade to restore housing for hurricane victims and new residents to the state in both damaged parishes and receiving parishes.

(5)  While pre-hurricane concentrated poverty contributed to social isolation and its concurrent ills, mixed income communities have proven to hold better social outcomes for all residents, including better education, workforce, and health outcomes.

(6)  Hundreds of jurisdictions and a dozen states have adopted planning and implementation policies to deliver economically integrated housing development through inclusionary zoning to ensure all sectors of housing need are securely met.

(7)  Inclusionary zoning, which requires all residential developments of a certain scale to include the development of affordable housing along with market rate housing, has proven a highly effective strategy to build on the expertise of private developers, while compensating them for their contributions.

B.(1)  The legislature recognizes the following provisions of the Constitution of Louisiana:

(a)  La. Const. Art. VI, § 17 provides that, subject to uniform procedures established by law, a local governmental subdivision may adopt regulations for land use and zoning.

(b)  Article I, Section 4 provides that the right to property is subject to reasonable statutory restrictions and the reasonable exercise of the police power.

(c)  Article VI, Section 9 provides that the police power of the state shall never be abridged.

(2)  In the exercise of the police power of the state to protect the public health and welfare and pursuant to the authority of the legislature to establish uniform procedures for land use and zoning by law, this Part is enacted to provide authority for and to permit municipalities and parishes to use inclusionary zoning to promote the development of affordable housing for low and moderate income families.

Acts 2006, No. 810, §1, eff. July 1, 2006.