AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2023
SENATE BILL No. 423
Introduced by Senator Wiener
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Wicks)
(Coauthor: Senator Hurtado)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Grayson)
February 13, 2023
An act to amend Section 65913.4 of the Government Code, relating to land use.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 423, as amended, Wiener. Land use: streamlined housing approvals: multifamily housing developments.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a multifamily housing development that is subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process, as provided, and not subject to a conditional use permit, if the development satisfies specified objective planning standards, including, among others, that the development proponent has committed to record, prior to the issuance of the first building permit, a land use restriction or covenant providing that any lower or moderate-income housing units required, as specified, remain available at affordable housing costs, as defined, or rent to persons and families of lower or moderate-income for no less than specified periods of time. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2026.
This bill would authorize the Department of General Services to act in the place of a locality or local government, at the discretion of that department, for purposes of the ministerial, streamlined review for development on property owned by or leased to the state. The bill would
98 delete the January 1, 2026, repeal date, thereby making these provisions operative indefinitely.
This bill would modify the above-described objective planning standards, including by deleting the standard that prohibits a multifamily housing development from being subject to the streamlined, ministerial approval process if the development is located in a coastal zone, and by providing an alternative definition for “affordable housing costs” for a development that dedicates 100% of units, exclusive of a manager’s unit or units, to lower income households. The bill would, among other modifications, delete the objective planning standards requiring development proponents to pay at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages and utilize a skilled and trained workforce and would instead require a development proponent to certify to the local government that certain wage and labor standards will be met, including a requirement that all construction workers be paid at least the general prevailing rate of wages, as specified. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce the obligation to pay prevailing wages. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would specify that the requirements to pay prevailing wages, use a workforce participating in an apprenticeship, or provide health care expenditures do not apply to a project that consists of 10 or fewer units and is not otherwise a public work.
This bill would define “objective planning standards” to exclude specified standards, including local building codes, fire codes, other codes requiring detailed technical specifications, and standards that are not reasonably ascertainable by the local government within specified time limits, as described.
Existing law requires a local government to approve a development if the local government determines the development is consistent with the objective planning standards. Existing law requires, if the local government determines a submitted development is in conflict with any of the objective planning standards, the local government to provide the development proponent written documentation of the standards the development conflicts with and an explanation for the conflict within certain timelines depending on the size of the development. Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, prohibits a local agency from disapproving a housing development project, as described, unless it makes specified written findings.
This bill would instead require approval if a local government’s planning director or any equivalent local government staff, including 98 SB 423 — 2 —
all relevant planning and permitting departments, equivalent position determines the development is consistent with the objective planning standards. The bill would make conforming changes. The bill would require all departments of the local government that are required to issue an approval of the development prior to the granting of an entitlement to also comply with the above-described streamlined approval requirements within specified time periods. The bill would prohibit a local government from requiring a development proponent to provide consultant studies, as described, or other studies requiring, prior to approving a development that meets the requirements of the above-described streamlining provisions, compliance with any standards necessary to receive a postentitlement permit or studies, information, or other materials that are unnecessary to ascertain consistency do not pertain directly to determining whether the development is consistent with the objective planning standards. standards applicable to the development.
The bill would, for purposes of these provisions, establish that the total number of units in a development includes (1) all projects developed on a site, regardless of when those developments occur, and (2) all projects developed on sites adjacent to a site developed pursuant to these provisions if, after January 1, 2023, the adjacent site had been subdivided from the site developed pursuant to these provisions.
Existing law authorizes the local government’s planning commission or any equivalent board or commission responsible for review and approval of development projects, or as otherwise specified, to conduct any design review or public oversight of the development.
This bill would remove the above-described authorization to conduct public oversight of the development and would only authorize design review to be conducted by the local government’s planning commission or any equivalent board or commission responsible for design review.
By imposing additional duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.
98 — 3 — SB 423
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares that it has line 2 provided reforms and incentives to facilitate and expedite the line 3 construction of affordable housing. Those reforms and incentives line 4 can be found in the following provisions:
line 5 (a) Housing element law (Article 10.6 (commencing with line 6 Section 65580) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the line 7 Government Code).
line 8 (b) Extension of statute of limitations in actions challenging the line 9 housing element and brought in support of affordable housing line 10 (subdivision (d) of Section 65009 of the Government Code). line 11 (c) Restrictions on disapproval of housing developments line 12 (Section 65589.5 of the Government Code).
line 13 (d) Priority for affordable housing in the allocation of water and line 14 sewer hookups (Section 65589.7 of the Government Code). line 15 (e) Least cost zoning law (Section 65913.1 of the Government line 16 Code).
line 17 (f) Density Bonus Law (Section 65915 of the Government line 18 Code).
line 19 (g) Accessory dwelling units (Sections 65852.150 and 65852.2 line 20 of the Government Code).
line 21 (h) By-right housing, in which certain multifamily housing is line 22 designated a permitted use (Section 65589.4 of the Government line 23 Code).
line 24 (i) No-net-loss-in zoning density law limiting downzonings and line 25 density reductions (Section 65863 of the Government Code). line 26 (j) Requiring persons who sue to halt affordable housing to pay line 27 attorney’s fees (Section 65914 of the Government Code) or post line 28 a bond (Section 529.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure). line 29 (k) Reduced time for action on affordable housing applications line 30 under the approval of development permits process (Article 5 line 31 (commencing with Section 65950) of Chapter 4.5 of Division 1 line 32 of Title 7 of the Government Code).
line 33 (l) Limiting moratoriums on multifamily housing (Section 65858 line 34 of the Government Code).
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line 1 (m) Prohibiting discrimination against affordable housing line 2 (Section 65008 of the Government Code).
line 3 (n) California Fair Employment and Housing Act (Part 2.8 line 4 (commencing with Section 12900) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the line 5 Government Code).
line 6 (o) Community Redevelopment Law (Part 1 (commencing with line 7 Section 33000) of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code, and line 8 in particular Sections 33334.2 and 33413 of the Health and Safety line 9 Code).
line 10 (p) Streamlining housing approvals during a housing shortage line 11 (Section 65913.4 of the Government Code).
line 12 (q) Housing sustainability districts (Chapter 11 (commencing line 13 with Section 66200) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government line 14 Code).
line 15 (r) Streamlining agricultural employee housing development line 16 approvals (Section 17021.8 of the Health and Safety Code). line 17 (s) The Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (Senate Bill 330 (Chapter line 18 654 of the Statutes of 2019)).
line 19 (t) Allowing four units to be built on single-family parcels line 20 statewide (Senate Bill 9 (Chapter 162 of Statutes of 2021)). line 21 (u) The Middle Class Housing Act of 2022 (Section 65852.24 line 22 of the Government Code).
line 23 (s)
line 24 (v) Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022 line 25 (Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 65912.100) of Division line 26 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code).
line 27 SEC. 2. Section 65913.4 of the Government Code is amended line 28 to read:
line 29 65913.4. (a) A development proponent may submit an line 30 application for a development that is subject to the streamlined, line 31 ministerial approval process provided by subdivision (c) and is line 32 not subject to a conditional use permit or any other nonlegislative line 33 discretionary approval if the development complies with line 34 subdivision (b) and satisfies all of the following objective planning line 35 standards:
line 36 (1) The development is a multifamily housing development that line 37 contains two or more residential units.
line 38 (2) The development and the site on which it is located satisfy line 39 all of the following:
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line 1 (A) It is a legal parcel or parcels located in a city if, and only line 2 if, the city boundaries include some portion of either an urbanized line 3 area or urban cluster, as designated by the United States Census line 4 Bureau, or, for unincorporated areas, a legal parcel or parcels line 5 wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban cluster, line 6 as designated by the United States Census Bureau. line 7 (B) At least 75 percent of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels line 8 that are developed with urban uses. For the purposes of this section, line 9 parcels that are only separated by a street or highway shall be line 10 considered to be adjoined.
line 11 (C) (i) A site that meets the requirements of clause (ii) and line 12 satisfies any of the following:
line 13 (I) The site is zoned for residential use or residential mixed-use line 14 development.
line 15 (II) The site has a general plan designation that allows residential line 16 use or a mix of residential and nonresidential uses. line 17 (III) The site is zoned for office or retail commercial use and line 18 meets the requirements of Section 65852.24.
line 19 (ii) At least two-thirds of the square footage of the development line 20 is designated for residential use. Additional density, floor area, line 21 and units, and any other concession, incentive, or waiver of line 22 development standards granted pursuant to the Density Bonus Law line 23 in Section 65915 shall be included in the square footage line 24 calculation. The square footage of the development shall not line 25 include underground space, such as basements or underground line 26 parking garages.
line 27 (3) (A) The development proponent has committed to record, line 28 prior to the issuance of the first building permit, a land use line 29 restriction or covenant providing that any lower or moderate line 30 income housing units required pursuant to subparagraph (B) of line 31 paragraph (4) shall remain available at affordable housing costs line 32 or rent to persons and families of lower or moderate-income for line 33 no less than the following periods of time:
line 34 (i) Fifty-five years for units that are rented. line 35 (ii) Forty-five years for units that are owned. line 36 (B) The city or county shall require the recording of covenants line 37 or restrictions implementing this paragraph for each parcel or unit line 38 of real property included in the development.
line 39 (4) The development satisfies clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph line 40 (A) and satisfies subparagraph (B) below:
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line 1 (A) (i) For a development located in a locality that is in its sixth line 2 or earlier housing element cycle, the development is located in line 3 either of the following:
line 4 (I) In a locality that the department has determined is subject line 5 to this clause on the basis that the number of units that have been line 6 issued building permits, as shown on the most recent production line 7 report received by the department, is less than the locality’s share line 8 of the regional housing needs, by income category, for that line 9 reporting period. A locality shall remain eligible under this line 10 subclause until the department’s determination for the next line 11 reporting period.
line 12 (II) In a locality that the department has determined is subject line 13 to this clause on the basis that the locality did not adopt a housing line 14 element that has been found in substantial compliance with housing line 15 element law (Article 10.6 (commencing with Section 65580) of line 16 Chapter 3) by the department. A locality shall remain eligible under line 17 this subclause until such time as the locality adopts a housing line 18 element that has been found in substantial compliance with housing line 19 element law (Article 10.6 (commencing with Section 65580) of line 20 Chapter 3) by the department.
line 21 (ii) For a development located in a locality that is in its seventh line 22 or later housing element cycle, is located in a locality that the line 23 department has determined is subject to this clause on the basis line 24 that the locality did not adopt a housing element that has been line 25 found in substantial compliance with housing element law (Article line 26 10.6 (commencing with Section 65580) of Chapter 3) by the line 27 department by the statutory deadline, or that the number of units line 28 that have been issued building permits, as shown on the most recent line 29 production report received by the department, is less than the line 30 locality’s share of the regional housing needs, by income category, line 31 for that reporting period. A locality shall remain eligible under line 32 this subparagraph until the department’s determination for the next line 33 reporting period.
line 34 (B) The development is subject to a requirement mandating a line 35 minimum percentage of below market rate housing based on one line 36 of the following:
line 37 (i) The locality did not adopt a housing element pursuant to line 38 Section 65588 that has been found in substantial compliance with line 39 the housing element law (Article 10.6 (commencing with Section line 40 65580) of Chapter 3) by the department, did not submit its latest 98 — 7 — SB 423
line 1 production report to the department by the time period required line 2 by Section 65400, or that production report submitted to the line 3 department reflects that there were fewer units of above line 4 moderate-income housing issued building permits than were line 5 required for the regional housing needs assessment cycle for that line 6 reporting period. In addition, if the project contains more than 10 line 7 units of housing, the project does either of the following:
line 8 (I) The project dedicates a minimum of 10 percent of the total line 9 number of units, before calculating any density bonus, to housing line 10 affordable to households making at or below 80 percent of the area line 11 median income. However, if the locality has adopted a local line 12 ordinance that requires that greater than 10 percent of the units be line 13 dedicated to housing affordable to households making below 80 line 14 percent of the area median income, that local ordinance applies. line 15 (II) (ia) If the project is located within the San Francisco Bay line 16 area, the project, in lieu of complying with subclause (I), dedicates line 17 20 percent of the total number of units, before calculating any line 18 density bonus, to housing affordable to households making below line 19 120 percent of the area median income with the average income line 20 of the units at or below 100 percent of the area median income. line 21 However, a local ordinance adopted by the locality applies if it line 22 requires greater than 20 percent of the units be dedicated to housing line 23 affordable to households making at or below 120 percent of the line 24 area median income, or requires that any of the units be dedicated line 25 at a level deeper than 120 percent. In order to comply with this line 26 subclause, the rent or sale price charged for units that are dedicated line 27 to housing affordable to households between 80 percent and 120 line 28 percent of the area median income shall not exceed 30 percent of line 29 the gross income of the household.
line 30 (ib) For purposes of this subclause, “San Francisco Bay area” line 31 means the entire area within the territorial boundaries of the line 32 Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, line 33 Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma, and the City and County of San line 34 Francisco.
line 35 (ii) The locality’s latest production report reflects that there line 36 were fewer units of housing issued building permits affordable to line 37 either very low income or low-income households by income line 38 category than were required for the regional housing needs line 39 assessment cycle for that reporting period, and the project seeking line 40 approval dedicates 50 percent of the total number of units, before 98 SB 423 — 8 —
line 1 calculating any density bonus, to housing affordable to households line 2 making at or below 80 percent of the area median income. line 3 However, if the locality has adopted a local ordinance that requires line 4 that greater than 50 percent of the units be dedicated to housing line 5 affordable to households making at or below 80 percent of the area line 6 median income, that local ordinance applies.
line 7 (iii) The locality did not submit its latest production report to line 8 the department by the time period required by Section 65400, or line 9 if the production report reflects that there were fewer units of line 10 housing affordable to both income levels described in clauses (i) line 11 and (ii) that were issued building permits than were required for line 12 the regional housing needs assessment cycle for that reporting line 13 period, the project seeking approval may choose between utilizing line 14 clause (i) or (ii).
line 15 (C) (i) A development proponent that uses a unit of affordable line 16 housing to satisfy the requirements of subparagraph (B) may also line 17 satisfy any other local or state requirement for affordable housing, line 18 including local ordinances or the Density Bonus Law in Section line 19 65915, provided that the development proponent complies with line 20 the applicable requirements in the state or local law. If a local line 21 requirement for affordable housing requires units that are restricted line 22 to households with incomes higher than the applicable income line 23 limits required in subparagraph (B), then units that meet the line 24 applicable income limits required in subparagraph (B) shall be line 25 deemed to satisfy those local requirements for higher income units. line 26 (ii) A development proponent that uses a unit of affordable line 27 housing to satisfy any other state or local affordability requirement line 28 may also satisfy the requirements of subparagraph (B), provided line 29 that the development proponent complies with applicable line 30 requirements of subparagraph (B).
line 31 (iii) A development proponent may satisfy the affordability line 32 requirements of subparagraph (B) with a unit that is restricted to line 33 households with incomes lower than the applicable income limits line 34 required in subparagraph (B).
line 35 (D) The amendments to this subdivision made by the act adding line 36 this subparagraph do not constitute a change in, but are declaratory line 37 of, existing law.
line 38 (5) The development, excluding any additional density or any line 39 other concessions, incentives, or waivers of development standards line 40 for which the development is eligible pursuant to the Density Bonus 98 — 9 — SB 423
line 1 Law in Section 65915, is consistent with objective zoning line 2 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design line 3 review standards in effect at the time that the development is line 4 submitted to the local government pursuant to this section, or at line 5 the time a notice of intent is submitted pursuant to subdivision (b), line 6 whichever occurs earlier. For purposes of this paragraph, “objective line 7 zoning standards,” “objective subdivision standards,” and line 8 “objective design review standards” mean standards that involve line 9 no personal or subjective judgment by a public official and are line 10 uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and uniform line 11 benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the line 12 development applicant or proponent and the public official before line 13 submittal. These standards may be embodied in alternative line 14 objective land use specifications adopted by a city or county, and line 15 may include, but are not limited to, housing overlay zones, specific line 16 plans, inclusionary zoning ordinances, and density bonus line 17 ordinances, subject to the following:
line 18 (A) A development shall be deemed consistent with the objective line 19 zoning standards related to housing density, as applicable, if the line 20 density proposed is compliant with the maximum density allowed line 21 within that land use designation, notwithstanding any specified line 22 maximum unit allocation that may result in fewer units of housing line 23 being permitted.
line 24 (B) In the event that objective zoning, general plan, subdivision, line 25 or design review standards are mutually inconsistent, a line 26 development shall be deemed consistent with the objective zoning line 27 and subdivision standards pursuant to this subdivision if the line 28 development is consistent with the standards set forth in the general line 29 plan.
line 30 (C) It is the intent of the Legislature that the objective zoning line 31 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design line 32 review standards described in this paragraph be adopted or line 33 amended in compliance with the requirements of Chapter 905 of line 34 the Statutes of 2004.
line 35 (D) The amendments to this subdivision made by the act adding line 36 this subparagraph do not constitute a change in, but are declaratory line 37 of, existing law.
line 38 (E) A project that satisfies the requirements of Section 65852.24 line 39 shall be deemed consistent with objective zoning standards, line 40 objective design standards, and objective subdivision standards if 98 SB 423 — 10 —
line 1 the project is consistent with the provisions of subdivision (b) of line 2 Section 65852.24 and if none of the square footage in the project line 3 is designated for hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other line 4 transient lodging use, except for a residential hotel. For purposes line 5 of this subdivision, “residential hotel” shall have the same meaning line 6 as defined in Section 50519 of the Health and Safety Code. line 7 (6) The development is not located on a site that is any of the line 8 following:
line 9 (A) Either prime farmland or farmland of statewide importance, line 10 as defined pursuant to United States Department of Agriculture line 11 land inventory and monitoring criteria, as modified for California, line 12 and designated on the maps prepared by the Farmland Mapping line 13 and Monitoring Program of the Department of Conservation, or line 14 land zoned or designated for agricultural protection or preservation line 15 by a local ballot measure that was approved by the voters of that line 16 jurisdiction.
line 17 (B) Wetlands, as defined in the United States Fish and Wildlife line 18 Service Manual, Part 660 FW 2 (June 21, 1993), unless the line 19 development within the wetlands has been authorized by a permit line 20 or other approval issued pursuant to federal or other state law. line 21 (C) Within a very high fire hazard severity zone, as determined line 22 by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant to line 23 Section 51178, or within a high or very high fire hazard severity line 24 zone as indicated on maps adopted by the Department of Forestry line 25 and Fire Protection pursuant to Section 4202 of the Public line 26 Resources Code. This subparagraph does not apply to sites line 27 excluded from the specified hazard zones by a local agency, line 28 pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 51179, or sites that have line 29 adopted fire hazard mitigation measures pursuant to existing line 30 building standards or state fire mitigation measures applicable to line 31 the development.
line 32 (D) A hazardous waste site that is listed pursuant to Section line 33 65962.5 or a hazardous waste site designated by the Department line 34 of Toxic Substances Control pursuant to Section 25356 of the line 35 Health and Safety Code, unless either of the following apply:
line 36 (i) The site is an underground storage tank site that received a line 37 uniform closure letter issued pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section line 38 25296.10 of the Health and Safety Code based on closure criteria line 39 established by the State Water Resources Control Board for line 40 residential use or residential mixed uses. This section does not 98 — 11 — SB 423
line 1 alter or change the conditions to remove a site from the list of line 2 hazardous waste sites listed pursuant to Section 65962.5. line 3 (ii) The State Department of Public Health, State Water line 4 Resources Control Board, Department of Toxic Substances Control, line 5 or a local agency making a determination pursuant to subdivision line 6 (c) of Section 25296.10 of the Health and Safety Code, has line 7 otherwise determined that the site is suitable for residential use or line 8 residential mixed uses.
line 9 (E) Within a delineated earthquake fault zone as determined by line 10 the State Geologist in any official maps published by the State line 11 Geologist, unless the development complies with applicable seismic line 12 protection building code standards adopted by the California line 13 Building Standards Commission under the California Building line 14 Standards Law (Part 2.5 (commencing with Section 18901) of line 15 Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code), and by any local line 16 building department under Chapter 12.2 (commencing with Section line 17 8875) of Division 1 of Title 2.
line 18 (F) Within a special flood hazard area subject to inundation by line 19 the 1 percent annual chance flood (100-year flood) as determined line 20 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in any official line 21 maps published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. line 22 If a development proponent is able to satisfy all applicable federal line 23 qualifying criteria in order to provide that the site satisfies this line 24 subparagraph and is otherwise eligible for streamlined approval line 25 under this section, a local government shall not deny the application line 26 on the basis that the development proponent did not comply with line 27 any additional permit requirement, standard, or action adopted by line 28 that local government that is applicable to that site. A development line 29 may be located on a site described in this subparagraph if either line 30 of the following are met:
line 31 (i) The site has been subject to a Letter of Map Revision line 32 prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and line 33 issued to the local jurisdiction.
line 34 (ii) The site meets Federal Emergency Management Agency line 35 requirements necessary to meet minimum flood plain management line 36 criteria of the National Flood Insurance Program pursuant to Part line 37 59 (commencing with Section 59.1) and Part 60 (commencing line 38 with Section 60.1) of Subchapter B of Chapter I of Title 44 of the line 39 Code of Federal Regulations.
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line 1 (G) Within a regulatory floodway as determined by the Federal line 2 Emergency Management Agency in any official maps published line 3 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, unless the line 4 development has received a no-rise certification in accordance line 5 with Section 60.3(d)(3) of Title 44 of the Code of Federal line 6 Regulations. If a development proponent is able to satisfy all line 7 applicable federal qualifying criteria in order to provide that the line 8 site satisfies this subparagraph and is otherwise eligible for line 9 streamlined approval under this section, a local government shall line 10 not deny the application on the basis that the development line 11 proponent did not comply with any additional permit requirement, line 12 standard, or action adopted by that local government that is line 13 applicable to that site.
line 14 (H) Lands identified for conservation in an adopted natural line 15 community conservation plan pursuant to the Natural Community line 16 Conservation Planning Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with Section line 17 2800) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code), habitat line 18 conservation plan pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act line 19 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), or other adopted natural line 20 resource protection plan.
line 21 (I) Habitat for protected species identified as candidate, line 22 sensitive, or species of special status by state or federal agencies, line 23 fully protected species, or species protected by the federal line 24 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), line 25 the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing line 26 with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code), or line 27 the Native Plant Protection Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with line 28 Section 1900) of Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code), unless line 29 the development within the habitat has been authorized by a permit line 30 or approval issued pursuant to federal or other state law. line 31 (J) Lands under conservation easement.
line 32 (7) The development is not located on a site where any of the line 33 following apply:
line 34 (A) The development would require the demolition of the line 35 following types of housing:
line 36 (i) Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, line 37 or law that restricts rents to levels affordable to persons and line 38 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
line 39 (ii) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 40 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. 98 — 13 — SB 423
line 1 (iii) Housing that has been occupied by tenants within the past line 2 10 years.
line 3 (B) The site was previously used for housing that was occupied line 4 by tenants that was demolished within 10 years before the line 5 development proponent submits an application under this section. line 6 (C) The development would require the demolition of a historic line 7 structure that was placed on a national, state, or local historic line 8 register.
line 9 (D) The property contains housing units that are occupied by line 10 tenants, and units at the property are, or were, subsequently offered line 11 for sale to the general public by the subdivider or subsequent owner line 12 of the property.
line 13 (8) Except as provided in paragraph (9), a proponent of a line 14 development project approved by a local government pursuant to line 15 this section shall require in contracts with construction contractors, line 16 and shall certify to the local government, that the following line 17 standards specified in this paragraph will be met in project line 18 construction, as applicable:
line 19 (A) A development that is not in its entirety a public work for line 20 purposes of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1720) of Part 7 line 21 of Division 2 of the Labor Code and approved by a local line 22 government pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section line 23 65912.110) or Article 3 (commencing with Section 65912.120) line 24 shall be subject to all of the following:
line 25 (i) All construction workers employed in the execution of the line 26 development shall be paid at least the general prevailing rate of line 27 per diem wages for the type of work and geographic area, as line 28 determined by the Director of Industrial Relations pursuant to line 29 Sections 1773 and 1773.9 of the Labor Code, except that line 30 apprentices registered in programs approved by the Chief of the line 31 Division of Apprenticeship Standards may be paid at least the line 32 applicable apprentice prevailing rate.
line 33 (ii) The development proponent shall ensure that the prevailing line 34 wage requirement is included in all contracts for the performance line 35 of the work for those portions of the development that are not a line 36 public work.
line 37 (iii) All contractors and subcontractors for those portions of the line 38 development that are not a public work shall comply with both of line 39 the following:
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line 1 (I) Pay to all construction workers employed in the execution line 2 of the work at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, line 3 except that apprentices registered in programs approved by the line 4 Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards may be paid at line 5 least the applicable apprentice prevailing rate. line 6 (II) Maintain and verify payroll records pursuant to Section line 7 1776 of the Labor Code and make those records available for line 8 inspection and copying as provided in that section. This subclause line 9 does not apply if all contractors and subcontractors performing line 10 work on the development are subject to a project labor agreement line 11 that requires the payment of prevailing wages to all construction line 12 workers employed in the execution of the development and line 13 provides for enforcement of that obligation through an arbitration line 14 procedure. For purposes of this subclause, “project labor line 15 agreement” has the same meaning as set forth in paragraph (1) of line 16 subdivision (b) of Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code. line 17 (B) (i) The obligation of the contractors and subcontractors to line 18 pay prevailing wages pursuant to this paragraph may be enforced line 19 by any of the following:
line 20 (I) The Labor Commissioner through the issuance of a civil line 21 wage and penalty assessment pursuant to Section 1741 of the Labor line 22 Code, which may be reviewed pursuant to Section 1742 of the line 23 Labor Code, within 18 months after the completion of the line 24 development.
line 25 (II) An underpaid worker through an administrative complaint line 26 or civil action.
line 27 (III) A joint labor-management committee through a civil action line 28 under Section 1771.2 of the Labor Code.
line 29 (ii) If a civil wage and penalty assessment is issued pursuant to line 30 this paragraph, the contractor, subcontractor, and surety on a bond line 31 or bonds issued to secure the payment of wages covered by the line 32 assessment shall be liable for liquidated damages pursuant to line 33 Section 1742.1 of the Labor Code.
line 34 (iii) This paragraph does not apply if all contractors and line 35 subcontractors performing work on the development are subject line 36 to a project labor agreement that requires the payment of prevailing line 37 wages to all construction workers employed in the execution of line 38 the development and provides for enforcement of that obligation line 39 through an arbitration procedure. For purposes of this clause, line 40 “project labor agreement” has the same meaning as set forth in 98 — 15 — SB 423
line 1 paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 2500 of the Public line 2 Contract Code.
line 3 (C) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 1773.1 of the line 4 Labor Code, the requirement that employer payments not reduce line 5 the obligation to pay the hourly straight time or overtime wages line 6 found to be prevailing does not apply to those portions of line 7 development that are not a public work if otherwise provided in a line 8 bona fide collective bargaining agreement covering the worker. line 9 (D) The requirement of this paragraph to pay at least the general line 10 prevailing rate of per diem wages does not preclude use of an line 11 alternative workweek schedule adopted pursuant to Section 511 line 12 or 514 of the Labor Code.
line 13 (E) A development of 50 or more housing units approved by a line 14 local government pursuant to this section shall meet all of the line 15 following labor standards:
line 16 (i) The development proponent shall require in contracts with line 17 construction contractors and shall certify to the local government line 18 that each contractor of any tier who will employ construction craft line 19 employees or will let subcontracts for at least 1,000 hours shall line 20 satisfy the requirements in clauses (ii) and (iii). A construction line 21 contractor is deemed in compliance with clauses (ii) and (iii) if it line 22 is signatory to a valid collective bargaining agreement that requires line 23 utilization of registered apprentices and expenditures on health line 24 care for employees and dependents.
line 25 (ii) A contractor with construction craft employees shall either line 26 participate in an apprenticeship program approved by the California line 27 Division of Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to Section 3075 of line 28 the Labor Code, or request the dispatch of apprentices from a line 29 state-approved apprenticeship program under the terms and line 30 conditions set forth in Section 1777.5 of the Labor Code. A line 31 contractor without construction craft employees shall show a line 32 contractual obligation that its subcontractors comply with this line 33 clause.
line 34 (iii) Each contractor with construction craft employees shall line 35 make health care expenditures for each employee in an amount line 36 per hour worked on the development equivalent to at least the line 37 hourly pro rata cost of a Covered California Platinum level plan line 38 for two adults 40 years of age and two dependents 0 to 14 years line 39 of age for the Covered California rating area in which the line 40 development is located. A contractor without construction craft 98 SB 423 — 16 —
line 1 employees shall show a contractual obligation that its line 2 subcontractors comply with this clause. Qualifying expenditures line 3 shall be credited toward compliance with prevailing wage payment line 4 requirements set forth in this paragraph.
line 5 (iv) (I) The development proponent shall provide to the local line 6 government, on a monthly basis while its construction contracts line 7 on the development are being performed, a report demonstrating line 8 compliance with clauses (ii) and (iii). The reports shall be line 9 considered public records under the California Public Records Act line 10 (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1), and line 11 shall be open to public inspection.
line 12 (II) A development proponent that fails to provide the monthly line 13 report shall be subject to a civil penalty for each month for which line 14 the report has not been provided, in the amount of 10 percent of line 15 the dollar value of construction work performed by that contractor line 16 on the development in the month in question, up to a maximum line 17 of ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Any contractor or subcontractor line 18 that fails to comply with clauses (ii) and (iii) shall be subject to a line 19 civil penalty of two hundred dollars ($200) per day for each worker line 20 employed in contravention of clauses (ii) and (iii). line 21 (III) Penalties may be assessed by the Labor Commissioner line 22 within 18 months of completion of the development using the line 23 procedures for issuance of civil wage and penalty assessments line 24 specified in Section 1741 of the Labor Code, and may be reviewed line 25 pursuant to Section 1742 of the Labor Code. Penalties shall be line 26 deposited in the State Public Works Enforcement Fund established line 27 pursuant to Section 1771.3 of the Labor Code.
line 28 (v) Each construction contractor shall maintain and verify line 29 payroll records pursuant to Section 1776 of the Labor Code. Each line 30 construction contractor shall submit payroll records directly to the line 31 Labor Commissioner at least monthly in a format prescribed by line 32 the Labor Commissioner in accordance with subparagraph (A) of line 33 paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1771.4 of the Labor line 34 Code. The records shall include a statement of fringe benefits. line 35 Upon request by a joint labor-management cooperation committee line 36 established pursuant to the Federal Labor Management Cooperation line 37 Act of 1978 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 175a), the records shall be provided line 38 pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 1776 of the Labor Code. line 39 (vi) All construction contractors shall report any change in line 40 apprenticeship program participation or health care expenditures 98 — 17 — SB 423
line 1 to the local government within 10 business days, and shall reflect line 2 those changes on the monthly report. The reports shall be line 3 considered public records pursuant to the California Public Records line 4 Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1) line 5 and shall be open to public inspection.
line 6 (vii) A joint labor-management cooperation committee line 7 established pursuant to the Federal Labor Management Cooperation line 8 Act of 1978 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 175a) shall have standing to sue a line 9 construction contractor for failure to make health care expenditures line 10 pursuant to clause (iii) in accordance with Section 218.7 or 218.8 line 11 of the Labor Code.
line 12 (9) Notwithstanding paragraph (8), a development that is subject line 13 to approval pursuant to this section is exempt from any requirement line 14 to pay prevailing wages, use a workforce participating in an line 15 apprenticeship, or provide health care expenditures if it satisfies line 16 both of the following:
line 17 (A) The project consists of 10 or fewer units. line 18 (B) The project is not a public work for purposes of Chapter 1 line 19 (commencing with Section 1720) of Part 7 of Division 2 of the line 20 Labor Code.
line 21 (10) The development shall not be upon an existing parcel of line 22 land or site that is governed under the Mobilehome Residency Law line 23 (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 798) of Title 2 of Part 2 line 24 of Division 2 of the Civil Code), the Recreational Vehicle Park line 25 Occupancy Law (Chapter 2.6 (commencing with Section 799.20) line 26 of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code), the line 27 Mobilehome Parks Act (Part 2.1 (commencing with Section 18200) line 28 of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code), or the Special line 29 Occupancy Parks Act (Part 2.3 (commencing with Section 18860) line 30 of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code).
line 31 (b) (1) (A) (i) Before submitting an application for a line 32 development subject to the streamlined, ministerial approval line 33 process described in subdivision (c), the development proponent line 34 shall submit to the local government a notice of its intent to submit line 35 an application. The notice of intent shall be in the form of a line 36 preliminary application that includes all of the information line 37 described in Section 65941.1, as that section read on January 1, line 38 2020.
line 39 (ii) Upon receipt of a notice of intent to submit an application line 40 described in clause (i), the local government shall engage in a 98 SB 423 — 18 —
line 1 scoping consultation regarding the proposed development with line 2 any California Native American tribe that is traditionally and line 3 culturally affiliated with the geographic area, as described in line 4 Section 21080.3.1 of the Public Resources Code, of the proposed line 5 development. In order to expedite compliance with this subdivision, line 6 the local government shall contact the Native American Heritage line 7 Commission for assistance in identifying any California Native line 8 American tribe that is traditionally and culturally affiliated with line 9 the geographic area of the proposed development. line 10 (iii) The timeline for noticing and commencing a scoping line 11 consultation in accordance with this subdivision shall be as follows:
line 12 (I) The local government shall provide a formal notice of a line 13 development proponent’s notice of intent to submit an application line 14 described in clause (i) to each California Native American tribe line 15 that is traditionally and culturally affiliated with the geographic line 16 area of the proposed development within 30 days of receiving that line 17 notice of intent. The formal notice provided pursuant to this line 18 subclause shall include all of the following:
line 19 (ia) A description of the proposed development. line 20 (ib) The location of the proposed development. line 21 (ic) An invitation to engage in a scoping consultation in line 22 accordance with this subdivision.
line 23 (II) Each California Native American tribe that receives a formal line 24 notice pursuant to this clause shall have 30 days from the receipt line 25 of that notice to accept the invitation to engage in a scoping line 26 consultation.
line 27 (III) If the local government receives a response accepting an line 28 invitation to engage in a scoping consultation pursuant to this line 29 subdivision, the local government shall commence the scoping line 30 consultation within 30 days of receiving that response. line 31 (B) The scoping consultation shall recognize that California line 32 Native American tribes traditionally and culturally affiliated with line 33 a geographic area have knowledge and expertise concerning the line 34 resources at issue and shall take into account the cultural line 35 significance of the resource to the culturally affiliated California line 36 Native American tribe.
line 37 (C) The parties to a scoping consultation conducted pursuant line 38 to this subdivision shall be the local government and any California line 39 Native American tribe traditionally and culturally affiliated with line 40 the geographic area of the proposed development. More than one 98 — 19 — SB 423
line 1 California Native American tribe traditionally and culturally line 2 affiliated with the geographic area of the proposed development line 3 may participate in the scoping consultation. However, the local line 4 government, upon the request of any California Native American line 5 tribe traditionally and culturally affiliated with the geographic area line 6 of the proposed development, shall engage in a separate scoping line 7 consultation with that California Native American tribe. The line 8 development proponent and its consultants may participate in a line 9 scoping consultation process conducted pursuant to this subdivision line 10 if all of the following conditions are met:
line 11 (i) The development proponent and its consultants agree to line 12 respect the principles set forth in this subdivision. line 13 (ii) The development proponent and its consultants engage in line 14 the scoping consultation in good faith.
line 15 (iii) The California Native American tribe participating in the line 16 scoping consultation approves the participation of the development line 17 proponent and its consultants. The California Native American line 18 tribe may rescind its approval at any time during the scoping line 19 consultation, either for the duration of the scoping consultation or line 20 with respect to any particular meeting or discussion held as part line 21 of the scoping consultation.
line 22 (D) The participants to a scoping consultation pursuant to this line 23 subdivision shall comply with all of the following confidentiality line 24 requirements:
line 25 (i) Section 7927.000.
line 26 (ii) Section 7927.005.
line 27 (iii) Subdivision (c) of Section 21082.3 of the Public Resources line 28 Code.
line 29 (iv) Subdivision (d) of Section 15120 of Title 14 of the line 30 California Code of Regulations.
line 31 (v) Any additional confidentiality standards adopted by the line 32 California Native American tribe participating in the scoping line 33 consultation.
line 34 (E) The California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 line 35 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) line 36 shall not apply to a scoping consultation conducted pursuant to line 37 this subdivision.
line 38 (2) (A) If, after concluding the scoping consultation, the parties line 39 find that no potential tribal cultural resource would be affected by line 40 the proposed development, the development proponent may submit 98 SB 423 — 20 —
line 1 an application for the proposed development that is subject to the line 2 streamlined, ministerial approval process described in subdivision line 3 (c).
line 4 (B) If, after concluding the scoping consultation, the parties line 5 find that a potential tribal cultural resource could be affected by line 6 the proposed development and an enforceable agreement is line 7 documented between the California Native American tribe and the line 8 local government on methods, measures, and conditions for tribal line 9 cultural resource treatment, the development proponent may submit line 10 the application for a development subject to the streamlined, line 11 ministerial approval process described in subdivision (c). The local line 12 government shall ensure that the enforceable agreement is included line 13 in the requirements and conditions for the proposed development. line 14 (C) If, after concluding the scoping consultation, the parties line 15 find that a potential tribal cultural resource could be affected by line 16 the proposed development and an enforceable agreement is not line 17 documented between the California Native American tribe and the line 18 local government regarding methods, measures, and conditions line 19 for tribal cultural resource treatment, the development shall not line 20 be eligible for the streamlined, ministerial approval process line 21 described in subdivision (c).
line 22 (D) For purposes of this paragraph, a scoping consultation shall line 23 be deemed to be concluded if either of the following occur:
line 24 (i) The parties to the scoping consultation document an line 25 enforceable agreement concerning methods, measures, and line 26 conditions to avoid or address potential impacts to tribal cultural line 27 resources that are or may be present.
line 28 (ii) One or more parties to the scoping consultation, acting in line 29 good faith and after reasonable effort, conclude that a mutual line 30 agreement on methods, measures, and conditions to avoid or line 31 address impacts to tribal cultural resources that are or may be line 32 present cannot be reached.
line 33 (E) If the development or environmental setting substantially line 34 changes after the completion of the scoping consultation, the local line 35 government shall notify the California Native American tribe of line 36 the changes and engage in a subsequent scoping consultation if line 37 requested by the California Native American tribe. line 38 (3) A local government may only accept an application for line 39 streamlined, ministerial approval pursuant to this section if one of line 40 the following applies:
98 — 21 — SB 423
line 1 (A) A California Native American tribe that received a formal line 2 notice of the development proponent’s notice of intent to submit line 3 an application pursuant to subclause (I) of clause (iii) of line 4 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) did not accept the invitation to line 5 engage in a scoping consultation.
line 6 (B) The California Native American tribe accepted an invitation line 7 to engage in a scoping consultation pursuant to subclause (II) of line 8 clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) but substantially line 9 failed to engage in the scoping consultation after repeated line 10 documented attempts by the local government to engage the line 11 California Native American tribe.
line 12 (C) The parties to a scoping consultation pursuant to this line 13 subdivision find that no potential tribal cultural resource will be line 14 affected by the proposed development pursuant to subparagraph line 15 (A) of paragraph (2).
line 16 (D) A scoping consultation between a California Native line 17 American tribe and the local government has occurred in line 18 accordance with this subdivision and resulted in agreement line 19 pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2).
line 20 (4) A project shall not be eligible for the streamlined, ministerial line 21 process described in subdivision (c) if any of the following apply:
line 22 (A) There is a tribal cultural resource that is on a national, state, line 23 tribal, or local historic register list located on the site of the project. line 24 (B) There is a potential tribal cultural resource that could be line 25 affected by the proposed development and the parties to a scoping line 26 consultation conducted pursuant to this subdivision do not line 27 document an enforceable agreement on methods, measures, and line 28 conditions for tribal cultural resource treatment, as described in line 29 subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2).
line 30 (C) The parties to a scoping consultation conducted pursuant line 31 to this subdivision do not agree as to whether a potential tribal line 32 cultural resource will be affected by the proposed development. line 33 (5) (A) If, after a scoping consultation conducted pursuant to line 34 this subdivision, a project is not eligible for the streamlined, line 35 ministerial process described in subdivision (c) for any or all of line 36 the following reasons, the local government shall provide written line 37 documentation of that fact, and an explanation of the reason for line 38 which the project is not eligible, to the development proponent line 39 and to any California Native American tribe that is a party to that line 40 scoping consultation:
98 SB 423 — 22 —
line 1 (i) There is a tribal cultural resource that is on a national, state, line 2 tribal, or local historic register list located on the site of the project, line 3 as described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4). line 4 (ii) The parties to the scoping consultation have not documented line 5 an enforceable agreement on methods, measures, and conditions line 6 for tribal cultural resource treatment, as described in subparagraph line 7 (C) of paragraph (2) and subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4). line 8 (iii) The parties to the scoping consultation do not agree as to line 9 whether a potential tribal cultural resource will be affected by the line 10 proposed development, as described in subparagraph (C) of line 11 paragraph (4).
line 12 (B) The written documentation provided to a development line 13 proponent pursuant to this paragraph shall include information on line 14 how the development proponent may seek a conditional use permit line 15 or other discretionary approval of the development from the local line 16 government.
line 17 (6) This section is not intended, and shall not be construed, to line 18 limit consultation and discussion between a local government and line 19 a California Native American tribe pursuant to other applicable line 20 law, confidentiality provisions under other applicable law, the line 21 protection of religious exercise to the fullest extent permitted under line 22 state and federal law, or the ability of a California Native American line 23 tribe to submit information to the local government or participate line 24 in any process of the local government.
line 25 (7) For purposes of this subdivision:
line 26 (A) “Consultation” means the meaningful and timely process line 27 of seeking, discussing, and considering carefully the views of line 28 others, in a manner that is cognizant of all parties’ cultural values line 29 and, where feasible, seeking agreement. Consultation between line 30 local governments and Native American tribes shall be conducted line 31 in a way that is mutually respectful of each party’s sovereignty. line 32 Consultation shall also recognize the tribes’ potential needs for line 33 confidentiality with respect to places that have traditional tribal line 34 cultural importance. A lead agency shall consult the tribal line 35 consultation best practices described in the “State of California line 36 Tribal Consultation Guidelines: Supplement to the General Plan line 37 Guidelines” prepared by the Office of Planning and Research. line 38 (B) “Scoping” means the act of participating in early discussions line 39 or investigations between the local government and California line 40 Native American tribe, and the development proponent if 98 — 23 — SB 423
line 1 authorized by the California Native American tribe, regarding the line 2 potential effects a proposed development could have on a potential line 3 tribal cultural resource, as defined in Section 21074 of the Public line 4 Resources Code, or California Native American tribe, as defined line 5 in Section 21073 of the Public Resources Code.
line 6 (8) This subdivision shall not apply to any project that has been line 7 approved under the streamlined, ministerial approval process line 8 provided under this section before the effective date of the act line 9 adding this subdivision.
line 10 (c) (1) If Notwithstanding any local law, if a local government’s line 11 planning director or any equivalent local government staff, line 12 including all relevant planning and permitting departments, line 13 equivalent position determines that a development submitted line 14 pursuant to this section is consistent with the objective planning line 15 standards specified in subdivision (a) and pursuant to paragraph line 16 (3) of this subdivision, it the local government shall approve the line 17 development. Upon a determination that a development submitted line 18 pursuant to this section is in conflict with any of the objective line 19 planning standards specified in subdivision (a), the local line 20 government staff or relevant local planning and permitting line 21 department that made the determination shall provide the line 22 development proponent written documentation of which standard line 23 or standards the development conflicts with, and an explanation line 24 for the reason or reasons the development conflicts with that line 25 standard or standards, as follows:
line 26 (A) Within 60 days of submittal of the development to the local line 27 government pursuant to this section if the development contains line 28 150 or fewer housing units.
line 29 (B) Within 90 days of submittal of the development to the local line 30 government pursuant to this section if the development contains line 31 more than 150 housing units.
line 32 (2) If the local government’s planning director or any equivalent line 33 local government staff equivalent position fails to provide the line 34 required documentation pursuant to paragraph (1), the development line 35 shall be deemed to satisfy the objective planning standards line 36 specified in subdivision (a).
line 37 (3) For purposes of this section, a development is consistent line 38 with the objective planning standards specified in subdivision (a) line 39 if there is substantial evidence that would allow a reasonable person line 40 to conclude that the development is consistent with the objective 98 SB 423 — 24 —
line 1 planning standards. The local government shall not determine that line 2 a development, including an application for a modification under line 3 subdivision (g), (h), is in conflict with the objective planning line 4 standards on the basis that application materials are not included, line 5 if the application contains substantial evidence that would allow line 6 a reasonable person to conclude that the development is consistent line 7 with the objective planning standards.
line 8 (4) For purposes of evaluating consistency with the objective line 9 planning standards under this section, the local government shall line 10 not require a development proponent to provide consultant studies line 11 requiring presubmittal scope approval by the local government or line 12 other studies or materials that are unnecessary to ascertain line 13 consistency with the objective planning standards. line 14 (4) Upon submittal of an application for streamlined, ministerial line 15 approval pursuant to this section to the local government, all line 16 departments of the local government that are required to issue an line 17 approval of the development prior to the granting of an entitlement line 18 shall comply with the requirements of this section within the time line 19 periods specified in paragraph (1).
line 20 (d) (1) Any design review of the development may be conducted line 21 by the local government’s planning commission or any equivalent line 22 board or commission responsible for design review. That design line 23 review shall be objective and be strictly focused on assessing line 24 compliance with criteria required for streamlined projects, as well line 25 as any reasonable objective design standards published and adopted line 26 by ordinance or resolution by a local jurisdiction before submission line 27 of a development application, and shall be broadly applicable to line 28 development within the jurisdiction. That design review shall be line 29 completed, and if the development is consistent with all objective line 30 standards, the local government shall approve the development as line 31 follows and shall not in any way inhibit, chill, or preclude the line 32 ministerial approval provided by this section or its effect, as line 33 applicable:
line 34 (A) Within 90 days of submittal of the development to the local line 35 government pursuant to this section if the development contains line 36 150 or fewer housing units.
line 37 (B) Within 180 days of submittal of the development to the line 38 local government pursuant to this section if the development line 39 contains more than 150 housing units.
98 — 25 — SB 423
line 1 (2) If the development is consistent with the requirements of line 2 subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) and line 3 is consistent with all objective subdivision standards in the local line 4 subdivision ordinance, an application for a subdivision pursuant line 5 to the Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section line 6 66410)) shall be exempt from the requirements of the California line 7 Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section line 8 21000) of the Public Resources Code) and shall be subject to the line 9 public oversight timelines set forth in paragraph (1). line 10 (3) If a local government determines that a development line 11 submitted pursuant to this section is in conflict with any of the line 12 standards imposed pursuant to paragraph (1), it shall provide the line 13 development proponent written documentation of which objective line 14 standard or standards the development conflicts with, and an line 15 explanation for the reason or reasons the development conflicts line 16 with that objective standard or standards consistent with the line 17 timelines described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c). line 18 (e) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a local government, line 19 whether or not it has adopted an ordinance governing automobile line 20 parking requirements in multifamily developments, shall not line 21 impose automobile parking standards for a streamlined line 22 development that was approved pursuant to this section in any of line 23 the following instances:
line 24 (A) The development is located within one-half mile of public line 25 transit.
line 26 (B) The development is located within an architecturally and line 27 historically significant historic district.
line 28 (C) When on-street parking permits are required but not offered line 29 to the occupants of the development.
line 30 (D) When there is a car share vehicle located within one block line 31 of the development.
line 32 (2) If the development does not fall within any of the categories line 33 described in paragraph (1), the local government shall not impose line 34 automobile parking requirements for streamlined developments line 35 approved pursuant to this section that exceed one parking space line 36 per unit.
line 37 (f) Notwithstanding any law, a local government shall not line 38 require any of the following prior to approving a development that line 39 meets the requirements of this section:
98 SB 423 — 26 —
line 1 (1) Studies, information, or other materials that do not pertain line 2 directly to determining whether the development is consistent with line 3 the objective planning standards applicable to the development. line 4 (2) (A) Compliance with any standards necessary to receive a line 5 postentitlement permit.
line 6 (B) This paragraph does not prohibit a local agency from line 7 requiring compliance with any standards necessary to receive a line 8 postentitlement permit after a permit has been issued pursuant to line 9 this section.
line 10 (C) For purposes of this paragraph, “postentitlement permit” line 11 has the same meaning as provided in subparagraph (A) of line 12 paragraph (3) of subdivision (j) of Section 65913.3. line 13 (f)
line 14 (g) (1) If a local government approves a development pursuant line 15 to this section, then, notwithstanding any other law, that approval line 16 shall not expire if the project satisfies both of the following line 17 requirements:
line 18 (A) The project includes public investment in housing line 19 affordability, beyond tax credits.
line 20 (B) At least 50 percent of the units are affordable to households line 21 making at or below 80 percent of the area median income. line 22 (2) (A) If a local government approves a development pursuant line 23 to this section, and the project does not satisfy the requirements line 24 of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), that approval shall line 25 remain valid for three years from the date of the final action line 26 establishing that approval, or if litigation is filed challenging that line 27 approval, from the date of the final judgment upholding that line 28 approval. Approval shall remain valid for a project provided line 29 construction activity, including demolition and grading activity, line 30 on the development site has begun pursuant to a permit issued by line 31 the local jurisdiction and is in progress. For purposes of this line 32 subdivision, “in progress” means one of the following:
line 33 (i) The construction has begun and has not ceased for more than line 34 180 days.
line 35 (ii) If the development requires multiple building permits, an line 36 initial phase has been completed, and the project proponent has line 37 applied for and is diligently pursuing a building permit for a line 38 subsequent phase, provided that once it has been issued, the line 39 building permit for the subsequent phase does not lapse. 98 — 27 — SB 423
line 1 (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a local government may line 2 grant a project a one-time, one-year extension if the project line 3 proponent can provide documentation that there has been line 4 significant progress toward getting the development construction line 5 ready, such as filing a building permit application. line 6 (3) If the development proponent requests a modification line 7 pursuant to subdivision (g), (h), then the time during which the line 8 approval shall remain valid shall be extended for the number of line 9 days between the submittal of a modification request and the date line 10 of its final approval, plus an additional 180 days to allow time to line 11 obtain a building permit. If litigation is filed relating to the line 12 modification request, the time shall be further extended during the line 13 pendency of the litigation. The extension required by this paragraph line 14 shall only apply to the first request for a modification submitted line 15 by the development proponent.
line 16 (4) The amendments made to this subdivision by the act that line 17 added this paragraph shall also be retroactively applied to line 18 developments approved prior to January 1, 2022. line 19 (g)
line 20 (h) (1) (A) A development proponent may request a line 21 modification to a development that has been approved under the line 22 streamlined, ministerial approval process provided in subdivision line 23 (c) if that request is submitted to the local government before the line 24 issuance of the final building permit required for construction of line 25 the development.
line 26 (B) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the local government line 27 shall approve a modification if it determines that the modification line 28 is consistent with the objective planning standards specified in line 29 subdivision (a) that were in effect when the original development line 30 application was first submitted.
line 31 (C) The local government shall evaluate any modifications line 32 requested pursuant to this subdivision for consistency with the line 33 objective planning standards using the same assumptions and line 34 analytical methodology that the local government originally used line 35 to assess consistency for the development that was approved for line 36 streamlined, ministerial approval pursuant to subdivision (c). line 37 (D) A guideline that was adopted or amended by the department line 38 pursuant to subdivision (m) (n) after a development was approved line 39 through the streamlined, ministerial approval process described in 98 SB 423 — 28 —
line 1 subdivision (c) shall not be used as a basis to deny proposed line 2 modifications.
line 3 (2) Upon receipt of the development proponent’s application line 4 requesting a modification, the local government shall determine line 5 if the requested modification is consistent with the objective line 6 planning standard and either approve or deny the modification line 7 request within 60 days after submission of the modification, or line 8 within 90 days if design review is required.
line 9 (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the local government may line 10 apply objective planning standards adopted after the development line 11 application was first submitted to the requested modification in line 12 any of the following instances:
line 13 (A) The development is revised such that the total number of line 14 residential units or total square footage of construction changes line 15 by 15 percent or more. The calculation of the square footage of line 16 construction changes shall not include underground space. line 17 (B) The development is revised such that the total number of line 18 residential units or total square footage of construction changes line 19 by 5 percent or more and it is necessary to subject the development line 20 to an objective standard beyond those in effect when the line 21 development application was submitted in order to mitigate or line 22 avoid a specific, adverse impact, as that term is defined in line 23 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (j) of Section line 24 65589.5, upon the public health or safety and there is no feasible line 25 alternative method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the adverse line 26 impact. The calculation of the square footage of construction line 27 changes shall not include underground space.
line 28 (C) (i) Objective building standards contained in the California line 29 Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of line 30 Regulations), including, but not limited to, building plumbing, line 31 electrical, fire, and grading codes, may be applied to all line 32 modification applications that are submitted prior to the first line 33 building permit application. Those standards may be applied to line 34 modification applications submitted after the first building permit line 35 application if agreed to by the development proponent. line 36 (ii) The amendments made to clause (i) by the act that added line 37 clause (i) shall also be retroactively applied to modification line 38 applications submitted prior to January 1, 2022. line 39 (4) The local government’s review of a modification request line 40 pursuant to this subdivision shall be strictly limited to determining 98 — 29 — SB 423
line 1 whether the modification, including any modification to previously line 2 approved density bonus concessions or waivers, modify the line 3 development’s consistency with the objective planning standards line 4 and shall not reconsider prior determinations that are not affected line 5 by the modification.
line 6 (h)
line 7 (i) (1) A local government shall not adopt or impose any line 8 requirement, including, but not limited to, increased fees or line 9 inclusionary housing requirements, that applies to a project solely line 10 or partially on the basis that the project is eligible to receive line 11 ministerial or streamlined approval pursuant to this section. line 12 (2) (A) A local government shall issue a subsequent permit line 13 required for a development approved under this section if the line 14 application substantially complies with the development as it was line 15 approved pursuant to subdivision (c). Upon receipt of an line 16 application for a subsequent permit, the local government shall line 17 process the permit without unreasonable delay and shall not impose line 18 any procedure or requirement that is not imposed on projects that line 19 are not approved pursuant to this section. The local government line 20 shall consider the application for subsequent permits based upon line 21 the objective standards specified in any state or local laws that line 22 were in effect when the original development application was line 23 submitted, unless the development proponent agrees to a change line 24 in objective standards. Issuance of subsequent permits shall line 25 implement the approved development, and review of the permit line 26 application shall not inhibit, chill, or preclude the development. line 27 For purposes of this paragraph, a “subsequent permit” means a line 28 permit required subsequent to receiving approval under subdivision line 29 (c), and includes, but is not limited to, demolition, grading, line 30 encroachment, and building permits and final maps, if necessary. line 31 (B) The amendments made to subparagraph (A) by the act that line 32 added this subparagraph shall also be retroactively applied to line 33 subsequent permit applications submitted prior to January 1, 2022. line 34 (3) (A) If a public improvement is necessary to implement a line 35 development that is subject to the streamlined, ministerial approval line 36 pursuant to this section, including, but not limited to, a bicycle line 37 lane, sidewalk or walkway, public transit stop, driveway, street line 38 paving or overlay, a curb or gutter, a modified intersection, a street line 39 sign or street light, landscape or hardscape, an above-ground or line 40 underground utility connection, a water line, fire hydrant, storm 98 SB 423 — 30 —
line 1 or sanitary sewer connection, retaining wall, and any related work, line 2 and that public improvement is located on land owned by the local line 3 government, to the extent that the public improvement requires line 4 approval from the local government, the local government shall line 5 not exercise its discretion over any approval relating to the public line 6 improvement in a manner that would inhibit, chill, or preclude the line 7 development.
line 8 (B) If an application for a public improvement described in line 9 subparagraph (A) is submitted to a local government, the local line 10 government shall do all of the following:
line 11 (i) Consider the application based upon any objective standards line 12 specified in any state or local laws that were in effect when the line 13 original development application was submitted. line 14 (ii) Conduct its review and approval in the same manner as it line 15 would evaluate the public improvement if required by a project line 16 that is not eligible to receive ministerial or streamlined approval line 17 pursuant to this section.
line 18 (C) If an application for a public improvement described in line 19 subparagraph (A) is submitted to a local government, the local line 20 government shall not do either of the following:
line 21 (i) Adopt or impose any requirement that applies to a project line 22 solely or partially on the basis that the project is eligible to receive line 23 ministerial or streamlined approval pursuant to this section. line 24 (ii) Unreasonably delay in its consideration, review, or approval line 25 of the application.
line 26 (i)
line 27 (j) (1) This section shall not affect a development proponent’s line 28 ability to use any alternative streamlined by right permit processing line 29 adopted by a local government, including the provisions of line 30 subdivision (i) of Section 65583.2.
line 31 (2) This section shall not prevent a development from also line 32 qualifying as a housing development project entitled to the line 33 protections of Section 65589.5. This paragraph does not constitute line 34 a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law. line 35 (j)
line 36 (k) The California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 line 37 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) line 38 does not apply to actions taken by a state agency, local government, line 39 or the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District to:
98 — 31 — SB 423
line 1 (1) Lease, convey, or encumber land owned by the local line 2 government or the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District line 3 or to facilitate the lease, conveyance, or encumbrance of land line 4 owned by the local government, or for the lease of land owned by line 5 the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District in association line 6 with an eligible TOD project, as defined pursuant to Section line 7 29010.1 of the Public Utilities Code, nor to any decisions line 8 associated with that lease, or to provide financial assistance to a line 9 development that receives streamlined approval pursuant to this line 10 section that is to be used for housing for persons and families of line 11 very low, low, or moderate income, as defined in Section 50093 line 12 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 13 (2) Approve improvements located on land owned by the local line 14 government or the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District line 15 that are necessary to implement a development that receives line 16 streamlined approval pursuant to this section that is to be used for line 17 housing for persons and families of very low, low, or moderate line 18 income, as defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code. line 19 (k)
line 20 (l) For purposes of establishing the total number of units in a line 21 development under this chapter, a development or development line 22 project includes both of the following:
line 23 (1) All projects developed on a site, regardless of when those line 24 developments occur.
line 25 (2) All projects developed on sites adjacent to a site developed line 26 pursuant to this chapter if, after January 1, 2023, the adjacent site line 27 had been subdivided from the site developed pursuant to this line 28 chapter.
line 29 (l)
line 30 (m) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the line 31 following meanings:
line 32 (1) “Affordable housing cost” has the same meaning as set forth line 33 in Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code. line 34 (2) (A) Subject to the qualification provided by subparagraphs line 35 (B) and (C), “affordable rent” has the same meaning as set forth line 36 in Section 50053 of the Health and Safety Code. line 37 (B) For a development for which an application pursuant to this line 38 section was submitted prior to January 1, 2019, that includes 500 line 39 units or more of housing, and that dedicates 50 percent of the total line 40 number of units, before calculating any density bonus, to housing 98 SB 423 — 32 —
line 1 affordable to households making at, or below, 80 percent of the line 2 area median income, affordable rent for at least 30 percent of these line 3 units shall be set at an affordable rent as defined in subparagraph line 4 (A) and “affordable rent” for the remainder of these units shall line 5 mean a rent that is consistent with the maximum rent levels for a line 6 housing development that receives an allocation of state or federal line 7 low-income housing tax credits from the California Tax Credit line 8 Allocation Committee.
line 9 (C) For a development that dedicates 100 percent of units, line 10 exclusive of a manager’s unit or units, to lower income households, line 11 “affordable rent” shall mean a rent that is consistent with the line 12 maximum rent levels stipulated by the public program providing line 13 financing for the development.
line 14 (3) “Department” means the Department of Housing and line 15 Community Development.
line 16 (4) “Development proponent” means the developer who submits line 17 a housing development project application to a local government line 18 under the streamlined, ministerial review process pursuant to this line 19 section.
line 20 (5) “Completed entitlements” means a housing development line 21 that has received all the required land use approvals or entitlements line 22 necessary for the issuance of a building permit. line 23 (6) “Health care expenditures” include contributions under line 24 Section 401(a), 501(c), or 501(d) of the Internal Revenue Code line 25 and payments toward “medical care,” as defined in Section line 26 213(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code.
line 27 (7) “Housing development project” has the same meaning as in line 28 Section 65589.5.
line 29 (8) “Locality” or “local government” means a city, including a line 30 charter city, a county, including a charter county, or a city and line 31 county, including a charter city and county.
line 32 (9) “Moderate-income housing units” means housing units with line 33 an affordable housing cost or affordable rent for persons and line 34 families of moderate income, as that term is defined in Section line 35 50093 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 36 (10) “Objective planning standards” shall not include standards line 37 in the California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the line 38 California Code of Regulations), local building codes, fire codes, line 39 noise ordinances, other codes requiring detailed technical line 40 specifications, studies that are evaluated with subsequent permits, 98 — 33 — SB 423
line 1 or other standards that are not reasonably ascertainable by the local line 2 government within the time limits set forth in subdivisions (c) and line 3 (d). Excluded objective planning standards include, but are not line 4 limited to, construction logistics plans, plumbing plans, electrical line 5 plans, grading, excavation plans, geotechnical studies, and offsite line 6 public improvement plans.
line 7 (11)
line 8 (10) “Production report” means the information reported line 9 pursuant to subparagraph (H) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) line 10 of Section 65400.
line 11 (12)
line 12 (11) “State agency” includes every state office, officer, line 13 department, division, bureau, board, and commission, but does not line 14 include the California State University or the University of line 15 California.
line 16 (13)
line 17 (12) “Reporting period” means either of the following:
line 18 (A) The first half of the regional housing needs assessment line 19 cycle.
line 20 (B) The last half of the regional housing needs assessment cycle. line 21 (14)
line 22 (13) “Urban uses” means any current or former residential, line 23 commercial, public institutional, transit or transportation passenger line 24 facility, or retail use, or any combination of those uses. line 25 (m)
line 26 (n) The department may review, adopt, amend, and repeal line 27 guidelines to implement uniform standards or criteria that line 28 supplement or clarify the terms, references, or standards set forth line 29 in this section. Any guidelines or terms adopted pursuant to this line 30 subdivision shall not be subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with line 31 Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government line 32 Code.
line 33 (n)
line 34 (o) The determination of whether an application for a line 35 development is subject to the streamlined ministerial approval line 36 process provided by subdivision (c) is not a “project” as defined line 37 in Section 21065 of the Public Resources Code.
line 38 (o)
line 39 (p) Notwithstanding any law, for purposes of this section and line 40 for development on property owned by or leased to the state, the 98 SB 423 — 34 —
line 1 Department of General Services may act in the place of a locality line 2 or local government, at the discretion of the department. line 3 (p)
line 4 (q) The provisions of clause (iii) of subparagraph (E) of line 5 paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) relating to health care expenditures line 6 are distinct and severable from the remaining provisions of this line 7 section. However, the remaining portions of paragraph (8) of line 8 subdivision (a) are a material and integral part of this section and line 9 are not severable. If any provision or application of paragraph (8) line 10 of subdivision (a) is held invalid, this entire section shall be null line 11 and void.
line 12 (q)
line 13 (r) It is the policy of the state that this section be interpreted line 14 and implemented in a manner to afford the fullest possible weight line 15 to the interest of, and the approval and provision of, increased line 16 housing supply.
line 17 SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that ensuring access line 18 to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern and is not line 19 a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI line 20 of the California Constitution. Therefore, Section 2 of this act line 21 amending Section 65913.4 of the Government Code applies to all line 22 cities, including charter cities.
line 23 SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 24 Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because line 25 a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service line 26 charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or line 27 level of service mandated by this act or because costs that may be line 28 incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred line 29 because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a line 30 crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, line 31 within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or line 32 changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 line 33 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
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98 — 35 — SB 423