AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2023
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 14, 2023
california legislature—2023–24 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 480
Introduced by Assembly Member Ting
(Principal coauthor: Senator Umberg)
February 7, 2023
An act to amend Sections 54221, 54222, 54222.5, 54223, 54224, 54225, 54227, and 54230.5 of, and to add Section 54221.5 to, the Government Code, relating to local government.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 480, as amended, Ting. Surplus land.
Existing law prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency, as defined, and requires, except as provided, a local agency disposing of surplus land to comply with certain notice requirements before disposing of the land or participating in negotiations to dispose of the land with a prospecti ve transferee, particularly that the local agency send a notice of a vailability to specified entities that have notified the Department of Housing and Community Development of their interest in surplus land, as specified. Under existing law, if the local agency receives a notice of interest, the local agenc y is required to engage in good faith negotiations with the entity desiring to purchase or lease the surplus land.
Existing law requires a local agency to take formal action in a regular public meeting to declare land is surplus and is not necessary for the agency’s use and to declare land as either “surplus land” or “e xempt surplus land,” as supported by written findings, before a local agenc y
97 may take any action to dispose of it consistent with an agency’s policies or procedures.
This bill would recast that provision and would authorize, exempt a local agency, in specified instances, that a local agency administratively declare land as from making a declaration at a public meeting for land that is “exempt surplus land” if the declaration and findings are the local agency identifies the land in a notice that is published and available for public comment at least 30 days before the declaration exemption takes effect. The bill w ould also require a local agenc y to pro vide a written notification to the Department of Housing and Community Development of its declaration and findings 30 days before disposing of land declared “exempt surplus land.” Because this bill would require local officials to perform additional duties, it w ould impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law defines “exempt surplus land,” for which a local agency is not required to follow the requirements for disposal of surplus land, except as provided, as, among other things, surplus land that is subject to valid legal restrictions that are not imposed by the local agency and that would make housing prohibited, as specified.
This bill w ould require that those le gal restrictions be documented and v erified in writing by the rele vant agencies that ha ve authority relating to the restrictions.
Existing law specifies that, for purposes of these provisions, the term “exempt surplus land,” includes, among other things, surplus land that is put out to open, competitive bid by a local agency, as specified, for purposes of a mixed-use development that is more than one acre in area, that includes not less than 300 housing units, and that restricts at least 25% of the residential units to lo wer income households with an affordable sales price or an affordable rent for a minimum of 55 years for rental housing and 45 years for ownership housing.
This bill would modify these provisions to require that the mixed-use development include not less than 300 residential units.
Existing law also defines exempt surplus land as, among other things, land that w as transferred by the state to a local agenc y, as specified, that includes residential units that are restricted to persons and families of low or moderate income with an af fordable sales price or rent, at least 80% of which shall be restricted to persons and families of lower income.
97 — 2 — AB 480
This bill would expand the definition of exempt surplus land to include land that is owned by a California public-use airport on which residential use is prohibited pursuant to specified federal law.
Existing law requires any local agency disposing of surplus land to send a written notice of availability of the property to specified entities.
Existing la w requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to maintain on its internet website a list of all notices of availability throughout the state.
This bill would require the department to also maintain on its internet website a list of all entities, including housing sponsors, that ha ve notified the department of their interest in surplus land for the purpose of developing low- and moderate-income housing. The bill would make other nonsubstantive changes to provisions that describe the entities to which notices of availability for developing low- and moderate-income housing, for open-space purposes, and for school facilities construction are required to be sent.
Existing law requires that an entity proposing to use surplus land for developing low- and moderate-income housing agree to make available a specified percentage of the total number of units de veloped at affordable housing cost or affordable rent to lower income households, as specified, and that this requirement be contained in a co venant or restriction recorded against the surplus land at the time of the sale that shall run with the land and be enforceable by specified entities and persons.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the pro visions that describe the entities and persons that can enforce the co venant or restriction.
Existing law specifies that after the disposing agency has received a notice of interest from the entity desiring to purchase or lease the land, if price or terms cannot be agreed upon after a good f aith negotiation period, the land may be disposed of, as specified.
This bill would recast that provision to state that after the specified good faith negotiation, the local agency may dispose of the surplus land, as specified.
Existing law proclaims that nothing in these pro visions relating to the disposition of surplus property shall preclude a local agency, housing authority, or redevelopment agency that purchases land from a disposing agency from reconveying the land to a nonprofit or for -profit housing developer for development of low- and moderate-income housing. 97 AB 480 — 3 —
This bill would modify that provision to remove reference to housing authorities and redevelopment agencies and make other nonsubstantive changes.
Existing law specifies that an y public agenc y disposing of surplus land to a specified entity that intends to use the land for park or recreation purposes, for open-space purposes, for school purposes, or for low- and moderate-income housing purposes may pro vide for a payment period of up to 20 years in any contract of sale or sale by trust deed for the land.
This bill would modify those pro visions to refer, instead, to a local agency disposing of surplus land.
Existing law authorizes a local agency to negotiate concurrently with all entities that provide notice of interest for the purpose of developing affordable housing that meets specified requirements.
This bill w ould modify that pro vision to reference lo w- and moderate-income housing that meets specified requirements. The bill would make other nonsubstantive changes to this provision.
Existing law makes a local agency that disposes of land in violation of these pro visions after recei ving notice from the Department of Housing and Community Development liable for a penalty, of 30% of the final sale price of the surplus land sold for a first violation and 50% for any subsequent violation.
This bill would, instead, make a local agency that disposes of surplus land in violation of these provisions after receiving a notification from the Department of Housing and Community Development, as specified, that the local agenc y is in violation of these pro visions liable for a penalty of 30% of the greater of the final sale price, or of the fair market value at the time of disposition, as determined by an independent appraisal, of the surplus land for a first violation, and 50% of the greater of the 2 sums, for an y subsequent violation. The bill w ould mak e nonsubstantive changes to, and correct an erroneous cross-reference in, those provisions.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimb urse 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
97 — 4 — AB 480
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. Section 54221 of the Government Code is line 2 amended to read:
line 3 54221. As used in this article, the follo wing definitions shall line 4 apply:
line 5 (a) (1) “Local agenc y” means e very city, whether or ganized line 6 under general law or by charter, county, city and county, district, line 7 including school, sewer, water, utility, and local and regional park line 8 districts of an y kind or class, joint po wers authority, successor line 9 agency to a former rede velopment agency, housing authority, or line 10 other political subdi vision of this state and an y instrumentality line 11 thereof that is empowered to acquire and hold real property. line 12 (2) The Legislature finds and declares that the term “district” line 13 as used in this article includes all districts within the state, line 14 including, but not limited to, all special districts, se wer, water, line 15 utility, and local and regional park districts, and any other political line 16 subdivision of this state that is a district, and therefore the changes line 17 in paragraph (1) made by the act adding this paragraph that specify line 18 that the provisions of this article apply to all districts, including line 19 school, sewer, water, utility, and local and re gional park districts line 20 of an y kind or class, are declaratory of, and not a change in, line 21 existing law.
line 22 (b) (1) “Surplus land” means land owned in fee simple by any line 23 local agency that is not necessary for the agency’s use as declared line 24 by the local agency pursuant to Section 54221.5. line 25 (2) “Surplus land” includes land held in the Community line 26 Redevelopment Property Trust Fund pursuant to Section 34191.4 line 27 of the Health and Safety Code and land that has been designated line 28 in the long-range property management plan appro ved by the line 29 Department of Finance pursuant to Section 34191.5 of the Health line 30 and Safety Code, either for sale or for future de velopment, but line 31 does not include any specific disposal of land to an identified entity line 32 described in the plan.
line 33 (3) Nothing in this article prevents a local agency from obtaining line 34 fair market value for the disposition of surplus land consistent with line 35 Section 54226.
97 AB 480 — 5 —
line 1 (c) (1) Except as pro vided in paragraph (2), “agenc y’s use” line 2 shall include, but not be limited to, land that is being used, or is line 3 planned to be used pursuant to a written plan adopted by the local line 4 agency’s go verning board, for agenc y w ork or operations, line 5 including, but not limited to, utility sites, watershed property, land line 6 being used for conserv ation purposes, land for demonstration, line 7 exhibition, or educational purposes related to greenhouse g as line 8 emissions, and b uffer sites near sensiti ve go vernmental uses, line 9 including, but not limited to, wastewater treatment plants. line 10 (2) (A) “Agency’s use” shall not include commercial or line 11 industrial uses or acti vities, including nongo vernmental retail, line 12 entertainment, or office development. Property disposed of for the line 13 sole purpose of investment or generation of re venue shall not be line 14 considered necessary for the agency’s use.
line 15 (B) In the case of a local agenc y that is a district, e xcepting line 16 those whose primary mission or purpose is to supply the public line 17 with a transportation system, “agenc y’s use” may include line 18 commercial or industrial uses or acti vities, including line 19 nongovernmental retail, entertainment, or office de velopment or line 20 be for the sole purpose of in vestment or generation of revenue if line 21 the agenc y’s go verning body tak es action in a public meeting line 22 declaring that the use of the site will do one of the following:
line 23 (i) Directly further the e xpress purpose of agenc y w ork or line 24 operations.
line 25 (ii) Be expressly authorized by a statute go verning the local line 26 agency, pro vided the district complies with Section 54233.5 if line 27 applicable.
line 28 (d) “Open-space purposes” means the use of land for public line 29 recreation, enjoyment of scenic beauty, or conservation or use of line 30 natural resources.
line 31 (e) “Persons and families of low or moderate income” has the line 32 same meaning as pro vided in Section 50093 of the Health and line 33 Safety Code.
line 34 (f) (1) Except as pro vided in paragraph (2), “e xempt surplus line 35 land” means any of the following:
line 36 (A) Surplus land that is transferred pursuant to Section 25539.4 line 37 or 37364.
line 38 (B) Surplus land that is (i) less than 5,000 square feet in area, line 39 (ii) less than the minimum le gal residential b uilding lot size for line 40 the jurisdiction in which the parcel is located, or 5,000 square feet 97 — 6 — AB 480
line 1 in area, whichever is less, or (iii) has no record access and is less line 2 than 10,000 square feet in area; and is not contiguous to land owned line 3 by a state or local agency that is used for open-space or low- and line 4 moderate-income housing purposes. If the surplus land is not sold line 5 to an owner of contiguous land, it is not considered exempt surplus line 6 land and is subject to this article.
line 7 (C) Surplus land that a local agency is exchanging for another line 8 property necessary for the agency’s use.
line 9 (D) Surplus land that a local agenc y is transferring to another line 10 local, state, or federal agency for the agency’s use, or to a federally line 11 recognized California Indian tribe.
line 12 (E) Surplus land that is a former street, right of w ay, or line 13 easement, and is conveyed to an owner of an adjacent property. line 14 (F) Surplus land that is put out to open, competiti ve bid by a line 15 local agency, provided all entities identified in subdivision (a) of line 16 Section 54222 will be invited to participate in the competitive bid line 17 process, for either of the following purposes:
line 18 (i) A housing development, that may have ancillary commercial line 19 ground floor uses, that restricts 100 percent of the residential units line 20 to persons and families of low or moderate income, with at least line 21 75 percent of the residential units restricted to lo wer income line 22 households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety line 23 Code, with an af fordable sales price or an af fordable rent, as line 24 defined in Sections 50052.5 or 50053 of the Health and Safety line 25 Code, for a minimum of 55 years for rental housing and 45 years line 26 for o wnership housing, and in no e vent shall the maximum line 27 affordable sales price or rent level be higher than 20 percent below line 28 the median mark et rents or sales prices for the neighborhood in line 29 which the site is located.
line 30 (ii) A mixed-use development that is more than one acre in area, line 31 that includes not less than 300 residential units, and that restricts line 32 at least 25 percent of the residential units to lo wer income line 33 households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety line 34 Code, with an af fordable sales price or an af fordable rent, as line 35 defined in Sections 50052.5 and 50053 of the Health and Safety line 36 Code, for a minimum of 55 years for rental housing and 45 years line 37 for ownership housing.
line 38 (G) Surplus land that is subject to v alid legal restrictions that line 39 are not imposed by the local agency and that would make housing line 40 prohibited, unless there is a feasible method to satisf actorily 97 AB 480 — 7 —
line 1 mitigate or avoid the prohibition on the site. The legal restriction line 2 shall be documented and v erified in writing by the rele vant line 3 agencies that have authority relating to the restrictions. An existing line 4 nonresidential land use designation on the surplus land is not a line 5 legal restriction that would make housing prohibited for purposes line 6 of this subparagraph. Nothing in this article limits a local line 7 jurisdiction’s authority or discretion to approve land use, zoning, line 8 or entitlement decisions in connection with the surplus land. line 9 (H) Surplus land that was granted by the state in trust to a local line 10 agency or that was acquired by the local agency for trust purposes line 11 by purchase or e xchange, and for which disposal of the land is line 12 authorized or required subject to conditions established by statute. line 13 (I) Land that is subject to Sections 17388, 17515, 17536, 81192, line 14 81397, 81399, 81420, and 81422 of the Education Code and Part line 15 14 (commencing with Section 53570) of Division 31 of the Health line 16 and Safety Code, unless compliance with this article is expressly line 17 required.
line 18 (J) Surplus land that is a former military base that was conveyed line 19 by the federal go vernment to a local agenc y, and is subject to line 20 Article 8 (commencing with Section 33492.125) of Chapter 4.5 line 21 of Part 1 of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code, provided line 22 that all of the following conditions are met:
line 23 (i) The former military base has an aggregate area greater than line 24 five acres, is e xpected to include a mix of residential and line 25 nonresidential uses, and is expected to include no fewer than 1,400 line 26 residential units upon completion of development or redevelopment line 27 of the former military base.
line 28 (ii) The affordability requirements for residential units shall be line 29 governed by a settlement agreement entered into prior to September line 30 1, 2020. Furthermore, at least 25 percent of the initial 1,400 line 31 residential units de veloped shall be restricted to lo wer income line 32 households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety line 33 Code, with an af fordable sales price or an af fordable rent, as line 34 defined in Sections 50052.5 and 50053 of the Health and Safety line 35 Code, for a minimum of 55 years for rental housing and 45 years line 36 for ownership housing.
line 37 (iii) Before disposition of the surplus land, the agenc y adopts line 38 written findings that the land is e xempt surplus land pursuant to line 39 this subparagraph.
97 — 8 — AB 480
line 1 (iv) Before disposition of the surplus land, the recipient has line 2 negotiated a project labor agreement consistent with the local line 3 agency’s project stabilization agreement resolution, as adopted on line 4 February 2, 2021, and an y succeeding ordinance, resolution, or line 5 policy, regardless of the length of the agreement between the local line 6 agency and the recipient.
line 7 (v) The agenc y includes in the annual report required by line 8 paragraph (2) of subdi vision (a) of Section 65400 the status of line 9 development of residential units on the former military base, line 10 including the total number of residential units that ha ve been line 11 permitted and what percentage of those residential units are line 12 restricted for persons and families of low or moderate income, as line 13 defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code, or lower line 14 income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health line 15 and Safety Code.
line 16 A violation of this subparagraph is subject to the penalties line 17 described in Section 54230.5. Those penalties are in addition to line 18 any remedy a court may order for violation of this subparagraph line 19 or the settlement agreement.
line 20 (K) Real property that is used by a district for agenc y’s use line 21 expressly authorized in subdivision (c).
line 22 (L) Land that has been transferred before June 30, 2019, by the line 23 state to a local agenc y pursuant to Section 32667 of the Streets line 24 and Highways Code and has a minimum planned residential density line 25 of at least 100 dwelling units per acre, and includes 100 or more line 26 residential units that are restricted to persons and families of low line 27 or moderate income, with an affordable sales price or an affordable line 28 rent, as defined in Sections 50052.5 and 50053 of the Health and line 29 Safety Code, for a minimum of 55 years for rental housing and 45 line 30 years for ownership housing. For purposes of this paragraph, not line 31 more than 20 percent of the af fordable units may be restricted to line 32 persons and families of moderate income and at least 80 percent line 33 of the af fordable units must be restricted to lo wer income line 34 households as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety line 35 Code.
line 36 (M) Land that is o wned by a California public-use airport on line 37 which residential use is prohibited pursuant to Federal Aviation line 38 Administration Order 5190.6B, Airport Compliance Program, line 39 Chapter 20 — Compatible Land Use and Airspace Protection. 97 AB 480 — 9 —
line 1 (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a written notice of the line 2 availability of surplus land for open-space purposes shall be sent line 3 to the entities described in subdivision (b) of Section 54222 before line 4 disposing of the surplus land, provided the land does not meet the line 5 criteria in subparagraph (H) of paragraph (1), if the land is any of line 6 the following:
line 7 (A) Within a coastal zone.
line 8 (B) Adjacent to a historical unit of the State Parks System. line 9 (C) Listed on, or determined by the State Office of Historic line 10 Preservation to be eligible for , the National Re gister of Historic line 11 Places.
line 12 (D) Within the Lake Tahoe region as defined in Section 66905.5. line 13 SEC. 2. Section 54221.5 is added to the Government Code, to line 14 read:
line 15 54221.5. (a) Before taking an y action to dispose of land, a line 16 local agency shall declare that the land is either “surplus land” or line 17 “exempt surplus land” as specified in this section. The declaration line 18 shall be supported by written findings before the local agency may line 19 dispose of the land in a manner that is consistent with this section line 20 and the local agency’s policies.
line 21 (b) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a local agency shall line 22 take formal action at a regular public meeting to declare that land line 23 is either “surplus land” or “exempt surplus land.” line 24 (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), a local agency may declare line 25 administratively that land is not required to make a declaration at line 26 a public meeting for land that is “exempt surplus land” pursuant line 27 to subparagraphs (A), (B), (E), (H), or (I) (I), or (M) of paragraph line 28 (1) of subdi vision (f) of Section 54221 if the declaration and line 29 findings are local a gency identifies the land in a notice that is line 30 published and available for public comment, including notice to line 31 the entities identified in subdivision (a) of Section 54222, at least line 32 30 days before the declaration exemption takes effect. line 33 (d) Notwithstanding Section 54222.3, 30 days before disposing line 34 of land declared “exempt surplus land,” a local agency shall provide line 35 the Department of Housing and Community Development a written line 36 notification of its declaration and findings in a form and manner line 37 prescribed by the department.
line 38 (e) A local agenc y may, on an annual basis, declare multiple line 39 parcels as “surplus land” or “exempt surplus land.” 97 — 10 — AB 480
line 1 SEC. 3. Section 54222 of the Government Code is amended line 2 to read:
line 3 54222. Except as provided in Division 23 (commencing with line 4 Section 33000) of the Public Resources Code, an y local agenc y line 5 disposing of surplus land, declared pursuant to subdivision (b) of line 6 Section 54221.5, shall send, before disposing of that property or line 7 participating in ne gotiations to dispose of that property with a line 8 prospective transferee, a written notice of a vailability of the line 9 property to all of the following:
line 10 (a) (1) A written notice of availability for developing low- and line 11 moderate-income housing, in a form prescribed by the Department line 12 of Housing and Community De velopment, shall be sent to an y line 13 local public entity, as defined in Section 50079 of the Health and line 14 Safety Code, that has jurisdiction where the surplus land is located. line 15 Housing sponsors, as defined by Section 50074 of the Health and line 16 Safety Code, that ha ve notified the Department of Housing and line 17 Community Development of their interest in surplus land shall be line 18 sent a notice of availability for the purpose of developing low- and line 19 moderate-income housing. All notices shall be sent by electronic line 20 mail, or by certified mail, and shall include the location and a line 21 description of the property.
line 22 (2) The Department of Housing and Community Development line 23 shall maintain on its internet website an up-to-date listing of, and line 24 a link to, all notices of availability throughout the state and a listing line 25 of all entities, including housing sponsors, that ha ve notified the line 26 department of their interest in surplus land for the purpose of line 27 developing low- and moderate-income housing.
line 28 (b) A written notice of availability for open-space purposes shall line 29 be sent:
line 30 (1) To an y park or recreation department of an y city within line 31 which the surplus land is located.
line 32 (2) To any park or recreation department of the county within line 33 which the surplus land is located.
line 34 (3) To any regional park authority ha ving jurisdiction within line 35 the area in which the surplus land is located.
line 36 (4) To the State Resources Agency or an y agenc y that may line 37 succeed to its powers.
line 38 (c) A written notice of a vailability of land suitable for school line 39 facilities construction or use by a school district for open-space 97 AB 480 — 11 —
line 1 purposes shall be sent to an y school district that has jurisdiction line 2 where the surplus land is located.
line 3 (d) A written notice of a vailability for de veloping property line 4 located within an infill opportunity zone designated pursuant to line 5 Section 65088.4 or within an area covered by a transit village plan line 6 adopted pursuant to the Transit Village De velopment Planning line 7 Act of 1994 (Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 65460) of line 8 Chapter 3 of Di vision 1 of Title 7) shall be sent to an y county, line 9 city, city and county, successor agency to a former redevelopment line 10 agency, public transportation agency, or housing authority within line 11 whose jurisdiction the surplus land is located. line 12 (e) The entity desiring to purchase or lease the surplus land for line 13 any of the purposes authorized by this section shall notify in writing line 14 the disposing agenc y of its interest in purchasing or leasing the line 15 land within 60 days after the agency’s notice of availability is sent line 16 via certified mail or provided via electronic mail. line 17 (f) For the purposes of this section, “participating in line 18 negotiations” does not include the commissioning of appraisals, line 19 due diligence prior to disposition, discussions with brokers or real line 20 estate agents not representing a potential b uyer, or other studies line 21 to determine value or best use of land, issuance of a request for line 22 qualifications, development of marketing materials, or discussions line 23 conducted exclusively among local agency employees and elected line 24 officials.
line 25 SEC. 4. Section 54222.5 of the Government Code is amended line 26 to read:
line 27 54222.5. An entity proposing to use the surplus land for line 28 developing low- and moderate-income housing shall agree to make line 29 available not less than 25 percent of the total number of units line 30 developed on the parcels at affordable housing cost, as defined in line 31 Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code, or affordable rent, line 32 as defined in Section 50053 of the Health and Safety Code, to line 33 lower income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the line 34 Health and Safety Code. Rental units shall remain af fordable to, line 35 and occupied by, lower income households for a period of at least line 36 55 years. The initial occupants of all ownership units shall be lower line 37 income households, and the units shall be subject to an equity line 38 sharing agreement consistent with paragraph (2) of subdi vision line 39 (c) of Section 65915. These requirements shall be contained in a line 40 covenant or restriction recorded against the surplus land at the time 97 — 12 — AB 480
line 1 of sale, that shall run with the land and shall be enforceable, against line 2 any o wner who violates a co venant or restriction and each line 3 successor in interest who continues the violation, by an y of the line 4 following:
line 5 (a) The local agency that disposed of the surplus land. line 6 (b) A resident of a unit subject to this section. line 7 (c) A residents’ association with members who reside in units line 8 subject to this section.
line 9 (d) A former resident of a unit subject to this section who last line 10 resided in that unit.
line 11 (e) An applicant seeking to enforce the covenants or restrictions line 12 for a particular unit that is subject to this section, if the applicant line 13 conforms to all of the following:
line 14 (1) Is of low or moderate income, pursuant to Section 50093 of line 15 the Health and Safety Code.
line 16 (2) Is able and willing to occupy that particular unit. line 17 (3) Was denied occupanc y of that particular unit due to an line 18 alleged breach of a co venant or restriction implementing this line 19 section.
line 20 (f) A person on an affordable housing waiting list who is of low line 21 or moderate income, pursuant to Section 50093 of the Health and line 22 Safety Code, and who is able and willing to occupy a unit subject line 23 to this section.
line 24 SEC. 5. Section 54223 of the Government Code is amended line 25 to read:
line 26 54223. (a) After the disposing agenc y has recei ved a notice line 27 of interest from the entity desiring to purchase or lease the surplus line 28 land on terms that comply with this article, the disposing agenc y line 29 and the entity shall enter into good faith negotiations to determine line 30 a mutually satisfactory sales price and terms or lease terms. If the line 31 price or terms cannot be agreed upon after a good faith negotiation line 32 period of not less than 90 days, the local agenc y may dispose of line 33 the surplus land without further re gard to this article, except that line 34 Section 54233 shall apply.
line 35 (b) Residential use shall be deemed an acceptable use for the line 36 surplus land for the purposes of good f aith negotiations with a line 37 local agency conducted pursuant to this article. Nothing in this line 38 subdivision shall restrict a local jurisdiction’ s authority or line 39 discretion to approve land use, zoning, or entitlement decisions in line 40 connection with the surplus land. Except as provided in subdivision 97 AB 480 — 13 —
line 1 (c), terms agreed to pursuant to the ne gotiations shall not do any line 2 of the following:
line 3 (1) Disallow residential use of the site as a condition of the line 4 disposal.
line 5 (2) Reduce the allo wable number of residential units or the line 6 maximum lot coverage below what may be allowed by zoning or line 7 general plan requirements.
line 8 (3) Require as a condition of disposal, any design standards or line 9 architectural requirements that w ould have a substantial adv erse line 10 effect on the viability or af fordability of a housing de velopment line 11 for very low, low-, or moderate-income households, other than the line 12 minimum standards required by general plan, zoning, and line 13 subdivision standards and criteria.
line 14 (c) Terms agreed to pursuant to the ne gotiations required by line 15 subdivision (a) may include limitations on residential use or density line 16 if, without the limitations, the residential use or density w ould line 17 have a specific, adv erse impact, supported by written findings, line 18 upon the public health or safety or upon the operation or facilities line 19 of a local agency, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily line 20 mitigate the impact.
line 21 SEC. 6. Section 54224 of the Government Code is amended line 22 to read:
line 23 54224. Nothing in this article shall preclude a local agenc y line 24 that purchases surplus land from a disposing agenc y pursuant to line 25 this article from recon veying the surplus land to a nonprofit or line 26 for-profit housing de veloper for de velopment of lo w- and line 27 moderate-income housing as authorized under other provisions of line 28 law.
line 29 SEC. 7. Section 54225 of the Government Code is amended line 30 to read:
line 31 54225. Any local agency disposing of surplus land to an entity line 32 described in Section 54222 that intends to use the land for park or line 33 recreation purposes, for open-space purposes, for school purposes, line 34 or for low- and moderate-income housing purposes may pro vide line 35 for a payment period of up to 20 years in an y contract of sale or line 36 sale by trust deed for the land. The payment period for surplus line 37 land disposed of for housing for persons and f amilies of low and line 38 moderate income may e xceed 20 years, b ut the payment period line 39 shall not exceed the term that the land is required to be used for line 40 low- or moderate-income housing.
97 — 14 — AB 480
line 1 SEC. 8. Section 54227 of the Government Code is amended line 2 to read:
line 3 54227. (a) In the e vent that an y local agenc y disposing of line 4 surplus land receives a notice of interest to purchase or lease that line 5 land from more than one of the entities to which notice of line 6 availability was given pursuant to this article, the local agenc y line 7 shall give first priority to the entity or entities that agree to use the line 8 site for housing that meets the requirements of Section 54222.5. line 9 If the local agency receives offers from more than one entity that line 10 agrees to meet the requirements of Section 54222.5, then the local line 11 agency shall give priority to the entity that proposes to provide the line 12 greatest number of units that meet the requirements of Section line 13 54222.5. In the event that more than one entity proposes the same line 14 number of units that meet the requirements of Section 54222.5, line 15 priority shall be gi ven to the entity that proposes the deepest line 16 average le vel of af fordability for the af fordable units. A local line 17 agency may negotiate concurrently with all entities that pro vide line 18 notice of interest for the purpose of de veloping lo w- and line 19 moderate-income housing that meets the requirements of Section line 20 54222.5.
line 21 (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), first priority shall be given line 22 to an entity that agrees to use the site for park or recreational line 23 purposes if the land being of fered is already being used and will line 24 continue to be used for park or recreational purposes, or if the land line 25 is designated for park and recreational use in the local general plan line 26 and will be developed for that purpose.
line 27 SEC. 9. Section 54230.5 of the Government Code is amended line 28 to read:
line 29 54230.5. (a) (1) A local agency that disposes of surplus land line 30 in violation of this article after recei ving a notification from the line 31 Department of Housing and Community De velopment pursuant line 32 to subdivision (b) that the local agency is in violation of this article line 33 shall be liable for a penalty of 30 percent of the greater of the final line 34 sale price, or of the f air market value of the surplus land at the line 35 time of disposition, as determined by an independent appraisal, line 36 appraisal of the surplus land sold in violation of this article for a line 37 first violation violation, and 50 percent of the greater of the tw o line 38 sums, for any subsequent violation. An entity identified in Section line 39 54222 or a person who w ould ha ve been eligible to apply for line 40 residency in an y af fordable housing de veloped or a housing 97 AB 480 — 15 —
line 1 organization as defined in Section 65589.5, or an y beneficially line 2 interested person or entity may bring an action to enforce this line 3 section. A local agenc y shall have 60 days to cure or correct an line 4 alleged violation before an action may be brought to enforce this line 5 section, unless the local agency disposes of the surplus land before line 6 curing or correcting the alleged violation, or the department deems line 7 the alleged violation not to be a violation in less than 60 days. line 8 (2) A penalty assessed pursuant to this subdivision shall, except line 9 as otherwise provided, be deposited into a local housing trust fund. line 10 The local agency may elect to instead deposit the penalty moneys line 11 into the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund or the Housing line 12 Rehabilitation Loan Fund. Penalties shall not be paid out of funds line 13 already dedicated to affordable housing, including, but not limited line 14 to, Lo w and Moderate Income Housing Asset Funds, funds line 15 dedicated to housing for v ery low, low-, and moderate-income line 16 households, and federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program line 17 and Community De velopment Block Grant Program funds. The line 18 local agenc y shall commit and e xpend the penalty mone ys line 19 deposited into the local housing trust fund within fiv e years of line 20 deposit for the sole purpose of financing newly constructed housing line 21 units that are affordable to extremely low, very low, or low-income line 22 households.
line 23 (3) Five years after deposit of the penalty moneys into the local line 24 housing trust fund, if the funds have not been expended, the funds line 25 shall revert to the state and be deposited in the Building Homes line 26 and Jobs Trust Fund or the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund for line 27 the sole purpose of financing ne wly constructed housing units line 28 located in the same jurisdiction as the surplus land and that are line 29 affordable to extremely low, very low, or low-income households. line 30 Expenditure of an y penalty mone ys deposited into the Building line 31 Homes and Jobs Trust Fund or the Housing Rehabilitation Loan line 32 Fund pursuant to this subdivision shall be subject to appropriation line 33 by the Legislature.
line 34 (b) (1) Before agreeing to terms for the disposition of surplus line 35 land, a local agency shall provide to the Department of Housing line 36 and Community De velopment a description of the notices of line 37 availability sent, and negotiations conducted with any responding line 38 entities, in regard to the disposal of the parcel of surplus land and line 39 a cop y of an y restrictions to be recorded ag ainst the property line 40 pursuant to Section 54222.5, 54233, or 54233.5, whiche ver is 97 — 16 — AB 480
line 1 applicable, in a form prescribed by the Department of Housing line 2 and Community De velopment. A local agenc y may submit this line 3 information after it has sent notices of a vailability required by line 4 Section 54222 and concluded ne gotiations with an y responding line 5 agencies. A local agency shall not be liable for the penalty imposed line 6 by subdivision (a) if the Department of Housing and Community line 7 Development does not notify the agenc y that the agenc y is in line 8 violation of this article within 30 days of receiving the description. line 9 (2) The Department of Housing and Community Development line 10 shall do all of the following:
line 11 (A) Make a vailable educational resources and materials that line 12 inform each agenc y of its oblig ations under this article and that line 13 provide guidance on how to comply with its provisions. line 14 (B) Review information submitted pursuant to paragraph (1). line 15 (C) Submit written findings to the local agency within 30 days line 16 of receipt of the description required by paragraph (1) from the line 17 local agency if the proposed disposal of the land will violate this line 18 article.
line 19 (D) Review, adopt, amend, or repeal guidelines to establish line 20 uniform standards to implement this section. The guidelines line 21 adopted pursuant to this subdivision are not subject to Chapter 3.5 line 22 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title line 23 2.
line 24 (E) Provide the local agency reasonable time, but not less than line 25 60 days, to respond to the findings before taking any other action line 26 authorized by this section.
line 27 (3) (A) The local agency shall consider findings made by the line 28 Department of Housing and Community De velopment pursuant line 29 to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) and shall do one of the line 30 following:
line 31 (i) Correct any issues identified by the Department of Housing line 32 and Community Development.
line 33 (ii) Provide written findings e xplaining the reason its process line 34 for disposing of surplus land complies with this article and line 35 addressing the Department of Housing and Community line 36 Development’s findings.
line 37 (B) If the local agency does not correct issues identified by the line 38 Department of Housing and Community De velopment, does not line 39 provide findings explaining the reason its process for disposing of line 40 surplus land complies with this article and addressing the 97 AB 480 — 17 —
line 1 Department of Housing and Community Development’s findings, line 2 or if the Department of Housing and Community De velopment line 3 finds that the local agenc y’s findings are deficient in addressing line 4 the issues identified by the Department of Housing and Community line 5 Development, the Department of Housing and Community line 6 Development shall notify the local agenc y, and may notify the line 7 Attorney General, that the local agency is in violation of this article. line 8 (c) The Department of Housing and Community Development line 9 shall implement the changes in this section made by the act adding line 10 this subdivision commencing on January 1, 2021. line 11 (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), this section shall not be line 12 construed to limit an y other remedies authorized under la w to line 13 enforce this article including public records act requests pursuant line 14 to Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1. line 15 SEC. 10. If the Commission on State Mandates determines line 16 that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement line 17 to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made line 18 pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division line 19 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
O
97 — 18 — AB 480
CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
2000 MAIN STREET, HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA 92648-2702
TONY STRICKLAND
MAYOR
Fax 714.536.5233 Page 1 of 1 Office: 714.536.5553
May 2, 2023
The Honorable Philip Ting
State Capitol, Ste. 8230
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Assembly Member Ting:
The City of Huntington Beach regrets that it must OPPOSE Assembly Bill 480. This bill undermines the ability of local agencies to conduct appropriate economic development activities on properties they acquire or otherwise own. It would also expand the scope of authority for the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to review “any action to dispose of land,” which would include properties retained for agency use, properties declared “exempt surplus,” and properties that local agencies are authorized by other laws to acquire and dispose of for economic development purposes.
The implementation of the Surplus Lands Act (SLA), inc luding HCD’s recent guidelines, have created immense delays and difficulties for local government agencies dealing with the control and disposal of their local properties. Regrettably, AB 480 would compound those difficulties by expanding state reviews and delays affecting properties retained for agency use and declared exempt surplus.
Rather than expanding the scope of the SLA, we should seek significant reform. The Legislature should thoroughly evaluate the difficulties, bureaucratic delays and unintended consequences caused by implementation of the existing law on local agency activities, including addressing unresolved conflicts with other laws and state policy priorities the Legislature has enacted that affect the disposal of local agency property.
For these reasons, the City of Huntington Beach regrets that it must respectfully Oppose AB 480. Please feel free to contact me at (714) 536- 5553, or Tony.Strickland@surfcity -hb.org whenever needed.
Sincerely,
Tony Strickland
Mayor
Cc: Cecilia Aguiar Curry, Chair, Assembly Local Government Committee Buffy Wicks, Chair, Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development Members, Assembly Committee on Local Government
Members, Assembly Committee on Housing and Local Government Gurbax Sahota, Chief Executive Officer, CALED