AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2023
AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 22, 2023
SENATE BILL No. 4
Introduced by Senator Wiener
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members McKinnor Berman, McKinnor, and Wicks)
(Coauthors: Senators Becker, Cortese, Eggman, Gonzalez, Menjivar, and Skinner)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alvarez, Friedman, Gabriel, Quirk-Silva, and Ward)
December 5, 2022
An act to add Section 65913.16 to the Government Code, relating to housing.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 4, as amended, Wiener. Planning and zoning: housing
development: higher education institutions and religious institutions.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for its physical development, and the de velopment of certain lands outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. That law allows a de velopment proponent to submit an application for a development that is subject to a specified streamlined, ministerial approval process not subject to a conditional use permit, if the development satisfies certain objective planning standards.
Existing la w, the Zeno vich-Moscone-Chacon Housing and Home Finance Act, establishes the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee within the Department of Housing and Community De velopment.
Existing law requires the committee to allocate state low-income housing
97 tax credits in conformity with state and federal la w that establishes a maximum rent that may be char ged to a tenant for a project unit constructed using low-income housing tax credits.
This bill would require that a housing development project be a use by right upon the request of an applicant who submits an application for streamlined appro val, on an y land o wned by an independent institution of higher education or religious institution on or before January 1, 2024, if the development satisfies specified criteria, including that the de velopment is not adjoined to an y site where more than one-third of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial use.
The bill would define various terms for these purposes. Among other things, the bill w ould require that 100% of the units, e xclusive of manager units, in a housing development project eligible for approval as a use by right under these provisions be affordable to lower income households, except that 20% of the units may be for moderate-income households, and 5% of the units may be for staf f of the independent institution of higher education or the religions religious institution that owns the land, pro vided that the units af fordable to lo wer income households are offered at affordable rent, as set in an amount consistent with the rent limits established by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, or af fordable housing cost, as specified. The bill w ould authorize the development to include ancillary uses on the ground floor of the development, as specified.
This bill w ould specify that a housing de velopment project that is eligible for approval as a use by right under the bill is also eligible for a density bonus or other incenti ves or concessions, bonus, incentives, or concessions, or waivers or reductions of development and parking standards, except as specified. The bill would require a de velopment subject to these pro visions to pro vide off-street parking of up to one space per unit, unless a state law or local ordinance provides for a lower standard of parking, in which case the law or ordinance applies. The bill w ould prohibit a local go vernment from imposing an y parking requirement on a de velopment subject to these pro visions if the development is located within one-half mile walking distance of public transit, either a high-quality transit corridor or a major transit stop, as those terms are defined, or it is within one block of a car share vehicle.
This bill would require a local government that determines a proposed development is in conflict with an y objective planning standards, as specified, to pro vide the de veloper with written documentation explaining those conflicts under a specified timeframe. The bill would 97 — 2 — SB 4
provide that the de velopment shall be deemed to satisfy the required objective planning standards if the local go vernment fails to pro vide the requisite documentation e xplaining any conflicts. The bill w ould authorize a local government to conduct a design review, as described, only if the design re view focuses on compliance with the requisite criteria of a streamlined, ministerial re view process. The bill w ould prohibit a local go vernment from using a design re view, as specified, from inhibiting, chilling, or precluding a streamlined, ministerial approval. The bill w ould require a local go vernment to issue a subsequent permit for developments approved under the provisions of this act.
The bill w ould include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of state wide concern rather than a municipal af fair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an en vironmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a ne gative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA does not apply to the ministerial approval of projects.
This bill, by requiring approval of certain development projects as a use by right, w ould expand the exemption for ministerial appro val of projects under CEQA.
By adding to the duties of local planning officials with respect to approving certain de velopment projects, this bill w ould impose a state-mandated local program.
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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
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 65913.16 is added to the Government line 2 Code, to read:
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line 1 65913.16. (a) For This section shall be known, and may be line 2 cited, as the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education line 3 Lands Act of 2023.
line 4 (b) For purposes of this section:
line 5 (1) “Applicant” means a qualified de veloper who submits an line 6 application for streamlined approval pursuant to this section. line 7 (2) “Development proponent” means a developer that submits line 8 a housing development project application to a local government line 9 under the streamlined, ministerial review process pursuant to this line 10 chapter.
line 11 (3) “Health care expenditures” include contributions pursuant line 12 to Section 501(c) or (d) or 401(a) of the Internal Re venue Code line 13 and payments to ward “medical care” as defined in Section line 14 213(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code.
line 15 (4) “Housing development project” has the same meaning as line 16 defined in Section 65589.5.
line 17 (5) “Independent institution of higher education” has the same line 18 meaning as defined in Section 66010 of the Education Code. line 19 (6) “Industrial use” means utilities, manufacturing, transportation line 20 storage and maintenance f acilities, and w arehousing f acilities. line 21 “Industrial use” does not include po wer substations or utility line 22 conveyance such as power lines, broadband wires, and pipes. line 23 (7) “Local government” means a city, including a charter city, line 24 county, including a charter county , or city and county , including line 25 a charter city and county.
line 26 (8) “Qualified developer” means any of the following:
line 27 (A) A local public entity , as defined in Section 50079 of the line 28 Health and Safety Code.
line 29 (B) (i) A developer that is a nonprofit corporation, a limited line 30 partnership in which the managing general partner is a nonprofit line 31 corporation, or a limited liability company in which the managing line 32 member is a nonprofit corporation.
line 33 (ii) The developer, at the time of submission of an application line 34 for development pursuant to this section, owns property or manages line 35 housing units located on property that is e xempt from taxation line 36 pursuant to the welf are exemption established in subdi vision (a) line 37 of Section 214 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. line 38 (C) A developer that contracts with a nonprofit corporation that line 39 has recei ved a welf are e xemption under Section 214.15 of the line 40 Revenue and Taxation Code for properties intended to be sold to 97 — 4 — SB 4
line 1 low-income families with financing in the form of zero interest line 2 rate loans.
line 3 (D) A developer that the r eligious institution or independent line 4 institution of education, as defined in this section, has contracted line 5 with before to construct housing or other impr ovements to r eal line 6 property.
line 7 (9) “Religious institution” means an institution o wned, line 8 controlled, and operated and maintained by a bona fide church, line 9 religious denomination, or religious or ganization composed of line 10 multidenominational members of the same well-recognized line 11 religion, lawfully operating as a nonprofit religious corporation line 12 pursuant to Part 4 (commencing with Section 9110) 9110), or as line 13 a corporation sole pursuant to Part 6 (commencing with Section line 14 10000), of Division 2 of Title 1 of the Corporations Code. line 15 (10) “Use by right” means a development project that satisfies line 16 both of the following conditions:
line 17 (A) The development project does not require a conditional use line 18 permit, planned unit de velopment permit, or other discretionary line 19 local government review.
line 20 (B) The development project is not a “project” for purposes of line 21 Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public line 22 Resources Code.
line 23 (b)
line 24 (c) Notwithstanding an y inconsistent pro vision of a local line 25 government’s general plan, specific plan, zoning ordinance, or line 26 regulation, upon the request of an applicant, a housing development line 27 project shall be a use by right, if all of the follo wing criteria are line 28 satisfied:
line 29 (1) The development is located on land o wned on or before line 30 January 1, 2024, by an independent institution of higher education line 31 or a religious institution, including ownership through an affiliated line 32 or associated nonprofit public benefit corporation or ganized line 33 pursuant to the Nonprofit Corporation Law (Part 2 (commencing line 34 with Section 5110) of Di vision 2 of Title 1 of the Corporations line 35 Code).
line 36 (2) The development is located on a parcel that satisfies the line 37 requirements specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph line 38 (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 65913.4.
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line 1 (3) The development is located on a parcel that satisfies the line 2 requirements specified in subparagraphs (B) to (K), inclusi ve, of line 3 paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 65913.4. line 4 (4) The development is located on a parcel that satisfies the line 5 requirements specified in paragraph (7) of subdi vision (a) of line 6 Section 65913.4.
line 7 (5) The development is not adjoined to an y site where more line 8 than one-third of the square footage on the site is dedicated to line 9 industrial use. For purposes of this subdivision, parcels separated line 10 by only a street or highway shall be considered to be adjoined. line 11 (6) The de velopment project is located on a site that is line 12 one-quarter acre in size or greater.
line 13 (7)
line 14 (6) One hundred percent of the development project’s total units, line 15 exclusive of a manager’ s unit or units, are for lo wer income line 16 households, as defined by Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety line 17 Code, e xcept that up to 20 percent of the total units in the line 18 development may be for moderate-income households, as defined line 19 in Section 50053 of the Health and Safety Code, and 5 percent of line 20 the units may be for staff of the independent institution of higher line 21 education or religious institution that owns the land. Units in the line 22 development shall be offered at affordable housing cost, as defined line 23 in Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code, or at affordable line 24 rent, as set in an amount consistent with the rent limits established line 25 by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. The rent or line 26 sales price for a moderate-income unit shall be affordable and shall line 27 not exceed 30 percent of income for a moderate-income household line 28 or homebuyer for a unit of similar size and bedroom count in the line 29 same ZIP Code in the city, county, or city and county in which the line 30 housing development is located. The applicant shall pro vide the line 31 city, county, or city and county with evidence to establish that the line 32 units meet the requirements of this paragraph. All units, exclusive line 33 of any manager unit or units, shall be subject to a recorded deed line 34 restriction as provided in this paragraph for at least the following line 35 periods of time:
line 36 (A) Fifty-five years for units that are rented. However, the local line 37 government may require that the rental units in the housing line 38 development project be restricted to lo wer income and line 39 moderate-income households for a longer period of time if that line 40 restriction is consistent with all applicable regulatory requirements 97 — 6 — SB 4
line 1 for state assistance. rented unless a local ordinance or the terms line 2 of a feder al, state , or local gr ant, tax cr edit, or other pr oject line 3 financing requires, as a condition of the development of residential line 4 units, that the development include a certain percentage of units line 5 that are affordable to, and occupied by, low-income, lower income, line 6 very low income, or extremely low income households for a term line 7 that exceeds 55 years for rental housing units.
line 8 (B) Forty-five years for units that are owner occupied. However, line 9 the local go vernment may require that o wner-occupied units in line 10 the housing development project be restricted to lower income and line 11 moderate-income households for a longer period of time if that line 12 restriction is consistent with all applicable regulatory requirements line 13 for state assistance. owner-occupied or the first purchaser of each line 14 unit participates in an equity sharing a greement as described in line 15 subparagraph (C) of par agraph (2) of subdivision (c) of section line 16 65915.
line 17 (8)
line 18 (7) The de velopment project complies with all objecti ve line 19 development standards of the city or county that are not in conflict line 20 with this section.
line 21 (9)
line 22 (8) If the housing development project requires the demolition line 23 of existing residential dwelling units, or is located on a site where line 24 residential dwelling units have been demolished within the last line 25 five year s, the applicant shall comply with subdi vision (d) of line 26 Section 66300, as that section read as of January 1, 2024. 66300. line 27 (10)
line 28 (9) The applicant certifies to the local go vernment that either line 29 of the follo wing is true for the housing de velopment project, as line 30 applicable:
line 31 (A) The entirety of the de velopment project is a public w ork line 32 for purposes of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1720) of Part line 33 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.
line 34 (B) A development that contains more than 10 units and is not line 35 in its entirety a public work for purposes of Chapter 1 (commencing line 36 with Section 1720) of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code and line 37 approved by a local government pursuant to Article 2 (commencing line 38 with Section 65912.110) of, or Article 3 (commencing with Section line 39 65912.120) of, Chapter 4.1 shall be subject to all of the following:
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line 1 (i) All construction workers employed in the e xecution of the line 2 development shall be paid at least the general pre vailing rate of line 3 per diem w ages for the type of w ork and geographic area, as line 4 determined by the Director of Industrial Relations pursuant to line 5 Sections 1773 and 1773.9 of the Labor Code, e xcept that line 6 apprentices registered in programs pro vided by the Chief of the line 7 Division of Apprenticeship Standards may be paid at least the line 8 applicable apprentice prevailing rate.
line 9 (ii) The development proponent shall ensure that the prevailing line 10 wage requirement is included in all contracts for the performance line 11 of the work for those portions of the de velopment that are not a line 12 public work.
line 13 (iii) All contractors and subcontractors for those portions of the line 14 development that are not a public work shall comply with both of line 15 the following:
line 16 (I) Pay to all construction w orkers employed in the e xecution line 17 of the work at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, line 18 except that apprentices registered in the programs approved by the line 19 Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards may be paid at line 20 least the applicable apprentice prevailing rate. line 21 (II) Maintain and v erify payroll records pursuant to Section line 22 1776 of the Labor Code and mak e those records a vailable for line 23 inspection and copying as provided in that section. This subclause line 24 does not apply if all contractors and subcontractors performing line 25 work on the development are subject to a project labor agreement line 26 that requires the payment of pre vailing wages to all construction line 27 workers emplo yed in the e xecution of the de velopment and line 28 provides for enforcement of that obligation through an arbitration line 29 procedure. F or purposes of this subclause, “project labor line 30 agreement” has the same meaning as set forth in paragraph (1) of line 31 subdivision (b) of Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code. line 32 (10) (A) The de velopment pr oponent completes a phase I line 33 environmental assessment, as defined in Section 25319.1 of the line 34 Health and Safety Code.
line 35 (B) If a r ecognized en vironmental condition is found, the line 36 development pr oponent shall undertak e a pr eliminary line 37 endangerment assessment, as defined in Section 25319.5 of the line 38 Health and Safety Code , prepared by an environmental assessor line 39 to determine the existence of any release of a hazardous substance line 40 on the site and to determine the potential for e xposure of future 97 — 8 — SB 4
line 1 occupants to significant health hazards from any nearby property line 2 or activity.
line 3 (i) If a release of hazardous substance is found to e xist on the line 4 site, the release shall be removed, or any significant effect of the line 5 release shall be mitigated to a level of insignificance in compliance line 6 with state and federal requirements.
line 7 (ii) If a potential for e xposure to significant hazar ds fr om line 8 surrounding properties or activities is found to e xist, the ef fects line 9 of the potential e xposure shall be mitigated to a le vel of line 10 insignificance in compliance with curr ent state and feder al line 11 requirements.
line 12 (c)
line 13 (d) (1) The obligation of the contractors and subcontractors to line 14 pay prevailing wages pursuant to this section may be enforced by line 15 any of the following:
line 16 (A) The Labor Commissioner, through the issuance of a ci vil line 17 wage and penalty assessment pursuant to Section 1741 of the Labor line 18 Code, that may be reviewed pursuant to Section 1742 of the Labor line 19 Code, within 18 months after the completion of the development. line 20 (B) An underpaid worker through an administrative complaint line 21 or civil action.
line 22 (C) A joint labor-management committee through a civil action line 23 pursuant to Section 1771.2 of the Labor Code.
line 24 (2) If a civil wage and penalty assessment is issued pursuant to line 25 this section, the contractor, subcontractor, and surety on a bond or line 26 bonds issued to secure the payment of w ages co vered by the line 27 assessment shall be liable for liquidated damages pursuant to line 28 Section 1742.1 of the Labor Code.
line 29 (3) This subdi vision does not apply if all contractors and line 30 subcontractors performing work on the de velopment are subject line 31 to a project labor agreement that requires the payment of prevailing line 32 wages to all construction w orkers employed in the e xecution of line 33 the development and provides for enforcement of that oblig ation line 34 through an arbitration procedure. For purposes of this subdivision, line 35 “project labor agreement” has the same meaning as set forth in line 36 paragraph (1) of subdi vision (b) of Section 2500 of the Public line 37 Contract Code.
line 38 (d)
line 39 (e) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 1773.1 of the line 40 Labor Code, the requirement that employer payments not reduce 97 SB 4 — 9 —
line 1 the obligation to pay the hourly straight time or o vertime wages line 2 found to be pre vailing does not apply to those portions of a line 3 development that are not a public work if otherwise provided in a line 4 bona fide collective bargaining agreement covering the worker. line 5 (e)
line 6 (f) The requirement of this section to pay at least the general line 7 prevailing rate of per diem w ages does not preclude use of an line 8 alternative workweek schedule adopted pursuant to Section 511 line 9 or 514 of the Labor Code.
line 10 (f)
line 11 (g) In addition to the requirements of Section 65912.130, a line 12 development of 50 or more housing units appro ved by a local line 13 government pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section line 14 65912.110) of, or Article 3 (commencing with Section 65912.120) line 15 of, Chapter 4.1 shall meet all of the following labor standards:
line 16 (1) 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 paragraphs (2) and (3). A construction line 21 contractor is deemed in compliance with paragraphs (2) and (3) if line 22 it is signatory to a v alid collecti ve bar gaining agreement that line 23 requires use of registered apprentices and expenditures on health line 24 care for employees and dependents.
line 25 (2) A contractor with construction craft employees shall either line 26 participate in an apprenticeship program approved by the Division line 27 of Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to Section 3075 of the Labor line 28 Code, or request the dispatch of apprentices from a state-approved line 29 apprenticeship program under the terms and conditions set forth line 30 in Section 1777.5 of the Labor Code. A contractor without line 31 construction craft employees shall show a contractual obligation line 32 that its subcontractors comply with this subdivision. line 33 (3) Each contractor with construction craft emplo yees shall line 34 make health care e xpenditures for each emplo yee in an amount line 35 per hour w orked on the de velopment equivalent to at least the line 36 hourly pro rata cost of a Co vered California Platinum-level plan line 37 for two adults 40 years of age and tw o dependents 0 to 14 years line 38 of age for the Co vered California rating area in which the line 39 development is located. A contractor without construction craft line 40 employees shall sho w a contractual oblig ation that its 97 — 10 — SB 4
line 1 subcontractors comply with this paragraph. Qualifying expenditures line 2 shall be credited toward compliance with prevailing wage payment line 3 requirements set forth in Section 65912.130.
line 4 (4) (A) The development proponent shall provide to the local line 5 government, on a monthly basis while its construction contracts line 6 on the development are being performed, a report demonstrating line 7 compliance with paragraphs (2) and (3). The report shall be line 8 considered public records under the California Public Records Act line 9 (Division 10 (commending with Section 7920.000) of Title 1), and line 10 shall be open to public inspection.
line 11 (B) A development proponent that fails to provide the monthly line 12 report shall be subject to a civil penalty for each month for which line 13 the report has not been pro vided, in the amount of 10 percent of line 14 the dollar value of construction work performed by that contractor line 15 on the development in the month in question, up to a maximum line 16 of ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Any contractor or subcontractor line 17 that fails to comply with paragraph (2) or (3) shall be subject to a line 18 civil penalty of two hundred dollars ($200) per day for each worker line 19 employed in contravention of paragraph (2) or (3). line 20 (C) Penalties may be assessed by the Labor Commissioner line 21 within 18 months of completion of the de velopment using the line 22 procedures for issuance of ci vil w age and penalty assessments line 23 specified in Section 1741 of the Labor Code, and may be reviewed line 24 pursuant to Section 1742 of the Labor Code. Penalties shall be line 25 deposited in the State Public Works Enforcement Fund established line 26 pursuant to Section 1771.3 of the Labor Code.
line 27 (5) Each construction contractor shall maintain and v erify line 28 payroll records pursuant to Section 1776 of the Labor Code. Each line 29 construction contractor shall submit payroll records directly to the line 30 Labor Commissioner at least monthly in a format prescribed by line 31 the Labor Commissioner in accordance with subparagraph (A) of line 32 paragraph (3) of subdi vision (a) of Section 1771.4 of the Labor line 33 Code. The records shall include a statement of fringe benefits. line 34 Upon request by a joint labor-management cooperation committee line 35 established pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation line 36 Act of 1978 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 175a), the records shall be pro vided line 37 pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 1776 of the Labor Code. line 38 (6) All construction contractors shall report an y change in line 39 apprenticeship program participation or health care e xpenditures line 40 to the local government within 10 business days, and shall reflect 97 SB 4 — 11 —
line 1 those changes on the monthly report. The reports shall be line 2 considered public records pursuant to the California Public Records line 3 Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000 of Title 1)) line 4 and shall be open to public inspection.
line 5 (7) A joint labor-management cooperation committee established line 6 pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of line 7 1978 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 175a) shall ha ve standing to sue a line 8 construction contractor for failure to make health care expenditures line 9 pursuant to paragraph (3) in accordance with Section 218.7 or line 10 218.8 of the Labor Code.
line 11 (g)
line 12 (h) Notwithstanding an y other pro vision of this section, a line 13 development project that is eligible for approval as a use by right line 14 pursuant to this section may include the following ancillary uses, line 15 provided that those uses are limited to the ground floor of the line 16 development:
line 17 (1) In a single-f amily residential zone, ancillary uses shall be line 18 limited to uses that provide direct services to the residents of the line 19 development and have a community benefit, including childcare line 20 centers and community centers.
line 21 (2) In all other zones, the development may include commercial line 22 uses that are permitted without a conditional use permit or planned line 23 unit development permit.
line 24 (h)
line 25 (i) Notwithstanding an y other pro vision of this section, a line 26 development project that is eligible for approval as a use by right line 27 pursuant to this section may include includes an y religious line 28 institutional use, or any use that was previously existing and legally line 29 permitted by the city or county on the site, if all of the follo wing line 30 criteria are met:
line 31 (1) The total square footage of nonresidential space on the site line 32 does not exceed the amount previously existing or permitted in a line 33 conditional use permit.
line 34 (2) The total parking requirement for nonresidential space on line 35 the site does not exceed the lesser of the amount existing or of the line 36 amount required by a conditional use permit.
line 37 (3) The new uses abide by the same operational conditions as line 38 contained in the pervious previous conditional use permit. line 39 (i)
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line 1 (j) A housing de velopment project that qualifies as a use by line 2 right pursuant to subdi vision (b) shall be allo wed the follo wing line 3 density, as applicable:
line 4 (1) (A) If the de velopment project is located in a zone that line 5 allows residential uses, the development project shall be allowed line 6 a density of the applicable density deemed appropriate to line 7 accommodate housing for lower income households identified in line 8 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdi vision (c) of Section line 9 65583.2. 65583.2 and a height of one story abo ve the maximum line 10 height otherwise applicable to the parcel.
line 11 (B) If the local government allows for greater residential density line 12 on that parcel, or greater residential density or building heights on line 13 an adjacent parcel, than permitted in subparagraph (A), the greater line 14 density or building height shall apply.
line 15 (C) A housing development project that is located in a zone that line 16 allows residential uses shall be eligible for a density bonus or other line 17 incentives or concession bonus, incentives, or concessions, or line 18 waivers or reductions of development standards and parking ratios, line 19 pursuant to Section 65915.
line 20 (2) (A) If the development project is located in a zone that does line 21 not allow residential uses, the development project shall be allowed line 22 a density of 40 units per acre and a height of one story abo ve the line 23 maximum height otherwise applicable to the parcel. line 24 (B) If the local government allows for greater residential density line 25 or b uilding heights on that parcel, or an adjacent parcel, than line 26 permitted in subparagraph (A), the greater density or b uilding line 27 height shall apply . A de velopment project shall not use an line 28 incentive, w aiver, or concession to increase the height of the line 29 development to greater than the height authorized under this line 30 subparagraph.
line 31 (C) Except as pro vided in subparagraph (B) (B), a housing line 32 development project that is located in a zone that does not allo w line 33 residential uses shall be eligible for a density bonus or other line 34 incentives or concession bonus, incentives, or concessions, or line 35 waivers or reductions of development standards and parking ratios, line 36 pursuant to Section 65915.
line 37 (j)
line 38 (k) (1) Except as pro vided in paragraph (2), the proposed line 39 development shall pro vide off-street parking of up to one space 97 SB 4 — 13 —
line 1 per unit, unless a state law or local ordinance provides for a lower line 2 standard of parking, in which case the law or ordinance shall apply. line 3 (2) A local government shall not impose a parking requirement line 4 if either of the following is true:
line 5 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 6 of public transit, either a high-quality transit corridor or a major line 7 transit stop as defined in subdi vision (b) of Section 21155 of the line 8 Public Resources Code.
line 9 (B) There is a car share vehicle located within one block of the line 10 parcel.
line 11 (k)
line 12 (l) (1) If the local go vernment determines that the proposed line 13 development is in conflict with an y of the objecti ve planning line 14 standards specified in this section, it shall provide the development line 15 proponent written documentation of which standard or standards line 16 the development conflicts with, and an explanation for the reason line 17 or reasons the de velopment conflicts with that standard or line 18 standards, within the following timeframes:
line 19 (A) Within 60 days of submittal of the de velopment proposal line 20 to the local government if the development contains 150 or fewer line 21 housing units.
line 22 (B) Within 90 days of submittal of the de velopment proposal line 23 to the local go vernment if the de velopment contains more than line 24 150 housing units.
line 25 (2) If the local go vernment f ails to pro vide the required line 26 documentation pursuant to paragraph (1), the de velopment shall line 27 be deemed to satisfy the required objective planning standards. line 28 (3) For purposes of this section, a de velopment is consistent line 29 with the objecti ve planning standards if there is substantial line 30 evidence that w ould allow a reasonable person to conclude that line 31 the development is consistent with the objective planning standards. line 32 (4) The determination of whether a proposed project submitted line 33 pursuant to this section is or is not in conflict with the objecti ve line 34 planning standards is not a “project” as defined in Section 21065 line 35 of the Public Resources Code.
line 36 (5) Design review of the development may be conducted by the line 37 local government’s planning commission or any equivalent board line 38 or commission responsible for review and approval of development line 39 projects, or the city council or board of supervisors, as appropriate. line 40 That design review shall be objecti ve and be strictly focused on 97 — 14 — SB 4
line 1 assessing compliance with criteria required for streamlined, line 2 ministerial review of projects, as well as any reasonable objective line 3 design standards published and adopted by ordinance or resolution line 4 by a local jurisdiction before submittal of the development to the line 5 local government, and shall be broadly applicable to developments line 6 within the jurisdiction. That design review shall be completed as line 7 follows and shall not in an y way inhibit, chill, or preclude the line 8 ministerial appro val pro vided by this section or its ef fect, as line 9 applicable:
line 10 (A) Within 90 days of submittal of the de velopment proposal line 11 to the local government pursuant to this section if the development line 12 contains 150 or fewer housing units.
line 13 (B) Within 180 days of submittal of the development proposal line 14 to the local government pursuant to this section if the development line 15 contains more than 150 housing units.
line 16 (6) The local government shall ensure that the project satisfies line 17 the requirements specified in subdi vision (d) of Section 66300, line 18 regardless of whether the development is within or not within an line 19 affected city or within or not within an affected county. line 20 (7) If the de velopment is consistent with all objecti ve line 21 subdivision standards in the local subdi vision ordinance, an line 22 application for a subdivision pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act line 23 (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410)) shall be e xempt line 24 from the requirements of the California En vironmental Quality line 25 Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public line 26 Resources Code).
line 27 (8) A local government’s approval of a de velopment pursuant line 28 to this section shall, notwithstanding any other law, be subject to line 29 the expiration timeframes specified in subdi vision (f) of Section line 30 65913.4.
line 31 (9) Any proposed modifications to a de velopment project line 32 approved pursuant to this section shall be undertaken pursuant to line 33 subdivision (g) of Section 65913.4.
line 34 (10) A local go vernment shall not adopt or impose an y line 35 requirement, including, b ut not limited to, increased fees or line 36 inclusionary housing requirements, that applies to a project solely line 37 or partially on the basis that the project is eligible to recei ve line 38 streamlined, ministerial review pursuant to this section. 97 SB 4 — 15 —
line 1 (11) A local government shall issue a subsequent permit required line 2 for a de velopment appro ved under this section pursuant to line 3 paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 65913.4. line 4 (12) A public impro vement that is necessary to implement a line 5 development that is appro ved pursuant to this section shall be line 6 undertaken pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (h) of Section line 7 65913.4.
line 8 (l)
line 9 (m) The Legislature finds and declares that ensuring residential line 10 development at greater density on land o wned by independent line 11 institutions of higher education and religious institutions is a matter line 12 of statewide concern and is not a municipal af fair as that term is line 13 used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. line 14 Therefore, this section applies to all cities, including charter cities. line 15 (m)
line 16 (n) The pro visions of paragraph (3) of subdi vision (f) (g) line 17 concerning health care e xpenditures are distinct and se verable line 18 from the remaining provisions of this section. However, all other line 19 provisions of subdivision (f) (g) are material and integral parts of line 20 this section and are not severable. If any provision of subdivision line 21 (f), (g), exclusive of those included in paragraph (3), is held invalid, line 22 the entire section shall be invalid and shall not be given effect. line 23 SEC. 2. 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 le vy service line 26 charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or line 27 level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section line 28 17556 of the Government Code.
O
97 — 16 — SB 4
May 3, 2023
The Honorable Scott Wiener
1021 O Street, Suite 8620
Sacramento, CA
95814-4900
RE: SB 4 – Planning and Zoning: Housing Development: Higher Education Institutions and Religious Institutions
Notice of Opposition
Dear Senator Wiener:
The City of Huntington Beach writes to express our opposition to SB 4 which would limit local control over planning, zoning, and approving new housing.
SB 4 would require that a housing development project be a use by right upon the request of an applicant who submits an application for streamline approval on any land owned by an independent institution of higher education or religious institution.
We believe that local governments should have the authorization to enact policies that shape development tailored to its community. SB 4 overrides these local preferences by directing local officials to ministerially approve housing on properties that are zoned for other uses. By-right legislation limits cities’ discretionary review processes for local development projects, inherently restricting local representatives’ ability to directly respond to the needs and interests of their constituents.
For these reasons, the City of Huntington Beach respectfully opposes SB 4.
Sincerely,
Tony Strickland
Mayor
City of Huntington Beach
Cc: Senator Janet Nguyen
Senator Dave Min
Assembly Member Diane Dixon
ACC-OC Board of Directors (via email)
Bismarck Obando, Director of Public Affairs ([email protected]) League of California Cities ([email protected])