AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2023
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 16, 2023
california legislature—2023–24 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 68
Introduced by Assembly Member Ward
December 8, 2022
An act to amend Section 65585 of, to add Sections 65040.18, 65914.7.5, and 66425.5 to, and to add Chapter 4.3.1 (commencing with Section 65918.5) to Di vision 1 of Title 7 of, the Go vernment Code, relating to land use.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 68, as amended, Ward. Land use: streamlined housing approvals:
density, subdivision, and utility approvals.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a multif amily housing development that is subject to a streamlined, ministerial appro val process, as provided, and not subject to a conditional use permit, if the development satisfies specified objective planning standards.
This bill w ould require a local go vernment to appro ve a proposed housing development pursuant to a streamlined, ministerial appro val process if the development meets certain objective planning standards, including, but not limited to, a requirement that the proposed parcel for the development be a climate-smart parcel, as described, or be included in the applicable region’s sustainable communities strategy as a priority development area. The bill w ould set forth procedures for appro ving these developments and w ould set forth v arious limitations for these developments. The bill w ould authorize the Department of Housing
97 and Community De velopment to re view, adopt, amend, and repeal guidelines, rules, and re gulations to implement uniform standards or criteria that supplement or clarify the terms, references, or standards set forth by this process.
Existing law requires the department to notify a city, county, or city and county, and authorizes the department to notify the office of the Attorney General, that the city, county, or city and county is in violation of state la w if the department finds that the housing element or an amendment to the housing element does not substantially comply with specified provisions of the Planning and Zoning Law, or that the local government has taken action in violation of specified provisions of law relating to housing, including, among others, the Housing Accountability Act, the Density Bonus Law, and the Housing Crisis Act of 2019.
This bill would add the streamlining procedures added by the bill to the list of laws subject to this notification requirement.
The Planning and Zoning La w requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use de velopment within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law also sets forth various procedures related to land use actions and utility service in local jurisdictions, including, b ut not limited to, a requirement that a tentative a final map be made for certain housing projects, including all subdivisions creating 5 or more parcels.
This bill would prohibit a county, or city if certain conditions are met, from increasing the planned density on climate resilient lands, as defined, from appro ving any tentative, final, or parcel maps for the subdivision of property within climate risk lands or climate refugia lands, as defined, and from appro ving an extension of water or sewer services on climate resilient lands unless specified planning requirements or conditions are met. The bill w ould require, as part of those requirements or conditions, the county or city to make certain findings that are confirmed by the Office of Planning and Research. The bill would set forth procedures for requesting those findings from the office.
The bill would make conforming changes.
By imposing additional duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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. 97 — 2 — AB 68
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 65040.18 is added to the Government line 2 Code, to read:
line 3 65040.18. (a) A county may submit an application to the office, line 4 in the form and manner prescribed by the office, for the following line 5 purposes:
line 6 (1) Receiving findings from the office for purposes of line 7 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3) of subdi vision (c) of line 8 Section 65918.5.03.
line 9 (2) Receiving findings from the office for purposes of line 10 subparagraph (D) of paragraph (3) of subdi vision (c) of Section line 11 65918.5.03.
line 12 (b) The office shall, in consultation with the Department of line 13 Housing and Community Development and the Natural Resources line 14 Agency, review applications submitted by a county pursuant to line 15 subdivision (a).
line 16 (c) (1) For applications submitted pursuant to paragraph (2) of line 17 subdivision (a), the office shall issue findings in favor of the county line 18 for purposes of subparagraph (D) of paragraph (3) of subdivision line 19 (c) of Section 65918.5.03 if all of the following apply:
line 20 (A) There is a lack of sufficient acreage in existing communities line 21 for the proposed residential development that is necessary to meet line 22 the county’s regional housing need.
line 23 (B) Acres that may be designated in e xisting communities for line 24 the proposed residential development for purposes of meeting the line 25 county’s regional housing need are unlikely to be developed in the line 26 required timeframe to meet the county’s regional housing need. line 27 (C) The county cannot redesignate sufficient acreage on lands line 28 outside of climate resilient lands to meet the county’ s regional line 29 housing need because the redesignation of land is infeasible or line 30 because there is insufficient acreage available for redesignation. 97 AB 68 — 3 —
line 1 (2) For purposes of this subdi vision, “proposed residential line 2 development” means the de velopment related to the county’ s line 3 increase in planned density, subdivision of property, or extension line 4 of water or sewer service pursuant to Chapter 4.3.1 (commencing line 5 with Section 65918.5).
line 6 (d) The office may review, adopt, amend, and repeal guidelines line 7 to implement uniform standards or criteria that supplement or line 8 clarify the terms, references, or standards set forth in this section. line 9 (e) For purposes of this section, the definitions in Chapter 4.3.1 line 10 (commencing with Section 65918.5) apply.
line 11 (f) References to “county” in this section shall also refer to a line 12 city when related to lands subject to Section 65918.5.04. line 13 SEC. 2. Section 65585 of the Government Code is amended line 14 to read:
line 15 65585. (a) In the preparation of its housing element, each city line 16 and county shall consider the guidelines adopted by the department line 17 pursuant to Section 50459 of the Health and Safety Code. Those line 18 guidelines shall be advisory to each city or county in the line 19 preparation of its housing element.
line 20 (b) (1) At least 90 days prior to adoption of a re vision of its line 21 housing element pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 65588, or line 22 at least 60 days prior to the adoption of a subsequent amendment line 23 to this element, the planning agency shall submit a draft element line 24 revision or draft amendment to the department. The local line 25 government of the planning agenc y shall mak e the first draft line 26 revision of a housing element available for public comment for at line 27 least 30 days and, if an y comments are recei ved, the local line 28 government shall take at least 10 b usiness days after the 30-day line 29 public comment period to consider and incorporate public line 30 comments into the draft re vision prior to submitting it to the line 31 department. F or an y subsequent draft re vision, the local line 32 government shall post the draft revision on its internet website and line 33 shall email a link to the draft re vision to all indi viduals and line 34 organizations that ha ve previously requested notices relating to line 35 the local government’s housing element at least seven days before line 36 submitting the draft revision to the department. line 37 (2) The planning agenc y staf f shall collect and compile the line 38 public comments regarding the housing element recei ved by the line 39 city, county, or city and county , and pro vide these comments to 97 — 4 — AB 68
line 1 each member of the legislative body before it adopts the housing line 2 element.
line 3 (3) The department shall review the draft and report its written line 4 findings to the planning agency within 90 days of its receipt of the line 5 first draft submittal for each housing element revision pursuant to line 6 subdivision (e) of Section 65588 or within 60 days of its receipt line 7 of a subsequent draft amendment or an adopted revision or adopted line 8 amendment to an element. The department shall not re view the line 9 first draft submitted for each housing element re vision pursuant line 10 to subdivision (e) of Section 65588 until the local government has line 11 made the draft available for public comment for at least 30 days line 12 and, if comments were recei ved, has tak en at least 10 b usiness line 13 days to consider and incorporate public comments pursuant to line 14 paragraph (1).
line 15 (c) In the preparation of its findings, the department may consult line 16 with any public agenc y, group, or person. The department shall line 17 receive and consider an y written comments from an y public line 18 agency, group, or person re garding the draft or adopted element line 19 or amendment under review.
line 20 (d) In its written findings, the department shall determine line 21 whether the draft element or draft amendment substantially line 22 complies with this article.
line 23 (e) Prior to the adoption of its draft element or draft amendment, line 24 the le gislative body shall consider the findings made by the line 25 department. If the department’s findings are not a vailable within line 26 the time limits set by this section, the le gislative body may act line 27 without them.
line 28 (f) If the department finds that the draft element or draft line 29 amendment does not substantially comply with this article, the line 30 legislative body shall take one of the following actions:
line 31 (1) Change the draft element or draft amendment to substantially line 32 comply with this article.
line 33 (2) Adopt the draft element or draft amendment without changes. line 34 The legislative body shall include in its resolution of adoption line 35 written findings which e xplain the reasons the le gislative body line 36 believes that the draft element or draft amendment substantially line 37 complies with this article despite the findings of the department. line 38 (g) Promptly follo wing the adoption of its element or line 39 amendment, the planning agenc y shall submit a cop y to the line 40 department.
97 AB 68 — 5 —
line 1 (h) The department shall, within 90 days, re view adopted line 2 housing elements or amendments and report its findings to the line 3 planning agency.
line 4 (i) (1) (A) The department shall re view any action or f ailure line 5 to act by the city, county, or city and county that it determines is line 6 inconsistent with an adopted housing element or Section 65583, line 7 including any failure to implement any program actions included line 8 in the housing element pursuant to Section 65583. The department line 9 shall issue written findings to the city, county, or city and county line 10 as to whether the action or f ailure to act substantially complies line 11 with this article, and provide a reasonable time no longer than 30 line 12 days for the city , county, or city and county to respond to the line 13 findings before taking any other action authorized by this section, line 14 including the action authorized by subparagraph (B). line 15 (B) If the department finds that the action or f ailure to act by line 16 the city, county, or city and county does not substantially comply line 17 with this article, and if it has issued findings pursuant to this section line 18 that an amendment to the housing element substantially complies line 19 with this article, the department may re voke its findings until it line 20 determines that the city, county, or city and county has come into line 21 compliance with this article.
line 22 (2) The department may consult with an y local go vernment, line 23 public agency, group, or person, and shall recei ve and consider line 24 any written comments from any public agency, group, or person, line 25 regarding the action or f ailure to act by the city , county, or city line 26 and county described in paragraph (1), in determining whether the line 27 housing element substantially complies with this article. line 28 (j) The department shall notify the city , county, or city and line 29 county and may notify the office of the Attorney General that the line 30 city, county, or city and county is in violation of state la w if the line 31 department finds that the housing element or an amendment to this line 32 element, or an y action or f ailure to act described in subdi vision line 33 (i), does not substantially comply with this article or that any local line 34 government has taken an action in violation of the following:
line 35 (1) Housing Accountability Act (Section 65589.5). line 36 (2) Section 65863.
line 37 (3) Chapter 4.3 (commencing with Section 65915). line 38 (4) Section 65008.
line 39 (5) Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (Chapter 654, Statutes of 2019, line 40 Sections 65941.1, 65943, and 66300).
97 — 6 — AB 68
line 1 (6) Section 8899.50.
line 2 (7) Section 65913.4.
line 3 (8) Article 11 (commencing with Section 65650). line 4 (9) Article 12 (commencing with Section 65660). line 5 (10) Section 65913.11.
line 6 (11) Section 65400.
line 7 (12) Section 65863.2.
line 8 (13) Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 65912.100). line 9 (14) Section 65914.7.5.
line 10 (k) Commencing July 1, 2019, prior to the Attorney General line 11 bringing any suit for a violation of the pro visions identified in line 12 subdivision (j) related to housing element compliance and seeking line 13 remedies available pursuant to this subdi vision, the department line 14 shall offer the jurisdiction the opportunity for tw o meetings in line 15 person or via telephone to discuss the violation, and shall provide line 16 the jurisdiction written findings re garding the violation. This line 17 paragraph does not af fect any action filed prior to the ef fective line 18 date of this section. The requirements set forth in this subdivision line 19 do not apply to an y suits brought for a violation or violations of line 20 paragraphs (1) and (3) to (9), inclusive, of subdivision (j). line 21 (l) In any action or special proceeding brought by the Attorney line 22 General relating to housing element compliance pursuant to a line 23 notice or referral under subdivision (j), the Attorney General may line 24 request, upon a finding of the court that the housing element does line 25 not substantially comply with the requirements of this article line 26 pursuant to this section, that the court issue an order or judgment line 27 directing the jurisdiction to bring its housing element into line 28 substantial compliance with the requirements of this article. The line 29 court shall retain jurisdiction to ensure that its order or judgment line 30 is carried out. If a court determines that the housing element of line 31 the jurisdiction substantially complies with this article, it shall line 32 have the same force and effect, for purposes of eligibility for any line 33 financial assistance that requires a housing element in substantial line 34 compliance and for purposes of an y incentives pro vided under line 35 Section 65589.9, as a determination by the department that the line 36 housing element substantially complies with this article. line 37 (1) If the jurisdiction has not complied with the order or line 38 judgment after 12 months, the court shall conduct a status line 39 conference. Following the status conference, upon a determination line 40 that the jurisdiction f ailed to comply with the order or judgment 97 AB 68 — 7 —
line 1 compelling substantial compliance with the requirements of this line 2 article, the court shall impose fines on the jurisdiction, which shall line 3 be deposited into the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund. Any line 4 fine le vied pursuant to this paragraph shall be in a minimum line 5 amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per month, but shall not line 6 exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per month, except line 7 as pro vided in paragraphs (2) and (3). In the e vent that the line 8 jurisdiction fails to pay fines imposed by the court in full and on line 9 time, the court may require the Controller to intercept any available line 10 state and local funds and direct such funds to the Building Homes line 11 and Jobs Trust Fund to correct the jurisdiction’ s failure to pay . line 12 The intercept of the funds by the Controller for this purpose shall line 13 not violate any provision of the California Constitution. line 14 (2) If the jurisdiction has not complied with the order or line 15 judgment after three months follo wing the imposition of fees line 16 described in paragraph (1), the court shall conduct a status line 17 conference. Following the status conference, if the court finds that line 18 the fees imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) are insufficient to bring line 19 the jurisdiction into compliance with the order or judgment, the line 20 court may multiply the fine determined pursuant to paragraph (1) line 21 by a factor of three. In the e vent that the jurisdiction f ails to pay line 22 fines imposed by the court in full and on time, the court may line 23 require the Controller to intercept an y available state and local line 24 funds and direct such funds to the Building Homes and Jobs Trust line 25 Fund to correct the jurisdiction’ s failure to pay. The intercept of line 26 the funds by the Controller for this purpose shall not violate an y line 27 provision of the California Constitution.
line 28 (3) If the jurisdiction has not complied with the order or line 29 judgment six months follo wing the imposition of fees described line 30 in paragraph (1), the court shall conduct a status conference. Upon line 31 a determination that the jurisdiction failed to comply with the order line 32 or judgment, the court may impose the following:
line 33 (A) If the court finds that the fees imposed pursuant to line 34 paragraphs (1) and (2) are insufficient to bring the jurisdiction into line 35 compliance with the order or judgment, the court may multiply line 36 the fine determined pursuant to paragraph (1) by a f actor of six. line 37 In the event that the jurisdiction fails to pay fines imposed by the line 38 court in full and on time, the court may require the Controller to line 39 intercept any available state and local funds and direct such funds line 40 to the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund to correct the 97 — 8 — AB 68
line 1 jurisdiction’s f ailure to pay . The intercept of the funds by the line 2 Controller for this purpose shall not violate an y provision of the line 3 California Constitution.
line 4 (B) The court may order remedies available pursuant to Section line 5 564 of the Code of Civil Procedure, under which the agent of the line 6 court may tak e all go vernmental actions necessary to bring the line 7 jurisdiction’s housing element into substantial compliance pursuant line 8 to this article in order to remedy identified deficiencies. The court line 9 shall determine whether the housing element of the jurisdiction line 10 substantially complies with this article and, once the court makes line 11 that determination, it shall have the same force and effect, for all line 12 purposes, as the department’ s determination that the housing line 13 element substantially complies with this article. An agent appointed line 14 pursuant to this paragraph shall ha ve e xpertise in planning in line 15 California.
line 16 (4) This subdivision does not limit a court’s discretion to apply line 17 any and all remedies in an action or special proceeding for a line 18 violation of any law identified in subdivision (j). line 19 (m) In determining the application of the remedies a vailable line 20 under subdivision (l), the court shall consider whether there are line 21 any mitigating circumstances delaying the jurisdiction from coming line 22 into compliance with state housing la w. The court may consider line 23 whether a city, county, or city and county is making a good f aith line 24 effort to come into substantial compliance or is facing substantial line 25 undue hardships.
line 26 (n) Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the office line 27 of the Attorney General to bring a suit to enforce state la w in an line 28 independent capacity. The office of the Attorney General may seek line 29 all remedies available under law including those set forth in this line 30 section.
line 31 (o) Notwithstanding Sections 11040 and 11042, if the Attorney line 32 General declines to represent the department in an y action or line 33 special proceeding brought pursuant to a notice or referral under line 34 subdivision (j) the department may appoint or contract with other line 35 counsel for purposes of representing the department in the action line 36 or special proceeding.
line 37 (p) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the statute of line 38 limitations set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 338 of the Code line 39 of Civil Procedure shall apply to any action or special proceeding line 40 brought by the Office of the Attorney General or pursuant to a 97 AB 68 — 9 —
line 1 notice or referral under subdi vision (j), or by the department line 2 pursuant to subdivision (o).
line 3 SEC. 3. Section 65914.7.5 is added to the Government Code, line 4 to read:
line 5 65914.7.5. (a) For purposes of this section, the follo wing line 6 definitions apply:
line 7 (1) “Climate smart parcel” means a parcel located in a highest line 8 resource, high resource, or moderate resource high-resource, or line 9 moderate-resource area, as cate gorized by the California Tax line 10 Credit Allocation Committee’ s opportunity maps, that meets line 11 satisfies at least one of the following mobility indicators: mobility line 12 indicator.
line 13 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 14 of either a high-quality transit corridor or a major transit stop. line 15 (B) The parcel is located in a very low vehicle travel area. line 16 (C) The parcel is located within a mile from a cluster of six or line 17 more of the following:
line 18 (i) Restaurants.
line 19 (ii) Bars.
line 20 (iii) Coffee shops.
line 21 (iv) Supermarkets.
line 22 (v) Grocery stores.
line 23 (vi) Hardware stores.
line 24 (vii) Parks.
line 25 (viii) Pharmacy.
line 26 (ix) Drugstore.
line 27 (2) “High-quality transit corridor” has the same meaning as line 28 defined in subdivision (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources line 29 Code.
line 30 (3) “Housing development” has the same meaning as defined line 31 in paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 65589.5. line 32 (4) “Local agency” means a city , county, or city and county , line 33 whether general law or chartered.
line 34 (5) “Major transit stop” has the same meaning as defined in line 35 Section 21064.3 subdivision (b) of Section 21155 of the Public line 36 Resources Code.
line 37 (6) “Mobility indicator” means any of the following:
line 38 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 39 of either a high-quality transit corridor or a major transit stop. line 40 (B) The parcel is located in a very low vehicle travel area. 97 — 10 — AB 68
line 1 (C) The parcel is located within one mile fr om a cluster of six line 2 or more of the following:
line 3 (i) Restaurant.
line 4 (ii) Bar.
line 5 (iii) Coffee shop.
line 6 (iv) Supermarket.
line 7 (v) Grocery store.
line 8 (vi) Hardware store.
line 9 (vii) Park.
line 10 (viii) Pharmacy.
line 11 (ix) Drugstore.
line 12 (6)
line 13 (7) “Objective zoning standards” and “objective design review line 14 standards” mean standards that involve no personal or subjective line 15 judgment by a public official and are uniformly v erifiable by line 16 reference to an e xternal and uniform benchmark or criterion line 17 available and kno wable by both the de velopment applicant or line 18 proponent and the public official prior to submittal. These standards line 19 may be embodied in alternative objective land use specifications line 20 adopted by a local agenc y, and may include, b ut are not limited line 21 to, housing o verlay zones, specific plans, inclusionary zoning line 22 ordinances, and density bonus ordinances.
line 23 (7)
line 24 (8) “Priority development area” means an area identified under line 25 the region’s most recent sustainable communities strategy as prime line 26 locations for additional gro wth. These areas may include job line 27 centers, transit priority areas, or other characteristics where line 28 mobility options support achie ving greenhouse g as emissions line 29 reduction.
line 30 (8)
line 31 (9) (A) “Very lo w v ehicle tra vel area” means an urbanized line 32 area, as designated by the United States Census Bureau, where the line 33 existing residential development generates vehicle miles traveled line 34 per capita that is below 85 percent of either regional vehicle miles line 35 traveled per capita or city vehicle miles traveled per capita. capita, line 36 or county vehicle miles per capita.
line 37 (B) For purposes of this subdivision, “area” may include a travel line 38 analysis zone, hexagon, or grid.
line 39 (C) For purposes of determining “regional vehicle miles traveled line 40 per capita” pursuant to this subdivision, a “region” is the entirety 97 AB 68 — 11 —
line 1 of incorporated and unincorporated areas go verned by a line 2 multicounty or single-county metropolitan planning organization, line 3 or the entirety of the incorporated and unincorporated areas of an line 4 individual county that is not part of a metropolitan planning line 5 organization.
line 6 (b) A proposed housing de velopment shall be subject to a line 7 streamlined, ministerial approval process in subdivision (c) without line 8 discretionary re view or hearing, if the proposed housing line 9 development consists of multiple units and satisfies all of the line 10 following objective planning standards:
line 11 (1) (A) For incorporated areas, the proposed housing line 12 development is proposed to be de veloped on a le gal parcel or line 13 parcels that includes at least a portion of an It is a legal parcel or line 14 parcels located in a city if, and only if, the city boundaries include line 15 some portion of either urbanized area or urban cluster , as line 16 designated by the United States Census Bureau.
line 17 (B) For unincorporated areas, the proposed housing development line 18 is proposed to be de veloped on a le gal parcel or parcels wholly line 19 within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban cluster , as line 20 designated by the United States Census Bureau.
line 21 (2) The proposed parcel for the proposed housing development line 22 is zoned for residential use or residential mixed-use development, line 23 or has a general plan designation that allo ws residential use or a line 24 mix of residential and nonresidential uses, and at least two-thirds line 25 of the square footage of the de velopment is designated for line 26 residential use. Additional density, floor area, and units, and an y line 27 other concession, incentive, or waiver of development standards line 28 granted pursuant to the Density Bonus Law in Section 65915 shall line 29 be included in the square footage calculation. The square footage line 30 of the development shall not include underground space, such as line 31 basements or underground parking garages.
line 32 (3) (A) The proposed parcel for the proposed housing line 33 development satisfies the requirements specified in subparagraphs line 34 (B) to (K), inclusive, of paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section line 35 65913.4.
line 36 (B) The proposed parcel is not in an area projected to experience line 37 flooding at less than or equal to sea level rise of five feet according line 38 to information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric line 39 Administration or according to the best available science. 97 — 12 — AB 68
line 1 (C) The proposed parcel is not on natural lands within 100 line 2 meters width of streams or ri vers, including, b ut not limited to, line 3 streams or ri vers mapped in the United States En vironmental line 4 Protection Agency National Hydrography Dataset NHDPlus, and line 5 not on natural lands mapped by the United States Forest Service, line 6 Pacific Southwest Region, existing Vegetation CALVEG, or best line 7 available science.
line 8 (4) The development on the proposed parcel would not require line 9 the demolition or alteration of either of the follo wing types of line 10 housing:
line 11 (A) Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, line 12 or la w that restricts rents to le vels af fordable to persons and line 13 families of moderate, lo w, or v ery lo w income, as defined in line 14 Sections 50093 and 50105 of the Health and Safety Code. line 15 (B) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 16 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. line 17 (5) The development on the proposed parcel would not require line 18 the demolition of a historic structure that was placed on a national line 19 or state historic register.
line 20 (6) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the proposed parcel is line 21 included in the applicable re gion’s sustainable communities line 22 strategy as a priority development area or is a climate-smart parcel. line 23 (B) If the parcel is included in the applicable region’s sustainable line 24 communities strategy as a priority development area or is part of line 25 a master environmental impact report pursuant to the California line 26 Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section line 27 21000) of the Public Resources Code), meets one of the mobility line 28 indicators defined in paragraph (1) of subdi vision (a), and the line 29 proposed de velopment w ould not be eligible for ministerial line 30 approval under Section 65913.4 because it does not meet the line 31 requirements of subparagraph (5) of subdivision (a) of that section, line 32 then it shall be treated it shall be treated as a climate-smart parcel line 33 for purposes of this section.
line 34 (7) If the proposed housing development is ____ units or more, line 35 the de velopment proponent certifies to the locality that it will line 36 comply with the requirements of Section 65912.130 or 65912.131 line 37 of the Government Code.
line 38 (8) The proposed development dedicates a minimum of ____ line 39 percent of the total number of units, before calculating any density line 40 bonus, to deed-restricted affordable housing.
97 AB 68 — 13 —
line 1 (c) (1) If a local agenc y determines that a de velopment line 2 submitted pursuant to this section is consistent with the objective line 3 planning standards specified in subdi vision (b) and pursuant to line 4 paragraph (3), it shall approve the development. If a local agency line 5 determines that a development submitted pursuant to this section line 6 is in conflict with any of the objective planning standards specified line 7 in subdi vision (b), it shall pro vide the de velopment proponent line 8 written documentation of which standard or standards the line 9 development conflicts with, and an e xplanation for the reason or line 10 reasons the development conflicts with that standard or standards, line 11 as follows:
line 12 (A) Within 60 days of submittal of the development to the local line 13 agency pursuant to this section if the de velopment contains 150 line 14 or fewer housing units.
line 15 (B) Within 90 days of submittal of the development to the local line 16 agency pursuant to this section if the development contains more line 17 than 150 housing units.
line 18 (2) If the local agenc y f ails to pro vide the required line 19 documentation pursuant to paragraph (1), the de velopment shall line 20 be deemed to satisfy the objective planning standards specified in line 21 subdivision (b).
line 22 (3) For purposes of this section, a de velopment is consistent line 23 with the objective planning standards specified in subdivision (b) line 24 if there is substantial evidence that would allow a reasonable person line 25 to conclude that the development is consistent with the objective line 26 planning standards. The local agenc y shall not determine that a line 27 development, including an application for a modification under line 28 subdivision (b), is in conflict with the objective planning standards line 29 on the basis that application materials are not included, if the line 30 application contains substantial e vidence that w ould allo w a line 31 reasonable person to conclude that the development is consistent line 32 with the objective planning standards.
line 33 (d) (1) (A) A de velopment proponent may request a line 34 modification to a development that has been appro ved under the line 35 streamlined, ministerial approval process provided in subdivision line 36 (c) if that request is submitted to the local agenc y before the line 37 issuance of the final building permit required for construction of line 38 the development.
line 39 (B) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the local agency shall line 40 approve a modification if it determines that the modification is 97 — 14 — AB 68
line 1 consistent with the objecti ve planning standards specified in line 2 subdivision (b) that were in effect when the original development line 3 application was first submitted.
line 4 (C) The local agency shall evaluate any modifications requested line 5 pursuant to this subdi vision for consistenc y with the objecti ve line 6 planning standards using the same assumptions and analytical line 7 methodology that the local agenc y originally used to assess line 8 consistency for the development that was approved for streamlined, line 9 ministerial approval pursuant to subdivision (c). line 10 (D) A guideline that was adopted or amended by the department line 11 pursuant to subdi vision (f) after a de velopment w as appro ved line 12 through the streamlined, ministerial approval process described in line 13 subdivision (c) shall not be used as a basis to den y proposed line 14 modifications.
line 15 (2) Upon receipt of the de velopment proponent’s application line 16 requesting a modification, the local agency shall determine if the line 17 requested modification is consistent with the objecti ve planning line 18 standard and either approve or deny the modification request within line 19 60 days after submission of the modification, or within 90 days if line 20 design review is required.
line 21 (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the local agency may apply line 22 objective planning standards adopted after the de velopment line 23 application was first submitted to the requested modification in line 24 any of the following instances:
line 25 (A) The development is revised such that the total number of line 26 residential units or total square footage of construction changes line 27 by 15 percent or more. The calculation of the square footage of line 28 construction changes shall not include underground space. line 29 (B) The development is revised such that the total number of line 30 residential units or total square footage of construction changes line 31 by 5 percent or more and it is necessary to subject the development line 32 to an objecti ve standard be yond those in ef fect when the line 33 development application w as submitted in order to mitig ate or line 34 avoid a specific, adv erse impact, as that term is defined in line 35 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdi vision (j) of Section line 36 65589.5, upon the public health or safety and there is no feasible line 37 alternative method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the adverse line 38 impact. The calculation of the square footage of construction line 39 changes shall not include underground space.
97 AB 68 — 15 —
line 1 (C) Objective b uilding standards contained in the California line 2 Building Standards Code (T itle 24 of the California Code of line 3 Regulations), including, b ut not limited to, b uilding plumbing, line 4 electrical, fire, and grading codes, may be applied to all line 5 modification applications that are submitted prior to the first line 6 building permit application. Those standards may be applied to line 7 modification applications submitted after the first building permit line 8 application if agreed to by the development proponent. line 9 (4) The local agency’s review of a modification request pursuant line 10 to this subdivision shall be strictly limited to determining whether line 11 the modification, including an y modification to pre viously line 12 approved density bonus concessions or w aivers, modify the line 13 development’s consistency with the objective planning standards line 14 and shall not reconsider prior determinations that are not affected line 15 by the modification.
line 16 (e) (1) For multifamily housing de velopments that consist of line 17 multiple units on a climate-smart parcel that are submitted pursuant line 18 to this section, the following shall apply:
line 19 (A) A local agency shall not require impose a setback greater line 20 than four feet from the side, rear, and front lot lines. line 21 (B) The height limit applicable to the housing development shall line 22 not exceed 50 feet, unless the base density allows a greater height, line 23 in which case the larger of the two shall be used. line 24 (B) A local agency shall not impose a height limit on a housing line 25 development that is less than 50 feet.
line 26 (C) The A local agenc y shall not impose requirements that line 27 preclude a development project that has a maximum lot coverage line 28 of 60 percent. applicable to the housing development of less than line 29 60 percent.
line 30 (D) The A local agency shall not impose or enforce a minimum line 31 parking requirement.
line 32 (E) Depending on the number of mobility indicators indicators, line 33 the local agency shall impose the following floor area ratios: not line 34 do any of the following:
line 35 (i) For a housing de velopment project on a parcel with one line 36 mobility indicator, impose a floor area ratio that is less than 1.0. line 37 (ii) For a housing de velopment project on a parcel with tw o line 38 mobility indicators, impose a floor area ratio that is less than 1.25. line 39 (iii) For a housing development project on a parcel with all three line 40 mobility indicators, impose a floor area ratio that is less than 1.5. 97 — 16 — AB 68
line 1 (2) A development proposed pursuant to this section shall be line 2 eligible for a density bonus, incentives or concessions, waivers or line 3 reductions of development standards, and parking ratios pursuant line 4 to Section 65915.
line 5 (3) A local agenc y may impose objecti ve zoning standards, line 6 objective subdi vision standards, and objecti ve design re view line 7 standards that do not conflict with this section. However, the local line 8 agency shall not do the following:
line 9 (A) Impose standards that would have the effect of physically line 10 precluding the construction of projects that meet or e xceed the line 11 density standards described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) line 12 of subdivision (c) of Section 65583.2.
line 13 (B) Adopt or impose an y requirement that applies to a line 14 development project solely or partially on the basis that the project line 15 is eligible to recei ve streamlined, ministerial re view pursuant to line 16 this section, including, b ut not limited to, increased fees or line 17 inclusionary housing requirements.
line 18 (f) The Department of Housing and Community Development line 19 may re view, adopt, amend, and repeal guidelines, rules, and line 20 regulations to implement uniform standards or criteria that line 21 supplement or clarify the terms, references, or standards set forth line 22 in this section.
line 23 SEC. 4. Chapter 4.3.1 (commencing with Section 65918.5) is line 24 added to Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, to read:
line 25
line 26 Chapter 4.3.1. Density, Subdivisions, and Utilities on line 27 Climate Resilient, Risk, and Refugia Lands
line 28
line 29 65918.5. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions line 30 apply:
line 31 (a) “Climate resilient lands” means lands that are not e xisting line 32 communities and that are not excluded lands.
line 33 (b) “Climate risk lands” mean lands within climate resilient line 34 lands that have been identified as lands within very high and high line 35 fire se verity zones, lands identified as flood zones, or lands line 36 identified as having a sea le vel rise risk of five feet according to line 37 the latest science.
line 38 (c) “Climate refugia lands” means lands within Terrestrial line 39 Connectivity categories 3, 4, and 5 of the Department of Fish and line 40 Wildlife’s Area of Conservation Emphasis.
97 AB 68 — 17 —
line 1 (d) “Existing communities” means the following:
line 2 (1) For incorporated areas, lands within municipal boundaries line 3 as of January 1, 2024.
line 4 (2) For unincorporated areas, an urbanized area or urban cluster, line 5 as designated by the United States Census Bureau. line 6 (e) “Excluded lands” are lands that meet one of the follo wing line 7 criteria:
line 8 (1) Parcels with vested rights.
line 9 (2) Lands within specific plans with an en vironmental impact line 10 report adopted on or before January 1, 2024.
line 11 (3) Lands zoned for agriculture, rural, or rangeland succession line 12 reasons to accommodate agricultural workforce that result in uses line 13 that remain accessory to the primary use.
line 14 (f) “Planned density” means the density of housing that is line 15 planned for the land or parcel, as set on January 1, 2024, in the line 16 county’s general plan.
line 17 65918.5.01. The Legislature finds and declares that the purpose line 18 of this chapter is to protect the public health and safety by line 19 preserving high value natural and working lands for the benefit of line 20 climate resilience, equitable access to open space, biodi versity, line 21 wildlife corridors, and food security.
line 22 65918.5.02. (a) Notwithstanding any law, a county shall not line 23 increase the planned density on climate resilient lands unless the line 24 planning requirements or conditions set forth in Section 65918.5.03 line 25 are met.
line 26 (b) Notwithstanding any law, a county shall not appro ve any line 27 tentative, final, or parcel maps pursuant to Division 2 (commencing line 28 with Section 66410) for the subdivision of property within climate line 29 risk lands or climate refugia lands unless the planning requirements line 30 or conditions set forth in Section 65918.5.03 are met. line 31 (c) Notwithstanding an y la w, a county shall not appro ve an line 32 extension of w ater or se wer services on climate resilient lands line 33 unless the planning requirements or conditions set forth in Section line 34 65918.5.03 are met or the extension of these services are to meet line 35 public health and safety requirements for existing residents. line 36 (d) This section does not apply to a town or existing community line 37 that has a population fe wer than 5,000, is unincorpor ated, and line 38 ____.
97 — 18 — AB 68
line 1 65918.5.03. A county is not subject to Section 65918.5.02 if line 2 all of the following planning requirements or and conditions are line 3 met:
line 4 (a) The county has a housing element that is appro ved by the line 5 Department of Housing and Community Development. line 6 (b) The county’s board of supervisors mak es a finding, based line 7 on a preponderance of the evidence, of housing necessity. line 8 (c) Following the finding in subdivision (b), the county’s board line 9 of supervisors does the following:
line 10 (1) Amends its general plan, pursuant to procedures required line 11 by law, including Article 6 (commencing with Section 65350), to line 12 increase the planned density on climate resilient lands, to authorize line 13 the subdivision of property within climate risk lands or climate line 14 refugia lands, or to authorize the e xtension of w ater or se wer line 15 services on climate resilient lands, as applicable. line 16 (2) In addition to notice required by Article 6 (commencing line 17 with Section 65350), provides at least 30 days’ notice of the public line 18 hearing on the proposed amendments to the general plan to the line 19 owners of properties adjacent to the area affected by the proposed line 20 planned density increase, subdivision of property, or extension of line 21 water or se wer services, as applicable, to the applicable local line 22 agency formation commission, to an y city in whose sphere of line 23 influence the proposed planned density increase, subdi vision of line 24 property, or e xtension of w ater or se wer services, as applicable, line 25 is located, and any other party that requests notice from the county line 26 by submitting their name and contact information with the county line 27 clerk.
line 28 (3) Makes, in conjunction with the amendment of the general line 29 plan, all of the following findings:
line 30 (A) The proposed development requiring the increase in planned line 31 density, subdivision of property, or e xtension of w ater or se wer line 32 services is necessary to comply with state housing requirements, line 33 as confirmed by the Office of Planning and Research. line 34 (B) The parcels requiring the increase in planned density , line 35 subdivision of property, or extension of water or sewer service, as line 36 applicable, will not exceed the minimum area necessary to comply line 37 with state housing la w, as confirmed by the Office of Planning line 38 and Research.
line 39 (C) The proposed development requiring an increase in planned line 40 density, subdivision of property, or e xtension of w ater or se wer 97 AB 68 — 19 —
line 1 service is immediately adjacent to de veloped areas and housing line 2 proponent has provided evidence to the county that the county’ s line 3 departments, any applicable community services districts, and any line 4 other districts providing utilities or services to the relevant parcel line 5 have adequate capacity to accommodate the proposed development line 6 for the succeeding 30 years. F or purposes of this subparagraph, line 7 the county’s departments and other districts providing utilities and line 8 services include, but are not limited to, the fire department, sheriff’s line 9 department, public works department, water and sewer districts, line 10 and school districts.
line 11 (D) There is no other existing residential or commercial property line 12 available to accommodate the proposed de velopment on lands line 13 outside of climate resilient lands and it is not feasible to line 14 accommodate the proposed de velopment by redesignating lands line 15 outside of climate resilient lands, as confirmed by the Office of line 16 Planning and Research.
line 17 65918.5.04. Notwithstanding any law, any land that is subject line 18 to Section 65918.5.02 that is anne xed by a city after January 1, line 19 2024, shall still be subject to the prohibitions of this chapter unless line 20 it is an excluded land. For purposes of land that is subject to this line 21 section, references in this chapter to “county” shall also refer to line 22 the city that annexed the land.
line 23 SEC. 5. Section 66425.5 is added to the Government Code, to line 24 read:
line 25 66425.5. Notwithstanding any law, a county shall not approve line 26 any tentative, final, or parcel maps for the subdivision of property line 27 pursuant to this di vision unless the planning requirements or line 28 conditions set forth in Section 65918.5.03 are met for the affected line 29 parcels.
line 30 SEC. 6. The Legislature finds and declares that the provision line 31 of adequate housing, in light of the severe shortage of housing at line 32 all income levels in this state, and the preserv ation of high value line 33 natural and w orking lands are matters of state wide concern and line 34 are not municipal affairs as that term is used in Section 5 of Article line 35 XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Sections 2, 3, 4, and line 36 5 of this act amending Section 65585 of, adding Sections 65914.7.5 line 37 and 66425.5 to, and adding Chapter 4.3.1 (commencing with line 38 Section 65918.5) to Division 1 of Title 7 of, the Government Code line 39 applies to all cities, including charter cities. 97 — 20 — AB 68
line 1 SEC. 7. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 2 Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because line 3 a local agency or school district has the authority to le vy service line 4 charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or line 5 level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section line 6 17556 of the Government Code.
O
97 AB 68 — 21 —
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 3, 2023
The Honorable Buffy Wicks
California State Assembly
1021 O St.
Ste. 4240
Sacramento, CA 95814
SUBJECT: AB 68 (WARD) LAND USE: STREAMLINED HOUSING APPROVALS: DENSITY,
SUBDIVISION, AND UTILITY APPROVALS
Dear Chair Wicks and Members of the Housing and Community Development Committee:
The City of Huntington Beach respectfully OPPOSES AB 68 (Ward) because the bill proposes to strip local governments of their land use authority by permanently prohibiting all new housing construction in counties that the bill claims are not “climate smart parcels”. It will prevent local governments from permitting new housing units in most of their jurisdictions and mandates exclusionary land use policies.
AB 68 may appear to be a climate bill. However, it is a mechanism for HCD to allow streamlined, by-right housing development, and it will give HCD total authority to interpret and strip local authority.
For these reasons, the City of Huntington Beach respectfully opposes AB 68.
Sincerely,
Tony Strickland
Mayor
City of Huntington Beach
Cc: Senator Janet Nguyen
Senator Dave Min
Assembly Member Diane Dixon
Assembly Member Tri Ta
ACC-OC Board of Directors (via email)
Bismarck Obando, Director of Public Affairs ([email protected]) League of California Cities ([email protected])