CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
2000 MAIN STREET, HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA 92648-2702
GRACEY VAN DER MARK
MAYOR
714.536.5553
May 8, 2024
Honorable Toni Atkins
California State Senate
1020 O Street, Rm 8610
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: SB 450—Oppose
Dear Senator Atkins:
On behalf of the City of Huntington Beach, I write in opposition to SB 450, which would, require a local government to consider and approve an application for a duplex in an area zoned for single- family homes and lot splitting of a residentially zoned parcel within 60 days and prohibit that local government from imposing object standards on a proposed duplex project.
Local control in land use planning and zoning is crucial for ensuring that development aligns with the unique needs, character, and aspirations of a community. This is paramount for the City of Huntington Beach. Our local government should retain the ability to shape land use policies and our decisions can be tailored to reflect the specific socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural context of our city. This process fosters greater community engagement and participation, allowing residents to have a direct voice in shaping the future of their neighborhoods and promotes responsible growth.
SB 450 exacerbates the breakdown of local control that was authorized with the passage of SB 9 (Atkins, Chapter 162, 2021). SB 450 specifies that any duplex or lot splitting permit shall be deemed approved if the city does not respond within 60 days. Moreover, it specifies that we cannot use a project’s adverse impact to deny a project. As we work to review all development permits expeditiously, we must use our due diligence to guide our decision making, including reviewing impacts to the surrounding natural and built environment. As a city, it is within our rights and obligation to do so. Removing this responsibility to respond in the best interests of our residents is irresponsible.
Ultimately, by decentralizing decision-making authority to the local level, land use planning and zoning objectives can better serve the interests of the people they impact, fostering a vibrant and resilient community. For these reasons, we oppose SB 450.
Sincerely,
Gracey Van Der Mark
Mayor
Cc: Huntington Beach City Council
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 16, 2023
SENATE BILL No. 450
Introduced by Senator Atkins
February 13, 2023
An act to amend Sections 65585, 65852.21, and 66411.7 of the Government Code, relating to land use.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 450, as amended, Atkins. Housing development: approvals. (1) The Planning and Zoning La w pro vides for the creation of accessory dwelling units by local ordinance, or , if a local agenc y has not adopted an ordinance, by ministerial approval, in accordance with specified standards and conditions.
Existing law requires a proposed housing development containing no more than 2 residential units within a single-family residential zone to be considered ministerially, without discretionary review or hearing, if the proposed housing development meets certain requirements, including that the proposed housing development does not allow for the demolition of more than 25% of the e xisting exterior structural w alls, except as provided. Existing law authorizes a local agenc y to impose objecti ve zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design standards, as defined, e xcept as specified, on the proposed housing development. Existing law authorizes a local agency to deny a proposed housing development if specified conditions are met, including that the building official mak es a written finding that the proposed housing development project would have a specific, adverse impact upon public health and safety or the physical environment, as provided.
97 This bill w ould remo ve the requirement that a proposed housing development does not allo w for the demolition of more than 25% of the existing exterior structural walls to be considered ministerially. The bill w ould prohibit a local agenc y from imposing objecti ve zoning standards, objecti ve subdi vision standards, and objecti ve design standards that do not apply uniformly to de velopment within the underlying zone. This zone, but would specify that these provisions do not prohibit a local agency from adopting or imposing objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standar ds, and objective design standards on the development if the standards are more permissive than applicable standards within the underlying zone. The bill would remove the authorization for a local agenc y to den y a proposed housing development if the b uilding official mak es a written finding that the proposed housing development project would have a specific, adverse impact upon the physical environment. The bill would require the local agency to consider and appro ve or den y the proposed housing development application within 60 days from the date the local agency receives the completed application, and w ould deem the application approved after that time. The bill would require a permitting agenc y, if it denies an application, to pro vide a full set of comments to the applicant with a list of items that are defecti ve or deficient and a description of how the application can be remedied by the applicant. (2) The Subdi vision Map Act v ests the authority to re gulate and control the design and impro vement of subdivisions in the le gislative body of a local agenc y and sets forth procedures go verning the local agency’s processing, appro val, conditional appro val or disappro val, and filing of tentative, final, and parcel maps, and the modification of those maps.
Existing law requires a local agency to ministerially approve a parcel map for an urban lot split that meets certain requirements. Existing law authorizes a local agency to impose objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design standards, as defined, except as specified. Existing la w authorizes a local agenc y to deny an urban lot split if specified conditions are met, including that the b uilding official makes a written finding that the proposed housing development project would have a specific, adverse impact upon public health and safety or the physical environment, as provided.
This bill w ould specify that objecti ve zoning standards, objecti ve subdivision standards, and objecti ve design standards imposed by a local agency must be related to the design or improvements of a parcel. 97 — 2 — SB 450
This bill would remove the authorization for a local agenc y to deny a proposed housing development if the building official makes a written finding that the proposed housing de velopment project w ould have a specific, adverse impact upon the physical environment. The bill would require the local agency to consider and approve or deny the proposed housing development application within 60 days from the date the local agency recei ves the completed application, and w ould deem the application approved after that time. The bill would require a permitting agency, if it denies an application, to provide a full set of comments to the applicant with a list of items that are defecti ve or deficient and a description of how the application can be remedied by the applicant. (3) The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensi ve, long-term general plan for the ph ysical development of the county or city and requires that general plan to include, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. Existing law requires a planning agenc y to submit a cop y of its draft housing element or amendments to its housing element to the department for review, and requires the department to notify the city , city, county, or city and county if the department finds that the housing element or the amendment does not substantially comply with or is in violation of specified statutes.
This bill would add the proposed housing development and urban lot split provisions described above to the list of statutes the department is required to notify a city, county, or city and county of when reviewing a housing element or amendment.
(4) By increasing the duties of local agencies with respect to land use regulations, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) This bill would make additional nonsubstantive and conforming changes to these provisions.
(5) The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (6) By increasing the duties of local a gencies with respect to land use regulations, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (6) The
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.
97 SB 450 — 3 —
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 65585 of the Government Code is line 2 amended to read:
line 3 65585. (a) In the preparation of its housing element, each city line 4 and county shall consider the guidelines adopted by the department line 5 pursuant to Section 50459 of the Health and Safety Code. Those line 6 guidelines shall be advisory to each city or county in the line 7 preparation of its housing element.
line 8 (b) (1) At least 90 days prior to adoption of a re vision of its line 9 housing element pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 65588, or line 10 at least 60 days prior to the adoption of a subsequent amendment line 11 to this element, the planning agency shall submit a draft element line 12 revision or draft amendment to the department. The local line 13 government of the planning agenc y shall mak e the first draft line 14 revision of a housing element available for public comment for at line 15 least 30 days and, if an y comments are recei ved, the local line 16 government shall take at least 10 b usiness days after the 30-day line 17 public comment period to consider and incorporate public line 18 comments into the draft re vision prior to submitting it to the line 19 department. F or an y subsequent draft re vision, the local line 20 government shall post the draft revision on its internet website and line 21 shall email a link to the draft re vision to all indi viduals and line 22 organizations that ha ve previously requested notices relating to line 23 the local government’s housing element at least seven days before line 24 submitting the draft revision to the department. line 25 (2) The planning agenc y staf f shall collect and compile the line 26 public comments regarding the housing element recei ved by the line 27 city, county, or city and county , and pro vide these comments to line 28 each member of the legislative body before it adopts the housing line 29 element.
line 30 (3) The department shall review the draft and report its written line 31 findings to the planning agency within 90 days of its receipt of the line 32 first draft submittal for each housing element revision pursuant to line 33 subdivision (e) of Section 65588 or within 60 days of its receipt line 34 of a subsequent draft amendment or an adopted revision or adopted line 35 amendment to an element. The department shall not re view the 97 — 4 — SB 450
line 1 first draft submitted for each housing element re vision pursuant line 2 to subdivision (e) of Section 65588 until the local government has line 3 made the draft available for public comment for at least 30 days line 4 and, if comments were recei ved, has tak en at least 10 b usiness line 5 days to consider and incorporate public comments pursuant to line 6 paragraph (1).
line 7 (c) In the preparation of its findings, the department may consult line 8 with any public agenc y, group, or person. The department shall line 9 receive and consider an y written comments from an y public line 10 agency, group, or person re garding the draft or adopted element line 11 or amendment under review.
line 12 (d) In its written findings, the department shall determine line 13 whether the draft element or draft amendment substantially line 14 complies with this article.
line 15 (e) Prior to the adoption of its draft element or draft amendment, line 16 the le gislative body shall consider the findings made by the line 17 department. If the department’s findings are not a vailable within line 18 the time limits set by this section, the le gislative body may act line 19 without them.
line 20 (f) If the department finds that the draft element or draft line 21 amendment does not substantially comply with this article, the line 22 legislative body shall take one of the following actions:
line 23 (1) Change the draft element or draft amendment to substantially line 24 comply with this article.
line 25 (2) Adopt the draft element or draft amendment without changes. line 26 The legislative body shall include in its resolution of adoption line 27 written findings which e xplain the reasons the le gislative body line 28 believes that the draft element or draft amendment substantially line 29 complies with this article despite the findings of the department. line 30 (g) Promptly follo wing the adoption of its element or line 31 amendment, the planning agenc y shall submit a cop y to the line 32 department.
line 33 (h) The department shall, within 90 days, re view adopted line 34 housing elements or amendments and report its findings to the line 35 planning agency.
line 36 (i) (1) (A) The department shall re view any action or f ailure line 37 to act by the city, county, or city and county that it determines is line 38 inconsistent with an adopted housing element or Section 65583, line 39 including any failure to implement any program actions included line 40 in the housing element pursuant to Section 65583. The department 97 SB 450 — 5 —
line 1 shall issue written findings to the city, county, or city and county line 2 as to whether the action or f ailure to act substantially complies line 3 with this article, and provide a reasonable time no longer than 30 line 4 days for the city , county, or city and county to respond to the line 5 findings before taking any other action authorized by this section, line 6 including the action authorized by subparagraph (B). line 7 (B) If the department finds that the action or f ailure to act by line 8 the city, county, or city and county does not substantially comply line 9 with this article, and if it has issued findings pursuant to this section line 10 that an amendment to the housing element substantially complies line 11 with this article, the department may re voke its findings until it line 12 determines that the city, county, or city and county has come into line 13 compliance with this article.
line 14 (2) The department may consult with an y local go vernment, line 15 public agency, group, or person, and shall recei ve and consider line 16 any written comments from any public agency, group, or person, line 17 regarding the action or f ailure to act by the city , county, or city line 18 and county described in paragraph (1), in determining whether the line 19 housing element substantially complies with this article. line 20 (j) The department shall notify the city , county, or city and line 21 county and may notify the office of the Attorney General that the line 22 city, county, or city and county is in violation of state la w if the line 23 department finds that the housing element or an amendment to this line 24 element, or an y action or f ailure to act described in subdi vision line 25 (i), does not substantially comply with this article or that any local line 26 government has taken an action in violation of the following:
line 27 (1) Housing Accountability Act (Section 65589.5). line 28 (2) Section 65863.
line 29 (3) Chapter 4.3 (commencing with Section 65915). line 30 (4) Section 65008.
line 31 (5) Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (Chapter 654, Statutes of 2019, line 32 Sections 65941.1, 65943, and 66300).
line 33 (6) Section 8899.50.
line 34 (7) Section 65913.4.
line 35 (8) Article 11 (commencing with Section 65650). line 36 (9) Article 12 (commencing with Section 65660). line 37 (10) Section 65913.11.
line 38 (11) Section 65400.
line 39 (12) Section 65863.2.
line 40 (13) Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 65912.100). 97 — 6 — SB 450
line 1 (14) Section 65852.21.
line 2 (15) Section 66411.7.
line 3 (k) Commencing July 1, 2019, prior to the Attorney General line 4 bringing any suit for a violation of the pro visions identified in line 5 subdivision (j) related to housing element compliance and seeking line 6 remedies available pursuant to this subdi vision, the department line 7 shall offer the jurisdiction the opportunity for tw o meetings in line 8 person or via telephone to discuss the violation, and shall provide line 9 the jurisdiction written findings re garding the violation. This line 10 paragraph does not af fect any action filed prior to the ef fective line 11 date of this section. The requirements set forth in this subdivision line 12 do not apply to an y suits brought for a violation or violations of line 13 paragraphs (1) and (3) to (9), inclusive, of subdivision (j). line 14 (l) In any action or special proceeding brought by the Attorney line 15 General relating to housing element compliance pursuant to a line 16 notice or referral under subdivision (j), the Attorney General may line 17 request, upon a finding of the court that the housing element does line 18 not substantially comply with the requirements of this article line 19 pursuant to this section, that the court issue an order or judgment line 20 directing the jurisdiction to bring its housing element into line 21 substantial compliance with the requirements of this article. The line 22 court shall retain jurisdiction to ensure that its order or judgment line 23 is carried out. If a court determines that the housing element of line 24 the jurisdiction substantially complies with this article, it shall line 25 have the same force and effect, for purposes of eligibility for any line 26 financial assistance that requires a housing element in substantial line 27 compliance and for purposes of an y incentives pro vided under line 28 Section 65589.9, as a determination by the department that the line 29 housing element substantially complies with this article. line 30 (1) If the jurisdiction has not complied with the order or line 31 judgment after 12 months, the court shall conduct a status line 32 conference. Following the status conference, upon a determination line 33 that the jurisdiction f ailed to comply with the order or judgment line 34 compelling substantial compliance with the requirements of this line 35 article, the court shall impose fines on the jurisdiction, which shall line 36 be deposited into the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund. Any line 37 fine le vied pursuant to this paragraph shall be in a minimum line 38 amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per month, but shall not line 39 exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per month, except line 40 as pro vided in paragraphs (2) and (3). In the e vent that the 97 SB 450 — 7 —
line 1 jurisdiction fails to pay fines imposed by the court in full and on line 2 time, the court may require the Controller to intercept any available line 3 state and local funds and direct such those funds to the Building line 4 Homes and Jobs Trust Fund to correct the jurisdiction’s failure to line 5 pay. The intercept of the funds by the Controller for this purpose line 6 shall not violate any provision of the California Constitution. line 7 (2) If the jurisdiction has not complied with the order or line 8 judgment after three months follo wing the imposition of fees line 9 described in paragraph (1), the court shall conduct a status line 10 conference. Following the status conference, if the court finds that line 11 the fees imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) are insufficient to bring line 12 the jurisdiction into compliance with the order or judgment, the line 13 court may multiply the fine determined pursuant to paragraph (1) line 14 by a factor of three. In the e vent that the jurisdiction f ails to pay line 15 fines imposed by the court in full and on time, the court may line 16 require the Controller to intercept an y available state and local line 17 funds and direct such those funds to the Building Homes and Jobs line 18 Trust Fund to correct the jurisdiction’s failure to pay. The intercept line 19 of the funds by the Controller for this purpose shall not violate any line 20 provision of the California Constitution.
line 21 (3) If the jurisdiction has not complied with the order or line 22 judgment six months follo wing the imposition of fees described line 23 in paragraph (1), the court shall conduct a status conference. Upon line 24 a determination that the jurisdiction failed to comply with the order line 25 or judgment, the court may impose the following:
line 26 (A) If the court finds that the fees imposed pursuant to line 27 paragraphs (1) and (2) are insufficient to bring the jurisdiction into line 28 compliance with the order or judgment, the court may multiply line 29 the fine determined pursuant to paragraph (1) by a f actor of six. line 30 In the event that the jurisdiction fails to pay fines imposed by the line 31 court in full and on time, the court may require the Controller to line 32 intercept any available state and local funds and direct such those line 33 funds to the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund to correct the line 34 jurisdiction’s f ailure to pay . The intercept of the funds by the line 35 Controller for this purpose shall not violate an y provision of the line 36 California Constitution.
line 37 (B) The court may order remedies available pursuant to Section line 38 564 of the Code of Civil Procedure, under which the agent of the line 39 court may tak e all go vernmental actions necessary to bring the line 40 jurisdiction’s housing element into substantial compliance pursuant 97 — 8 — SB 450
line 1 to this article in order to remedy identified deficiencies. The court line 2 shall determine whether the housing element of the jurisdiction line 3 substantially complies with this article and, once the court makes line 4 that determination, it shall have the same force and effect, for all line 5 purposes, as the department’ s determination that the housing line 6 element substantially complies with this article. An agent appointed line 7 pursuant to this paragraph shall ha ve e xpertise in planning in line 8 California.
line 9 (4) This subdivision does not limit a court’s discretion to apply line 10 any and all remedies in an action or special proceeding for a line 11 violation of any law identified in subdivision (j). line 12 (m) In determining the application of the remedies a vailable line 13 under subdivision (l), the court shall consider whether there are line 14 any mitigating circumstances delaying the jurisdiction from coming line 15 into compliance with state housing la w. The court may consider line 16 whether a city, county, or city and county is making a good f aith line 17 effort to come into substantial compliance or is facing substantial line 18 undue hardships.
line 19 (n) Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the office line 20 of the Attorney General to bring a suit to enforce state la w in an line 21 independent capacity. The office of the Attorney General may seek line 22 all remedies available under law including those set forth in this line 23 section.
line 24 (o) Notwithstanding Sections 11040 and 11042, if the Attorney line 25 General declines to represent the department in an y action or line 26 special proceeding brought pursuant to a notice or referral under line 27 subdivision (j) the department may appoint or contract with other line 28 counsel for purposes of representing the department in the action line 29 or special proceeding.
line 30 (p) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the statute of line 31 limitations set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 338 of the Code line 32 of Civil Procedure shall apply to any action or special proceeding line 33 brought by the Office office of the Attorney General or pursuant line 34 to a notice or referral under subdivision (j), or by the department line 35 pursuant to subdivision (o).
line 36 SEC. 2. Section 65852.21 of the Government Code is amended line 37 to read:
line 38 65852.21. (a) A proposed housing de velopment containing line 39 no more than two residential units within a single-family residential line 40 zone shall be considered ministerially, without discretionary review 97 SB 450 — 9 —
line 1 or a hearing, if the proposed housing development meets all of the line 2 following requirements:
line 3 (1) The parcel subject to the proposed housing development is line 4 located within a city, the boundaries of which include some portion line 5 of either an urbanized area or urban cluster , as designated by the line 6 United States Census Bureau, or, for unincorporated areas, a legal line 7 parcel wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban line 8 cluster, as designated by the United States Census Bureau. line 9 (2) The parcel satisfies the requirements specified in line 10 subparagraphs (B) to (K), inclusive, of paragraph (6) of subdivision line 11 (a) of Section 65913.4. 65913.4, as that section read on September line 12 16, 2021.
line 13 (3) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or an y local line 14 law, the proposed housing de velopment w ould not require line 15 demolition or alteration of any of the following types of housing:
line 16 (A) Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, line 17 or la w that restricts rents to le vels af fordable to persons and line 18 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
line 19 (B) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 20 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. line 21 (C) Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three line 22 years.
line 23 (4) The parcel subject to the proposed housing development is line 24 not a parcel on which an o wner of residential real property has line 25 exercised the o wner’s rights under Chapter 12.75 (commencing line 26 with Section 7060) of Di vision 7 of Title 1 to withdra w line 27 accommodations from rent or lease within 15 years before the date line 28 that the development proponent submits an application. line 29 (5) The development is not located within a historic district or line 30 property included on the State Historic Resources In ventory, as line 31 defined in Section 5020.1 of the Public Resources Code, or within line 32 a site that is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or line 33 historic property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance. line 34 (b) (1) Notwithstanding any local law and except as provided line 35 in paragraphs (2) and (3), a local agenc y may impose objecti ve line 36 zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objecti ve line 37 design review standards that do not conflict with this section. line 38 (2) (A) The local agenc y shall not impose objecti ve zoning line 39 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objecti ve design line 40 standards that would have the effect of physically precluding the 97 — 10 — SB 450
line 1 construction of up to two units or that would physically preclude line 2 either of the two units from being at least 800 square feet in floor line 3 area.
line 4 (B) (i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), no setback shall be line 5 required for an existing structure or a structure constructed in the line 6 same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure. line 7 (ii) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), in all other circumstances line 8 not described in clause (i), a local agenc y may require a setback line 9 of up to four feet from the side and rear lot lines. line 10 (3) A local agency shall not impose objective zoning standards, line 11 objective subdivision standards, and objecti ve design standards line 12 that do not apply uniformly to development within the underlying line 13 zone. This subdivision shall not pr event a local a gency fr om line 14 adopting or imposing objective zoning standar ds, objective line 15 subdivision standar ds, and objective design standar ds on line 16 development authorized by this section if those standards are more line 17 permissive than applicable standards within the underlying zone. line 18 (c) In addition to any conditions established in accordance with line 19 subdivision (b), a local agenc y may require any of the following line 20 conditions when considering an application for tw o residential line 21 units as provided for in this section:
line 22 (1) Off-street Offstreet parking of up to one space per unit, line 23 except that a local agency shall not impose parking requirements line 24 in either of the following instances:
line 25 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 26 of either a high-quality transit corridor, as defined in subdivision line 27 (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, or a major line 28 transit stop, as defined in Section 21064.3 of the Public Resources line 29 Code.
line 30 (B) There is a car share vehicle located within one block of the line 31 parcel.
line 32 (2) For residential units connected to an onsite w astewater line 33 treatment system, a percolation test completed within the last 5 line 34 years, or, if the percolation test has been recertified, within the last line 35 10 years.
line 36 (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a local agenc y may deny line 37 a proposed housing de velopment project if the b uilding official line 38 makes a written finding, based upon a preponderance of the line 39 evidence, that the proposed housing de velopment project w ould line 40 have a specific, adv erse impact, as defined and determined in 97 SB 450 — 11 —
line 1 paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 65589.5, upon public line 2 health and safety for which there is no feasible method to line 3 satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. line 4 (e) A local agency shall require that a rental of any unit created line 5 pursuant to this section be for a term longer than 30 days. line 6 (f) Notwithstanding Section 65852.2 or 65852.22, a local agency line 7 shall not be required to permit an accessory dwelling unit or a line 8 junior accessory dwelling unit on parcels that use both the authority line 9 contained within this section and the authority contained in Section line 10 66411.7.
line 11 (g) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of line 12 subdivision (b), an application shall not be rejected solely because line 13 it proposes adjacent or connected structures pro vided that the line 14 structures meet building code safety standards and are sufficient line 15 to allow separate conveyance.
line 16 (h) (1) An application for a proposed housing de velopment line 17 pursuant to this section shall be considered and approved or denied line 18 within 60 days from the date the local agency receives a completed line 19 application. If the local agenc y has not appro ved or denied the line 20 completed application within 60 days, the application shall be line 21 deemed approved.
line 22 (2) If a permitting agency denies an application for a proposed line 23 housing development pursuant to paragraph (1), the permitting line 24 agency shall, within the time period described in paragraph (1), line 25 return in writing a full set of comments to the applicant with a list line 26 of items that are defecti ve or deficient and a description of ho w line 27 the application can be remedied by the applicant. line 28 (i) Local agencies shall include units constructed pursuant to line 29 this section in the annual housing element report as required by line 30 subparagraph (I) of paragraph (2) of subdi vision (a) of Section line 31 65400.
line 32 (j) For purposes of this section, all of the following apply:
line 33 (1) A housing development contains two residential units if the line 34 development proposes no more than two new units or if it proposes line 35 to add one new unit to one existing unit.
line 36 (2) The terms “objecti ve zoning standards, ” “objecti ve line 37 subdivision standards,” and “objecti ve design re view standards” line 38 mean standards that in volve no personal or subjecti ve judgment line 39 by a public official and are uniformly v erifiable by reference to line 40 an e xternal and uniform benchmark or criterion a vailable and 97 — 12 — SB 450
line 1 knowable by both the development applicant or proponent and the line 2 public official prior to submittal. These standards may be embodied line 3 in alternative objective land use specifications adopted by a local line 4 agency, and may include, b ut are not limited to, housing o verlay line 5 zones, specific plans, inclusionary zoning ordinances, and density line 6 bonus ordinances.
line 7 (3) “Local agency” means a city , county, or city and county , line 8 whether general law or chartered.
line 9 (k) A local agenc y may adopt an ordinance to implement the line 10 provisions of this section. An ordinance adopted to implement this line 11 section shall not be considered a project under Di vision 13 line 12 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. line 13 (l) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or in line 14 any way alter or lessen the effect or application of the California line 15 Coastal Act of 1976 (Di vision 20 (commencing with Section line 16 30000) of the Public Resources Code), except that the local agency line 17 shall not be required to hold public hearings for coastal line 18 development permit applications for a housing de velopment line 19 pursuant to this section.
line 20 SEC. 3. Section 66411.7 of the Government Code is amended line 21 to read:
line 22 66411.7. (a) Notwithstanding an y other pro vision of this line 23 division and an y local la w, a local agenc y shall ministerially line 24 approve, as set forth in this section, a parcel map for an urban lot line 25 split only if the local agenc y determines that the parcel map for line 26 the urban lot split meets all the following requirements:
line 27 (1) The parcel map subdi vides an existing parcel to create no line 28 more than tw o ne w parcels of approximately equal lot area line 29 provided that one parcel shall not be smaller than 40 percent of line 30 the lot area of the original parcel proposed for subdivision. line 31 (2) (A) Except as pro vided in subparagraph (B), both ne wly line 32 created parcels are no smaller than 1,200 square feet. line 33 (B) A local agency may by ordinance adopt a smaller minimum line 34 lot size subject to ministerial approval under this subdivision. line 35 (3) The parcel being subdi vided meets all the follo wing line 36 requirements:
line 37 (A) The parcel is located within a single-family residential zone. line 38 (B) The parcel subject to the proposed urban lot split is located line 39 within a city , the boundaries of which include some portion of line 40 either an urbanized area or urban cluster , as designated by the 97 SB 450 — 13 —
line 1 United States Census Bureau, or, for unincorporated areas, a legal line 2 parcel wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban line 3 cluster, as designated by the United States Census Bureau. line 4 (C) The parcel satisfies the requirements specified in line 5 subparagraphs (B) to (K), inclusive, of paragraph (6) of subdivision line 6 (a) of Section 65913.4. 65913.4, as that section read on September line 7 16, 2021.
line 8 (D) The proposed urban lot split would not require demolition line 9 or alteration of any of the following types of housing:
line 10 (i) Housing that is subject to a recorded co venant, ordinance, line 11 or la w that restricts rents to le vels af fordable to persons and line 12 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
line 13 (ii) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 14 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. line 15 (iii) A parcel or parcels on which an o wner of residential real line 16 property has e xercised the o wner’s rights under Chapter 12.75 line 17 (commencing with Section 7060) of Di vision 7 of Title 1 to line 18 withdraw accommodations from rent or lease within 15 years line 19 before the date that the de velopment proponent submits an line 20 application.
line 21 (iv) Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three line 22 years.
line 23 (E) The parcel is not located within a historic district or property line 24 included on the State Historic Resources Inventory, as defined in line 25 Section 5020.1 of the Public Resources Code, or within a site that line 26 is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or historic line 27 property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance. line 28 (F) The parcel has not been established through prior e xercise line 29 of an urban lot split as provided for in this section. line 30 (G) Neither the owner of the parcel being subdi vided nor any line 31 person acting in concert with the owner has previously subdivided line 32 an adjacent parcel using an urban lot split as pro vided for in this line 33 section.
line 34 (b) An application for a parcel map for an urban lot split shall line 35 be approved in accordance with the following requirements:
line 36 (1) (A) A local agency shall approve or deny an application for line 37 a parcel map for an urban lot split ministerially without line 38 discretionary review.
line 39 (B) An application for an urban lot split shall be considered and line 40 approved or denied within 60 days from the date the local agency 97 — 14 — SB 450
line 1 receives a completed application. If the local agenc y has not line 2 approved or denied the completed application within 60 days, the line 3 application shall be deemed approved.
line 4 (C) If a permitting agenc y denies an application for an urban line 5 lot split pursuant to subparagraph (B), the permitting agency shall, line 6 within the time period described in paragraph (1), return in writing line 7 a full set of comments to the applicant with a list of items that are line 8 defective or deficient and a description of how the application can line 9 be remedied by the applicant.
line 10 (2) A local agenc y shall appro ve an urban lot split only if it line 11 conforms to all applicable objecti ve requirements of the line 12 Subdivision Map Act (Di vision 2 (commencing with Section line 13 66410)), except as otherwise expressly provided in this section. line 14 (3) Notwithstanding Section 66411.1, a local agenc y shall not line 15 impose regulations that require dedications of rights-of-way or the line 16 construction of offsite improvements for the parcels being created line 17 as a condition of issuing a parcel map for an urban lot split pursuant line 18 to this section.
line 19 (c) (1) Except as pro vided in paragraph (2), notwithstanding line 20 any local la w, a local agenc y may impose objecti ve zoning line 21 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objecti ve design line 22 review standards that are related to the design or to improvements line 23 of a parcel, consistent with paragraph (3) of subdi vision (b) and line 24 with subdivision (e), and are applicable to a parcel created by an line 25 urban lot split that do not conflict with this section. line 26 (2) A local agency shall not impose objective zoning standards, line 27 objective subdi vision standards, and objecti ve design re view line 28 standards that would have the effect of physically precluding the line 29 construction of two units on either of the resulting parcels or that line 30 would result in a unit size of less than 800 square feet. line 31 (3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), no setback shall be line 32 required for an existing structure or a structure constructed in the line 33 same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure. line 34 (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), in all other circumstances line 35 not described in subparagraph (A), a local agenc y may require a line 36 setback of up to four feet from the side and rear lot lines. line 37 (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a local agenc y may deny line 38 an urban lot split if the building official makes a written finding, line 39 based upon a preponderance of the e vidence, that the proposed line 40 housing de velopment project w ould ha ve a specific, adv erse 97 SB 450 — 15 —
line 1 impact, as defined and determined in paragraph (2) of subdivision line 2 (d) of Section 65589.5, upon public health and safety and for which line 3 there is no feasible method to satisf actorily mitigate or avoid the line 4 specific, adverse impact.
line 5 (e) In addition to any conditions established in accordance with line 6 this section, a local agenc y may require an y of the follo wing line 7 conditions when considering an application for a parcel map for line 8 an urban lot split:
line 9 (1) Easements required for the provision of public services and line 10 facilities.
line 11 (2) A requirement that the parcels have access to, provide access line 12 to, or adjoin the public right-of-way.
line 13 (3) Off-street Offstreet parking of up to one space per unit, line 14 except that a local agency shall not impose parking requirements line 15 in either of the following instances:
line 16 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 17 of either a high-quality transit corridor as defined in subdi vision line 18 (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, or a major line 19 transit stop as defined in Section 21064.3 of the Public Resources line 20 Code.
line 21 (B) There is a car share vehicle located within one block of the line 22 parcel.
line 23 (f) A local agency shall require that the uses allo wed on a lot line 24 created by this section be limited to residential uses. line 25 (g) (1) A local agency shall require an applicant for an urban line 26 lot split to sign an affida vit stating that the applicant intends to line 27 occupy one of the housing units as their principal residence for a line 28 minimum of three years from the date of the approval of the urban line 29 lot split.
line 30 (2) This subdivision shall not apply to an applicant that is a line 31 “community land trust,” as defined in clause (ii) of subparagraph line 32 (C) of paragraph (11) of subdi vision (a) of Section 402.1 of the line 33 Revenue and Taxation Code, or is a “qualified nonprofit line 34 corporation” as described in Section 214.15 of the Re venue and line 35 Taxation Code.
line 36 (3) A local agency shall not impose additional owner occupancy line 37 standards, other than provided for in this subdivision, on an urban line 38 lot split pursuant to this section.
line 39 (h) A local agency shall require that a rental of any unit created line 40 pursuant to this section be for a term longer than 30 days. 97 — 16 — SB 450
line 1 (i) A local agency shall not require, as a condition for ministerial line 2 approval of a parcel map application for the creation of an urban line 3 lot split, the correction of nonconforming zoning conditions. line 4 (j) (1) Notwithstanding an y pro vision of Section 65852.2, line 5 65852.21, 65852.22, 65915, or this section, a local agenc y shall line 6 not be required to permit more than two units on a parcel created line 7 through the exercise of the authority contained within this section. line 8 (2) For the purposes of this section, “unit” means any dwelling line 9 unit, including, but not limited to, a unit or units created pursuant line 10 to Section 65852.21, a primary dwelling, an accessory dwelling line 11 unit as defined in Section 65852.2, or a junior accessory dwelling line 12 unit as defined in Section 65852.22.
line 13 (k) Notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdi vision (c), an line 14 application shall not be rejected solely because it proposes adjacent line 15 or connected structures provided that the structures meet building line 16 code safety standards and are sufficient to allo w separate line 17 conveyance.
line 18 (l) Local agencies shall include the number of applications for line 19 parcel maps for urban lot splits pursuant to this section in the line 20 annual housing element report as required by subparagraph (I) of line 21 paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 65400. line 22 (m) For purposes of this section, both of the follo wing shall line 23 apply:
line 24 (1) “Objective zoning standards, ” “objecti ve subdi vision line 25 standards,” and “objective design review standards” mean standards line 26 that involve no personal or subjective judgment by a public official line 27 and are uniformly v erifiable by reference to an e xternal and line 28 uniform benchmark or criterion a vailable and knowable by both line 29 the development applicant or proponent and the public official line 30 prior to submittal. These standards may be embodied in alternative line 31 objective land use specifications adopted by a local agenc y, and line 32 may include, but are not limited to, housing overlay zones, specific line 33 plans, inclusionary zoning ordinances, and density bonus line 34 ordinances.
line 35 (2) “Local agency” means a city , county, or city and county , line 36 whether general law or chartered.
line 37 (n) A local agenc y may adopt an ordinance to implement the line 38 provisions of this section. An ordinance adopted to implement this line 39 section shall not be considered a project under Di vision 13 line 40 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. 97 SB 450 — 17 —
line 1 (o) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or in line 2 any way alter or lessen the effect or application of the California line 3 Coastal Act of 1976 (Di vision 20 (commencing with Section line 4 30000) of the Public Resources Code), except that the local agency line 5 shall not be required to hold public hearings for coastal line 6 development permit applications for urban lot splits pursuant to line 7 this section.
line 8 SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that ensuring the line 9 state faces a se vere housing crisis, lar gely due to the lac k of line 10 available housing affordable to lower income and moderate-income line 11 families. Ensuring access to af fordable housing housing , line 12 particularly on infill sites that pr omote fair housing in line 13 high-resource areas, is a matter of statewide concern and is not a line 14 municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of line 15 the California Constitution. Therefore, Sections 2 and 3 of this act line 16 amending Sections 65852.21 and 66411.7 of the Government Code line 17 apply to all cities, including charter cities.
line 18 SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 19 Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because line 20 a local agency or school district has the authority to le vy service line 21 charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or line 22 level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section line 23 17556 of the Government Code.
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97 — 18 — SB 450