AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2024
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, 65852.21 and 66411.7 of the Government Code, and to amend Section 4 of Chapter 162 of the Statutes of 2021, relating to land use.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 450, as amended, Atkins. Housing development: approvals. (1) The Planning and Zoning Law provides for the creation of accessory dwelling units by local ordinance, or, if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, by ministerial approval, in accordance with specified standards and conditions.
Existing law
(1) The Planning and Zoning 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 existing exterior structural walls, except as provided. Existing law authorizes a local agency to impose objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design standards, as defined, except as specified, on the proposed housing development. Existing law authorizes a local agency to deny a proposed housing development if
96 specified conditions are met, including that the building 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 would remove the requirement that a proposed housing development does not allow for the demolition of more than 25% of the existing exterior structural walls to be considered ministerially. The bill would prohibit a local agency from imposing objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design standards that do not apply uniformly to development within the underlying zone, but would specify that these provisions do not prohibit a local agency from adopting or imposing objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, 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 agency to deny a proposed housing development if the building official makes 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 approve or deny the proposed housing development application within 60 days from the date the local agency receives the completed application, and would 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 defective or deficient and a description of how the application can be remedied by the applicant.
(2) The Subdivision Map Act vests the authority to regulate and control the design and improvement of subdivisions in the legislative body of a local agency and sets forth procedures governing the local agency’s processing, approval, conditional approval or disapproval, 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 law authorizes a local agency to deny an urban lot split if specified conditions are met, including that the building official makes a written finding that the proposed housing development 96 SB 450 — 2 —
project would have a specific, adverse impact upon public health and safety or the physical environment, as provided.
This bill would specify that objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design standards imposed by a local agency must be related to the design or improvements of a parcel.
This bill would remove the authorization for a local agency to deny a proposed housing development if the building official makes 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 approve or deny the proposed housing development application within 60 days from the date the local agency receives the completed application, and would 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 defective 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 comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical 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 agency to submit a copy of its draft housing element or amendments to its housing element to the department for review, and requires the department to notify the 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)
(3) This bill would make additional nonsubstantive and conforming changes to these provisions.
(5)
(4) The bill would include findings that related to changes proposed by this bill and would amend certain findings in existing law to state that the provisions address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
(6)
96 — 3 — SB 450
(5) By increasing the duties of local agencies with respect to land use regulations, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for 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 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 revision 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 agency shall make the first draft line 14 revision of a housing element available for public comment for at line 15 least 30 days and, if any comments are received, the local line 16 government shall take at least 10 business days after the 30-day line 17 public comment period to consider and incorporate public line 18 comments into the draft revision prior to submitting it to the line 19 department. For any subsequent draft revision, the local line 20 government shall post the draft revision on its internet website and line 21 shall email a link to the draft revision to all individuals and line 22 organizations that have 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 agency staff shall collect and compile the line 26 public comments regarding the housing element received by the line 27 city, county, or city and county, and provide these comments to 96 SB 450 — 4 —
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 review the line 9 first draft submitted for each housing element revision 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 received, has taken at least 10 business 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 agency, group, or person. The department shall line 17 receive and consider any written comments from any public line 18 agency, group, or person regarding 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 legislative body shall consider the findings made by the line 25 department. If the department’s findings are not available within line 26 the time limits set by this section, the legislative 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 explain the reasons the legislative 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 following the adoption of its element or line 39 amendment, the planning agency shall submit a copy to the line 40 department.
96 — 5 — SB 450
line 1 (h) The department shall, within 90 days, review 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 review any action or failure 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 failure 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 failure 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 revoke 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 any local government, line 23 public agency, group, or person, and shall receive and consider line 24 any written comments from any public agency, group, or person, line 25 regarding the action or failure 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 law if the line 31 department finds that the housing element or an amendment to this line 32 element, or any action or failure to act described in subdivision 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).
96 SB 450 — 6 —
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 65852.21.
line 10 (15) Section 66411.7.
line 11 (k) Commencing July 1, 2019, prior to the Attorney General line 12 bringing any suit for a violation of the provisions identified in line 13 subdivision (j) related to housing element compliance and seeking line 14 remedies available pursuant to this subdivision, the department line 15 shall offer the jurisdiction the opportunity for two meetings in line 16 person or via telephone to discuss the violation, and shall provide line 17 the jurisdiction written findings regarding the violation. This line 18 paragraph does not affect any action filed prior to the effective line 19 date of this section. The requirements set forth in this subdivision line 20 do not apply to any suits brought for a violation or violations of line 21 paragraphs (1) and (3) to (9), inclusive, of subdivision (j). line 22 (l) In any action or special proceeding brought by the Attorney line 23 General relating to housing element compliance pursuant to a line 24 notice or referral under subdivision (j), the Attorney General may line 25 request, upon a finding of the court that the housing element does line 26 not substantially comply with the requirements of this article line 27 pursuant to this section, that the court issue an order or judgment line 28 directing the jurisdiction to bring its housing element into line 29 substantial compliance with the requirements of this article. The line 30 court shall retain jurisdiction to ensure that its order or judgment line 31 is carried out. If a court determines that the housing element of line 32 the jurisdiction substantially complies with this article, it shall line 33 have the same force and effect, for purposes of eligibility for any line 34 financial assistance that requires a housing element in substantial line 35 compliance and for purposes of any incentives provided under line 36 Section 65589.9, as a determination by the department that the line 37 housing element substantially complies with this article. line 38 (1) If the jurisdiction has not complied with the order or line 39 judgment after 12 months, the court shall conduct a status line 40 conference. Following the status conference, upon a determination 96 — 7 — SB 450
line 1 that the jurisdiction failed to comply with the order or judgment line 2 compelling substantial compliance with the requirements of this line 3 article, the court shall impose fines on the jurisdiction, which shall line 4 be deposited into the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund. Any line 5 fine levied pursuant to this paragraph shall be in a minimum line 6 amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per month, but shall not line 7 exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per month, except line 8 as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3). In the event that the line 9 jurisdiction fails to pay fines imposed by the court in full and on line 10 time, the court may require the Controller to intercept any available line 11 state and local funds and direct those funds to the Building Homes line 12 and Jobs Trust Fund to correct the jurisdiction’s failure to pay. line 13 The intercept of the funds by the Controller for this purpose shall line 14 not violate any provision of the California Constitution. line 15 (2) If the jurisdiction has not complied with the order or line 16 judgment after three months following the imposition of fees line 17 described in paragraph (1), the court shall conduct a status line 18 conference. Following the status conference, if the court finds that line 19 the fees imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) are insufficient to bring line 20 the jurisdiction into compliance with the order or judgment, the line 21 court may multiply the fine determined pursuant to paragraph (1) line 22 by a factor of three. In the event that the jurisdiction fails to pay line 23 fines imposed by the court in full and on time, the court may line 24 require the Controller to intercept any available state and local line 25 funds and direct those funds to the Building Homes and Jobs Trust line 26 Fund to correct the jurisdiction’s failure to pay. The intercept of line 27 the funds by the Controller for this purpose shall not violate any line 28 provision of the California Constitution.
line 29 (3) If the jurisdiction has not complied with the order or line 30 judgment six months following the imposition of fees described line 31 in paragraph (1), the court shall conduct a status conference. Upon line 32 a determination that the jurisdiction failed to comply with the order line 33 or judgment, the court may impose the following:
line 34 (A) If the court finds that the fees imposed pursuant to line 35 paragraphs (1) and (2) are insufficient to bring the jurisdiction into line 36 compliance with the order or judgment, the court may multiply line 37 the fine determined pursuant to paragraph (1) by a factor of six. line 38 In the event that the jurisdiction fails to pay fines imposed by the line 39 court in full and on time, the court may require the Controller to line 40 intercept any available state and local funds and direct those funds 96 SB 450 — 8 —
line 1 to the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund to correct the line 2 jurisdiction’s failure to pay. The intercept of the funds by the line 3 Controller for this purpose shall not violate any provision of the line 4 California Constitution.
line 5 (B) The court may order remedies available pursuant to Section line 6 564 of the Code of Civil Procedure, under which the agent of the line 7 court may take all governmental actions necessary to bring the line 8 jurisdiction’s housing element into substantial compliance pursuant line 9 to this article in order to remedy identified deficiencies. The court line 10 shall determine whether the housing element of the jurisdiction line 11 substantially complies with this article and, once the court makes line 12 that determination, it shall have the same force and effect, for all line 13 purposes, as the department’s determination that the housing line 14 element substantially complies with this article. An agent appointed line 15 pursuant to this paragraph shall have expertise in planning in line 16 California.
line 17 (4) This subdivision does not limit a court’s discretion to apply line 18 any and all remedies in an action or special proceeding for a line 19 violation of any law identified in subdivision (j). line 20 (m) In determining the application of the remedies available line 21 under subdivision (l), the court shall consider whether there are line 22 any mitigating circumstances delaying the jurisdiction from coming line 23 into compliance with state housing law. The court may consider line 24 whether a city, county, or city and county is making a good faith line 25 effort to come into substantial compliance or is facing substantial line 26 undue hardships.
line 27 (n) Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the office line 28 of the Attorney General to bring a suit to enforce state law in an line 29 independent capacity. The office of the Attorney General may seek line 30 all remedies available under law including those set forth in this line 31 section.
line 32 (o) Notwithstanding Sections 11040 and 11042, if the Attorney line 33 General declines to represent the department in any action or line 34 special proceeding brought pursuant to a notice or referral under line 35 subdivision (j) the department may appoint or contract with other line 36 counsel for purposes of representing the department in the action line 37 or special proceeding.
line 38 (p) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the statute of line 39 limitations set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 338 of the Code line 40 of Civil Procedure shall apply to any action or special proceeding 96 — 9 — SB 450
line 1 brought by the office of the Attorney General or pursuant to a line 2 notice or referral under subdivision (j), or by the department line 3 pursuant to subdivision (o).
line 4 SEC. 2. Section 65852.21 of the Government Code is amended line 5 to read:
line 6 65852.21. (a) A proposed housing development containing line 7 no more than two residential units within a single-family residential line 8 zone shall be considered ministerially, without discretionary review line 9 or a hearing, if the proposed housing development meets all of the line 10 following requirements:
line 11 (1) The parcel subject to the proposed housing development is line 12 located within a city, the boundaries of which include some portion line 13 of either an urbanized area or urban cluster, as designated by the line 14 United States Census Bureau, or, for unincorporated areas, a legal line 15 parcel wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban line 16 cluster, as designated by the United States Census Bureau. line 17 (2) The parcel satisfies the requirements specified in line 18 subparagraphs (B) to (K), inclusive, of paragraph (6) of subdivision line 19 (a) of Section 65913.4, as that section read on September 16, 2021. line 20 (3) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or any local line 21 law, the proposed housing development would not require line 22 demolition or alteration of any of the following types of housing:
line 23 (A) Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, line 24 or law that restricts rents to levels affordable to persons and line 25 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
line 26 (B) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 27 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. line 28 (C) Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three line 29 years.
line 30 (4) The parcel subject to the proposed housing development is line 31 not a parcel on which an owner of residential real property has line 32 exercised the owner’s rights under Chapter 12.75 (commencing line 33 with Section 7060) of Division 7 of Title 1 to withdraw line 34 accommodations from rent or lease within 15 years before the date line 35 that the development proponent submits an application. line 36 (5) The development is not located within a historic district or line 37 property included on the State Historic Resources Inventory, as line 38 defined in Section 5020.1 of the Public Resources Code, or within line 39 a site that is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or line 40 historic property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance. 96 SB 450 — 10 —
line 1 (b) (1) Notwithstanding any local law and except as provided line 2 in paragraphs (2) and (3), a local agency may impose objective line 3 zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective line 4 design review standards that do not conflict with this section. line 5 (2) (A) The local agency shall not impose objective zoning line 6 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design line 7 standards that would have the effect of physically precluding the line 8 construction of up to two units or that would physically preclude line 9 either of the two units from being at least 800 square feet in floor line 10 area.
line 11 (B) (i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), no setback shall be line 12 required for an existing structure or a structure constructed in the line 13 same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure. line 14 (ii) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), in all other circumstances line 15 not described in clause (i), a local agency may require a setback line 16 of up to four feet from the side and rear lot lines. line 17 (3) A local agency shall not impose objective zoning standards, line 18 objective subdivision standards, and objective design standards line 19 that do not apply uniformly to development within the underlying line 20 zone. This subdivision shall not prevent a local agency from line 21 adopting or imposing objective zoning standards, objective line 22 subdivision standards, and objective design standards on line 23 development authorized by this section if those standards are more line 24 permissive than applicable standards within the underlying zone. line 25 (c) In addition to any conditions established in accordance with line 26 subdivision (b), a local agency may require any of the following line 27 conditions when considering an application for two residential line 28 units as provided for in this section:
line 29 (1) Offstreet parking of up to one space per unit, except that a line 30 local agency shall not impose parking requirements in either of line 31 the following instances:
line 32 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 33 of either a high-quality transit corridor, as defined in subdivision line 34 (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, or a major line 35 transit stop, as defined in Section 21064.3 of the Public Resources line 36 Code.
line 37 (B) There is a car share vehicle located within one block of the line 38 parcel.
line 39 (2) For residential units connected to an onsite wastewater line 40 treatment system, a percolation test completed within the last 5 96 — 11 — SB 450
line 1 years, or, if the percolation test has been recertified, within the last line 2 10 years.
line 3 (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a local agency may deny line 4 a proposed housing development project if the building official line 5 makes a written finding, based upon a preponderance of the line 6 evidence, that the proposed housing development project would line 7 have a specific, adverse impact, as defined and determined in line 8 paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 65589.5, upon public line 9 health and safety for which there is no feasible method to line 10 satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. line 11 (e) A local agency shall require that a rental of any unit created line 12 pursuant to this section be for a term longer than 30 days. line 13 (f) Notwithstanding Section 65852.2 or 65852.22, a local agency line 14 shall not be required to permit an accessory dwelling unit or a line 15 junior accessory dwelling unit on parcels that use both the authority line 16 contained within this section and the authority contained in Section line 17 66411.7.
line 18 (g) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of line 19 subdivision (b), an application shall not be rejected solely because line 20 it proposes adjacent or connected structures provided that the line 21 structures meet building code safety standards and are sufficient line 22 to allow separate conveyance.
line 23 (h) (1) An application for a proposed housing development line 24 pursuant to this section shall be considered and approved or denied line 25 within 60 days from the date the local agency receives a completed line 26 application. If the local agency has not approved or denied the line 27 completed application within 60 days, the application shall be line 28 deemed approved.
line 29 (2) If a permitting agency denies an application for a proposed line 30 housing development pursuant to paragraph (1), the permitting line 31 agency shall, within the time period described in paragraph (1), line 32 return in writing a full set of comments to the applicant with a list line 33 of items that are defective or deficient and a description of how line 34 the application can be remedied by the applicant. line 35 (i) Local agencies shall include units constructed pursuant to line 36 this section in the annual housing element report as required by line 37 subparagraph (I) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section line 38 65400.
line 39 (j) For purposes of this section, all of the following apply:
96 SB 450 — 12 —
line 1 (1) A housing development contains two residential units if the line 2 development proposes no more than two new units or if it proposes line 3 to add one new unit to one existing unit.
line 4 (2) The terms “objective zoning standards,” “objective line 5 subdivision standards,” and “objective design review standards” line 6 mean standards that involve no personal or subjective judgment line 7 by a public official and are uniformly verifiable by reference to line 8 an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and line 9 knowable by both the development applicant or proponent and the line 10 public official prior to submittal. These standards may be embodied line 11 in alternative objective land use specifications adopted by a local line 12 agency, and may include, but are not limited to, housing overlay line 13 zones, specific plans, inclusionary zoning ordinances, and density line 14 bonus ordinances.
line 15 (3) “Local agency” means a city, county, or city and county, line 16 whether general law or chartered.
line 17 (k) A local agency may adopt an ordinance to implement the line 18 provisions of this section. An ordinance adopted to implement this line 19 section shall not be considered a project under Division 13 line 20 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. line 21 (l) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or in line 22 any way alter or lessen the effect or application of the California line 23 Coastal Act of 1976 (Division 20 (commencing with Section line 24 30000) of the Public Resources Code), except that the local agency line 25 shall not be required to hold public hearings for coastal line 26 development permit applications for a housing development line 27 pursuant to this section.
line 28 SECTION 1. Section 65852.21 of the Government Code is line 29 amended to read:
line 30 65852.21. (a) A proposed housing development containing line 31 no more than two residential units within a single-family residential line 32 zone shall be considered ministerially, without discretionary review line 33 or a hearing, if the proposed housing development meets all of the line 34 following requirements:
line 35 (1) The parcel subject to the proposed housing development is line 36 located within a city, the boundaries of which include some portion line 37 of either an urbanized area or urban cluster, as designated by the line 38 United States Census Bureau, or, for unincorporated areas, a legal line 39 parcel wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban line 40 cluster, as designated by the United States Census Bureau. 96 — 13 — SB 450
line 1 (2) The parcel satisfies the requirements specified in line 2 subparagraphs (B) to (K), inclusive, of paragraph (6) of subdivision line 3 (a) of Section 65913.4. 65913.4, as that section read on September line 4 16, 2021.
line 5 (3) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or any local line 6 law, the proposed housing development would not require line 7 demolition or alteration of any of the following types of housing:
line 8 (A) Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, line 9 or law that restricts rents to levels affordable to persons and line 10 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
line 11 (B) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 12 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. line 13 (C) Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three line 14 years.
line 15 (4) The parcel subject to the proposed housing development is line 16 not a parcel on which an owner of residential real property has line 17 exercised the owner’s rights under Chapter 12.75 (commencing line 18 with Section 7060) of Division 7 of Title 1 to withdraw line 19 accommodations from rent or lease within 15 years before the date line 20 that the development proponent submits an application. line 21 (5) The proposed housing development does not allow the line 22 demolition of more than 25 percent of the existing exterior line 23 structural walls, unless the housing development meets at least line 24 one of the following conditions:
line 25 (A) If a local ordinance so allows.
line 26 (B) The site has not been occupied by a tenant in the last three line 27 years.
line 28 (6)
line 29 (5) The development is not located within a historic district or line 30 property included on the State Historic Resources Inventory, 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 paragraph (2), paragraphs (2) and (3), a local agency may line 36 impose objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, line 37 and objective design review standards that do not conflict with line 38 this section.
line 39 (2) (A) The local agency shall not impose objective zoning line 40 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design 96 SB 450 — 14 —
line 1 standards that would have the effect of physically precluding the line 2 construction of up to two units or that would physically preclude line 3 either of the two units from being at least 800 square feet in floor line 4 area.
line 5 (B) (i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), no setback shall be line 6 required for an existing structure or a structure constructed in the line 7 same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure. line 8 (ii) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), in all other circumstances line 9 not described in clause (i), a local agency may require a setback line 10 of up to four feet from the side and rear lot lines. line 11 (3) A local agency shall not impose objective zoning standards, line 12 objective subdivision standards, and objective design standards line 13 that do not apply uniformly to development within the underlying line 14 zone. This subdivision shall not prevent a local agency from line 15 adopting or imposing objective zoning standards, objective line 16 subdivision standards, and objective design standards on line 17 development authorized by this section if those standards are more line 18 permissive than applicable standards within the underlying zone. line 19 (c) In addition to any conditions established in accordance with line 20 subdivision (b), a local agency may require any of the following line 21 conditions when considering an application for two residential line 22 units as provided for in this section:
line 23 (1) Off-street Offstreet parking of up to one space per unit, line 24 except that a local agency shall not impose parking requirements line 25 in either of the following instances:
line 26 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 27 of either a high-quality transit corridor, as defined in subdivision line 28 (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, or a major line 29 transit stop, as defined in Section 21064.3 of the Public Resources line 30 Code.
line 31 (B) There is a car share vehicle located within one block of the line 32 parcel.
line 33 (2) For residential units connected to an onsite wastewater line 34 treatment system, a percolation test completed within the last 5 line 35 years, or, if the percolation test has been recertified, within the last line 36 10 years.
line 37 (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a local agency may deny line 38 a proposed housing development project if the building official line 39 makes a written finding, based upon a preponderance of the line 40 evidence, that the proposed housing development project would 96 — 15 — SB 450
line 1 have a specific, adverse impact, as defined and determined in line 2 paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 65589.5, upon public line 3 health and safety or the physical environment and for which there line 4 is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, line 5 adverse impact.
line 6 (e) A local agency shall require that a rental of any unit created line 7 pursuant to this section be for a term longer than 30 days. line 8 (f) Notwithstanding Article 2 (commencing with Section 66314) line 9 or Article 3 (commencing with Section 6633) 66333) of Chapter line 10 13. 13, a local agency shall not be required to permit an accessory line 11 dwelling unit or a junior accessory dwelling unit on parcels that line 12 use both the authority contained within this section and the line 13 authority contained in Section 66411.7.
line 14 (g) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of line 15 subdivision (b), an application shall not be rejected solely because line 16 it proposes adjacent or connected structures provided that the line 17 structures meet building code safety standards and are sufficient line 18 to allow separate conveyance.
line 19 (h) (1) An application for a proposed housing development line 20 pursuant to this section shall be considered and approved or denied line 21 within 60 days from the date the local agency receives a completed line 22 application. If the local agency has not approved or denied the line 23 completed application within 60 days, the application shall be line 24 deemed approved.
line 25 (2) If a permitting agency denies an application for a proposed line 26 housing development pursuant to paragraph (1), the permitting line 27 agency shall, within the time period described in paragraph (1), line 28 return in writing a full set of comments to the applicant with a list line 29 of items that are defective or deficient and a description of how line 30 the application can be remedied by the applicant. line 31 (h)
line 32 (i) Local agencies shall include units constructed pursuant to line 33 this section in the annual housing element report as required by line 34 subparagraph (I) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section line 35 65400.
line 36 (i)
line 37 (j) For purposes of this section, all of the following apply:
line 38 (1) A housing development contains two residential units if the line 39 development proposes no more than two new units or if it proposes line 40 to add one new unit to one existing unit.
96 SB 450 — 16 —
line 1 (2) The terms “objective zoning standards,” “objective line 2 subdivision standards,” and “objective design review standards” line 3 mean standards that involve no personal or subjective judgment line 4 by a public official and are uniformly verifiable by reference to line 5 an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and line 6 knowable by both the development applicant or proponent and the line 7 public official prior to submittal. These standards may be embodied line 8 in alternative objective land use specifications adopted by a local line 9 agency, and may include, but are not limited to, housing overlay line 10 zones, specific plans, inclusionary zoning ordinances, and density line 11 bonus ordinances.
line 12 (3) “Local agency” means a city, county, or city and county, line 13 whether general law or chartered.
line 14 (j)
line 15 (k) A local agency may adopt an ordinance to implement the line 16 provisions of this section. An ordinance adopted to implement this line 17 section shall not be considered a project under Division 13 line 18 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. line 19 (k)
line 20 (l) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or in line 21 any way alter or lessen the effect or application of the California line 22 Coastal Act of 1976 (Division 20 (commencing with Section line 23 30000) of the Public Resources Code), except that the local agency line 24 shall not be required to hold public hearings for coastal line 25 development permit applications for a housing development line 26 pursuant to this section.
line 27 SEC. 3. Section 66411.7 of the Government Code is amended line 28 to read:
line 29 66411.7. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this line 30 division and any local law, a local agency shall ministerially line 31 approve, as set forth in this section, a parcel map for an urban lot line 32 split only if the local agency determines that the parcel map for line 33 the urban lot split meets all the following requirements:
line 34 (1) The parcel map subdivides an existing parcel to create no line 35 more than two new parcels of approximately equal lot area line 36 provided that one parcel shall not be smaller than 40 percent of line 37 the lot area of the original parcel proposed for subdivision. line 38 (2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), both newly line 39 created parcels are no smaller than 1,200 square feet. 96 — 17 — SB 450
line 1 (B) A local agency may by ordinance adopt a smaller minimum line 2 lot size subject to ministerial approval under this subdivision. line 3 (3) The parcel being subdivided meets all the following line 4 requirements:
line 5 (A) The parcel is located within a single-family residential zone. line 6 (B) The parcel subject to the proposed urban lot split is located line 7 within a city, the boundaries of which include some portion of line 8 either an urbanized area or urban cluster, as designated by the line 9 United States Census Bureau, or, for unincorporated areas, a legal line 10 parcel wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban line 11 cluster, as designated by the United States Census Bureau. line 12 (C) The parcel satisfies the requirements specified in line 13 subparagraphs (B) to (K), inclusive, of paragraph (6) of subdivision line 14 (a) of Section 65913.4, as that section read on September 16, 2021. line 15 (D) The proposed urban lot split would not require demolition line 16 or alteration of any of the following types of housing:
line 17 (i) Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, line 18 or law that restricts rents to levels affordable to persons and line 19 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
line 20 (ii) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 21 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. line 22 (iii) A parcel or parcels on which an owner of residential real line 23 property has exercised the owner’s rights under Chapter 12.75 line 24 (commencing with Section 7060) of Division 7 of Title 1 to line 25 withdraw accommodations from rent or lease within 15 years line 26 before the date that the development proponent submits an line 27 application.
line 28 (iv) Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three line 29 years.
line 30 (E) The parcel is not located within a historic district or property line 31 included on the State Historic Resources Inventory, as defined in line 32 Section 5020.1 of the Public Resources Code, or within a site that line 33 is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or historic line 34 property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance. line 35 (F) The parcel has not been established through prior exercise line 36 of an urban lot split as provided for in this section. line 37 (G) Neither the owner of the parcel being subdivided nor any line 38 person acting in concert with the owner has previously subdivided line 39 an adjacent parcel using an urban lot split as provided for in this line 40 section.
96 SB 450 — 18 —
line 1 (b) An application for a parcel map for an urban lot split shall line 2 be approved in accordance with the following requirements:
line 3 (1) (A) A local agency shall approve or deny an application for line 4 a parcel map for an urban lot split ministerially without line 5 discretionary review.
line 6 (B) An application for an urban lot split shall be considered and line 7 approved or denied within 60 days from the date the local agency line 8 receives a completed application. If the local agency has not line 9 approved or denied the completed application within 60 days, the line 10 application shall be deemed approved.
line 11 (C) If a permitting agency denies an application for an urban line 12 lot split pursuant to subparagraph (B), the permitting agency shall, line 13 within the time period described in paragraph (1), return in writing line 14 a full set of comments to the applicant with a list of items that are line 15 defective or deficient and a description of how the application can line 16 be remedied by the applicant.
line 17 (2) A local agency shall approve an urban lot split only if it line 18 conforms to all applicable objective requirements of the line 19 Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section line 20 66410)), except as otherwise expressly provided in this section. line 21 (3) Notwithstanding Section 66411.1, a local agency shall not line 22 impose regulations that require dedications of rights-of-way or the line 23 construction of offsite improvements for the parcels being created line 24 as a condition of issuing a parcel map for an urban lot split pursuant line 25 to this section.
line 26 (c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), notwithstanding line 27 any local law, a local agency may impose objective zoning line 28 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design line 29 review standards that are related to the design or to improvements line 30 of a parcel, consistent with paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) and line 31 with subdivision (e), and are applicable to a parcel created by an line 32 urban lot split that do not conflict with this section. line 33 (2) A local agency shall not impose objective zoning standards, line 34 objective subdivision standards, and objective design review line 35 standards that would have the effect of physically precluding the line 36 construction of two units on either of the resulting parcels or that line 37 would result in a unit size of less than 800 square feet. line 38 (3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), no setback shall be line 39 required for an existing structure or a structure constructed in the line 40 same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure. 96 — 19 — SB 450
line 1 (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), in all other circumstances line 2 not described in subparagraph (A), a local agency may require a line 3 setback of up to four feet from the side and rear lot lines. line 4 (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a local agency may deny line 5 an urban lot split if the building official makes a written finding, line 6 based upon a preponderance of the evidence, that the proposed line 7 housing development project would have a specific, adverse line 8 impact, as defined and determined in paragraph (2) of subdivision line 9 (d) of Section 65589.5, upon public health and safety and for which line 10 there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the line 11 specific, adverse impact.
line 12 (e) In addition to any conditions established in accordance with line 13 this section, a local agency may require any of the following line 14 conditions when considering an application for a parcel map for line 15 an urban lot split:
line 16 (1) Easements required for the provision of public services and line 17 facilities.
line 18 (2) A requirement that the parcels have access to, provide access line 19 to, or adjoin the public right-of-way.
line 20 (3) Offstreet parking of up to one space per unit, except that a line 21 local agency shall not impose parking requirements in either of line 22 the following instances:
line 23 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 24 of either a high-quality transit corridor as defined in subdivision line 25 (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, or a major line 26 transit stop as defined in Section 21064.3 of the Public Resources line 27 Code.
line 28 (B) There is a car share vehicle located within one block of the line 29 parcel.
line 30 (f) A local agency shall require that the uses allowed on a lot line 31 created by this section be limited to residential uses. line 32 (g) (1) A local agency shall require an applicant for an urban line 33 lot split to sign an affidavit stating that the applicant intends to line 34 occupy one of the housing units as their principal residence for a line 35 minimum of three years from the date of the approval of the urban line 36 lot split.
line 37 (2) This subdivision shall not apply to an applicant that is a line 38 “community land trust,” as defined in clause (ii) of subparagraph line 39 (C) of paragraph (11) of subdivision (a) of Section 402.1 of the line 40 Revenue and Taxation Code, or is a “qualified nonprofit 96 SB 450 — 20 —
line 1 corporation” as described in Section 214.15 of the Revenue and line 2 Taxation Code.
line 3 (3) A local agency shall not impose additional owner occupancy line 4 standards, other than provided for in this subdivision, on an urban line 5 lot split pursuant to this section.
line 6 (h) A local agency shall require that a rental of any unit created line 7 pursuant to this section be for a term longer than 30 days. line 8 (i) A local agency shall not require, as a condition for ministerial line 9 approval of a parcel map application for the creation of an urban line 10 lot split, the correction of nonconforming zoning conditions. line 11 (j) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of Section 65852.2, line 12 65852.21, 65852.22, 65915, or this section, a local agency shall line 13 not be required to permit more than two units on a parcel created line 14 through the exercise of the authority contained within this section. line 15 (2) For the purposes of this section, “unit” means any dwelling line 16 unit, including, but not limited to, a unit or units created pursuant line 17 to Section 65852.21, a primary dwelling, an accessory dwelling line 18 unit as defined in Section 65852.2, or a junior accessory dwelling line 19 unit as defined in Section 65852.22.
line 20 (k) Notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (c), an line 21 application shall not be rejected solely because it proposes adjacent line 22 or connected structures provided that the structures meet building line 23 code safety standards and are sufficient to allow separate line 24 conveyance.
line 25 (l) Local agencies shall include the number of applications for line 26 parcel maps for urban lot splits pursuant to this section in the line 27 annual housing element report as required by subparagraph (I) of line 28 paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 65400. line 29 (m) For purposes of this section, both of the following shall line 30 apply:
line 31 (1) “Objective zoning standards,” “objective subdivision line 32 standards,” and “objective design review standards” mean standards line 33 that involve no personal or subjective judgment by a public official line 34 and are uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and line 35 uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both line 36 the development applicant or proponent and the public official line 37 prior to submittal. These standards may be embodied in alternative line 38 objective land use specifications adopted by a local agency, and line 39 may include, but are not limited to, housing overlay zones, specific 96 — 21 — SB 450
line 1 plans, inclusionary zoning ordinances, and density bonus line 2 ordinances.
line 3 (2) “Local agency” means a city, county, or city and county, line 4 whether general law or chartered.
line 5 (n) A local agency may adopt an ordinance to implement the line 6 provisions of this section. An ordinance adopted to implement this line 7 section shall not be considered a project under Division 13 line 8 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. line 9 (o) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or in line 10 any way alter or lessen the effect or application of the California line 11 Coastal Act of 1976 (Division 20 (commencing with Section line 12 30000) of the Public Resources Code), except that the local agency line 13 shall not be required to hold public hearings for coastal line 14 development permit applications for urban lot splits pursuant to line 15 this section.
line 16 SEC. 2. Section 66411.7 of the Government Code is amended line 17 to read:
line 18 66411.7. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this line 19 division and any local law, a local agency shall ministerially line 20 approve, as set forth in this section, a parcel map for an urban lot line 21 split only if the local agency determines that the parcel map for line 22 the urban lot split meets all the following requirements:
line 23 (1) The parcel map subdivides an existing parcel to create no line 24 more than two new parcels of approximately equal lot area line 25 provided that one parcel shall not be smaller than 40 percent of line 26 the lot area of the original parcel proposed for subdivision. line 27 (2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), both newly line 28 created parcels are no smaller than 1,200 square feet. line 29 (B) A local agency may by ordinance adopt a smaller minimum line 30 lot size subject to ministerial approval under this subdivision. line 31 (3) The parcel being subdivided meets all the following line 32 requirements:
line 33 (A) The parcel is located within a single-family residential zone. line 34 (B) The parcel subject to the proposed urban lot split is located line 35 within a city, the boundaries of which include some portion of line 36 either an urbanized area or urban cluster, as designated by the line 37 United States Census Bureau, or, for unincorporated areas, a legal line 38 parcel wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban line 39 cluster, as designated by the United States Census Bureau. 96 SB 450 — 22 —
line 1 (C) The parcel satisfies the requirements specified in line 2 subparagraphs (B) to (K), inclusive, of paragraph (6) of subdivision line 3 (a) of Section 65913.4. 65913.4, as that section read on September line 4 16, 2021.
line 5 (D) The proposed urban lot split would not require demolition line 6 or alteration of any of the following types of housing:
line 7 (i) Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, line 8 or law that restricts rents to levels affordable to persons and line 9 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
line 10 (ii) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 11 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. line 12 (iii) A parcel or parcels on which an owner of residential real line 13 property has exercised the owner’s rights under Chapter 12.75 line 14 (commencing with Section 7060) of Division 7 of Title 1 to line 15 withdraw accommodations from rent or lease within 15 years line 16 before the date that the development proponent submits an line 17 application.
line 18 (iv) Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three line 19 years.
line 20 (E) The parcel is not located within a historic district or property line 21 included on the State Historic Resources Inventory, as defined in line 22 Section 5020.1 of the Public Resources Code, or within a site that line 23 is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or historic line 24 property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance. line 25 (F) The parcel has not been established through prior exercise line 26 of an urban lot split as provided for in this section. line 27 (G) Neither the owner of the parcel being subdivided nor any line 28 person acting in concert with the owner has previously subdivided line 29 an adjacent parcel using an urban lot split as provided for in this line 30 section.
line 31 (b) An application for a parcel map for an urban lot split shall line 32 be approved in accordance with the following requirements:
line 33 (1) (A) A local agency shall approve or deny an application for line 34 a parcel map for an urban lot split ministerially without line 35 discretionary review.
line 36 (B) An application for an urban lot split shall be considered line 37 and approved or denied within 60 days from the date the local line 38 agency receives a completed application. If the local agency has line 39 not approved or denied the completed application within 60 days, line 40 the application shall be deemed approved.
96 — 23 — SB 450
line 1 (C) If a permitting agency denies an application for an urban line 2 lot split pursuant to subparagraph (B), the permitting agency shall, line 3 within the time period described in subparagraph (B), return in line 4 writing a full set of comments to the applicant with a list of items line 5 that are defective or deficient and a description of how the line 6 application can be remedied by the applicant.
line 7 (2) A local agency shall approve an urban lot split only if it line 8 conforms to all applicable objective requirements of the line 9 Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section line 10 66410)), except as otherwise expressly provided in this section. line 11 (3) Notwithstanding Section 66411.1, a local agency shall not line 12 impose regulations that require dedications of rights-of-way or the line 13 construction of offsite improvements for the parcels being created line 14 as a condition of issuing a parcel map for an urban lot split pursuant line 15 to this section.
line 16 (c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), notwithstanding line 17 any local law, a local agency may impose objective zoning line 18 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design line 19 review standards that are related to the design or to improvements line 20 of a parcel, consistent with paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) and line 21 with subdivision (e), and are applicable to a parcel created by an line 22 urban lot split that do not conflict with this section. line 23 (2) A local agency shall not impose objective zoning standards, line 24 objective subdivision standards, and objective design review line 25 standards that would have the effect of physically precluding the line 26 construction of two units on either of the resulting parcels or that line 27 would result in a unit size of less than 800 square feet. line 28 (3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), no setback shall be line 29 required for an existing structure or a structure constructed in the line 30 same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure. line 31 (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), in all other circumstances line 32 not described in subparagraph (A), a local agency may require a line 33 setback of up to four feet from the side and rear lot lines. line 34 (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a local agency may deny line 35 an urban lot split if the building official makes a written finding, line 36 based upon a preponderance of the evidence, that the proposed line 37 housing development project would have a specific, adverse line 38 impact, as defined and determined in paragraph (2) of subdivision line 39 (d) of Section 65589.5, upon public health and safety or the 96 SB 450 — 24 —
line 1 physical environment and for which there is no feasible method line 2 to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. line 3 (e) In addition to any conditions established in accordance with line 4 this section, a local agency may require any of the following line 5 conditions when considering an application for a parcel map for line 6 an urban lot split:
line 7 (1) Easements required for the provision of public services and line 8 facilities.
line 9 (2) A requirement that the parcels have access to, provide access line 10 to, or adjoin the public right-of-way.
line 11 (3) Off-street Offstreet parking of up to one space per unit, line 12 except that a local agency shall not impose parking requirements line 13 in either of the following instances:
line 14 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 15 of either a high-quality transit corridor as defined in subdivision line 16 (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, or a major line 17 transit stop as defined in Section 21064.3 of the Public Resources line 18 Code.
line 19 (B) There is a car share vehicle located within one block of the line 20 parcel.
line 21 (f) A local agency shall require that the uses allowed on a lot line 22 created by this section be limited to residential uses. line 23 (g) (1) A local agency shall require an applicant for an urban line 24 lot split to sign an affidavit stating that the applicant intends to line 25 occupy one of the housing units as their principal residence for a line 26 minimum of three years from the date of the approval of the urban line 27 lot split.
line 28 (2) This subdivision shall not apply to an applicant that is a line 29 “community land trust,” as defined in clause (ii) of subparagraph line 30 (C) of paragraph (11) of subdivision (a) of Section 402.1 of the line 31 Revenue and Taxation Code, or is a “qualified nonprofit line 32 corporation” as described in Section 214.15 of the Revenue and line 33 Taxation Code.
line 34 (3) A local agency shall not impose additional owner occupancy line 35 standards, other than provided for in this subdivision, on an urban line 36 lot split pursuant to this section.
line 37 (h) A local agency shall require that a rental of any unit created line 38 pursuant to this section be for a term longer than 30 days. 96 — 25 — 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 any provision of Section 65852.21, line 5 65915, Article 2 (commencing with Section 66314) or Article 3 line 6 (commencing with Section 66333) of Chapter 13 of Division 1, line 7 or this section, a local agency shall not be required to permit more line 8 than two units on a parcel created through the exercise of the line 9 authority contained within this section.
line 10 (2) For the purposes of this section, “unit” means any dwelling line 11 unit, including, but not limited to, a unit or units created pursuant line 12 to Section 65852.21, a primary dwelling, an accessory dwelling line 13 unit as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 66313, or a junior line 14 accessory dwelling unit as defined in subdivision (d) of Section line 15 66313.
line 16 (k) Notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (c), an line 17 application shall not be rejected solely because it proposes adjacent line 18 or connected structures provided that the structures meet building line 19 code safety standards and are sufficient to allow separate line 20 conveyance.
line 21 (l) Local agencies shall include the number of applications for line 22 parcel maps for urban lot splits pursuant to this section in the line 23 annual housing element report as required by subparagraph (I) of line 24 paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 65400. line 25 (m) For purposes of this section, both of the following shall line 26 apply:
line 27 (1) “Objective zoning standards,” “objective subdivision line 28 standards,” and “objective design review standards” mean standards line 29 that involve no personal or subjective judgment by a public official line 30 and are uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and line 31 uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both line 32 the development applicant or proponent and the public official line 33 prior to submittal. These standards may be embodied in alternative line 34 objective land use specifications adopted by a local agency, and line 35 may include, but are not limited to, housing overlay zones, specific line 36 plans, inclusionary zoning ordinances, and density bonus line 37 ordinances.
line 38 (2) “Local agency” means a city, county, or city and county, line 39 whether general law or chartered.
96 SB 450 — 26 —
line 1 (n) A local agency may adopt an ordinance to implement the line 2 provisions of this section. An ordinance adopted to implement this line 3 section shall not be considered a project under Division 13 line 4 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. line 5 (o) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or in line 6 any way alter or lessen the effect or application of the California line 7 Coastal Act of 1976 (Division 20 (commencing with Section line 8 30000) of the Public Resources Code), except that the local agency line 9 shall not be required to hold public hearings for coastal line 10 development permit applications for urban lot splits pursuant to line 11 this section.
line 12 SEC. 3. Section 4 of Chapter 162 of the Statutes of 2021 is line 13 amended to read:
line 14 SEC. 4. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that ensuring line 15 access to affordable housing all of the following:
line 16 (1) The state faces a housing crisis of availability and line 17 affordability, in large part due to a severe shortage of housing. line 18 (2) Solving the housing crisis therefore requires a multifaceted, line 19 statewide approach which will include, but is not limited to, any line 20 or some of the following:
line 21 (A) Encouraging an increase in the overall supply of housing. line 22 (B) Encouraging the development of housing that is affordable line 23 to households at all income levels.
line 24 (C) Removing barriers to housing production.
line 25 (D) Expanding homeownership opportunities.
line 26 (E) Expanding the availability of rental housing. line 27 (b) Therefore, addressing the housing crisis and the severe line 28 shortage of housing is a matter of statewide concern and not a line 29 municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of line 30 the California Constitution. Therefore, Sections 1 and 2 of this act line 31 adding Sections 65852.21 and 66411.7 to the Government Code line 32 and Section 3 of this act amending Section 66452.6 of the line 33 Government Code apply to all cities, including charter cities. line 34 SEC. 4. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the state line 35 faces a severe housing crisis, largely due to the lack of available line 36 housing affordable to lower income and moderate-income families. line 37 Ensuring access to affordable housing, particularly on infill sites line 38 that promote fair housing in high-resource areas, all of the line 39 following:
96 — 27 — SB 450
line 1 (1) The state faces a housing crisis of availability and line 2 affordability, in large part due to a severe shortage of housing. line 3 (2) Solving the housing crisis therefore requires a multifaceted, line 4 statewide approach which will include, but is not limited to, any line 5 or some of the following:
line 6 (A) Encouraging an increase in the overall supply of housing. line 7 (B) Encouraging the development of housing that is affordable line 8 to households at all income levels.
line 9 (C) Removing barriers to housing production.
line 10 (D) Expanding homeownership opportunities.
line 11 (E) Expanding the availability of rental housing. line 12 (b) Therefore, addressing the housing crisis and the severe line 13 shortage of housing 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 1 and 3 2 of this line 16 act amending Sections 65852.21 and 66411.7 of the Government line 17 Code 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 levy 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.
O
96 SB 450 — 28 —