AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 5, 2025
SENATE BILL No. 79
Introduced by Senator Wiener
January 15, 2025
An act to amend Section 54221 of, and to add Chapter 4.1.5 (commencing with Section 65912.155) to Division 1 of Title 7 of, the Government Code, and to add Section 21080.26.5 to the Public Resources Code, relating to land use.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 79, as amended, Wiener. Planning and zoning: housing development: transit-oriented development.
(1) Existing law prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency. Existing law defines “surplus land” for these purposes to mean land owned in fee simple by any local agency for which the local agency’s governing body takes formal action declaring that the land is surplus and is not necessary for the agency’s use.
Existing law defines “agency’s use” for these purposes to include land that is being used for agency work or operations, as provided. Existing law exempts from this definition of “agency’s use” certain commercial or industrial uses, except that in the case of a local agency that is a district, except a local agency whose primary purpose or mission is to supply the public with a transportation system, “agency’s use” may include commercial or industrial uses or activities, as specified.
This bill would additionally include land leased to support public transit operations in the definition of “agency’s use,” as described above. The bill would also revise the definition of “agency’s use” with respect to commercial or industrial uses to instead provide that a district
98 or a public transit operator may use land for commercial or industrial uses or activities, as described above.
(2) Existing law, 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 specified land outside its boundaries, that contains certain mandatory elements, including a housing element. Existing law requires that the housing element include, among other things, an assessment of housing needs and an inventory of resources and constraints that are relevant to the meeting of these needs, including an inventory of land suitable for residential development, as provided. Existing law, for the 4th and subsequent revisions of the housing element, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to determine the existing and projected need for housing for each region, as specified, and requires the appropriate council of local governments, or the department for cities and counties without a council of governments, to adopt a final regional housing need plan that allocates a share of the regional housing need to each locality in the region.
Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, among other things, requires a local agency that proposes to disapprove a housing development project, as defined, or to impose a condition that the project be developed at a lower density to base its decision on written findings supported by a preponderance of the evidence that specified conditions exist if that project complies with applicable, objective general plan, zoning, and subdivision standards and criteria in effect at the time that the application was deemed complete. The act authorizes the applicant, a person who would be eligible to apply for residency in the housing development project or emergency shelter, or a housing organization may bring an action to enforce, as provided, and provides for penalties if the court finds that the local agency is in violation of specified provisions of the act.
This bill would require that a residential development proposed within a specified distance of a transit-oriented development (TOD) stop, as defined, be an allowed use on any site zoned for residential, mixed, commercial, or light industrial development, if the development complies with applicable requirements, as specified. The bill would establish requirements concerning height limits, density, and floor area ratio in accordance with a development’s proximity to specified tiers of TOD stops, as provided. The bill would provide that a local government that denies a project meeting the requirements of these provisions located 98 SB 79 — 2 —
in a high-resource area, as defined, would be presumed in violation of the Housing Accountability Act, as specified, and liable for penalties, as provided. The bill would specify that the a development proposed pursuant to these provisions is eligible for streamlined, ministerial approval pursuant to specified law, except that the bill would exempt a project under these provisions from specified requirements under that law.
The bill would require a proposed development to comply with specified requirements under existing law relating to the demolition of existing residential units. The bill would also authorize a transit agency to adopt objective standards for both residential and commercial development proposed pursuant to these provisions if the development would be constructed on land owned by the transit agency or on which the transit agency has a permanent operating easement, provided that the objective standards allow for the same or greater development intensity as allowed by local standards or applicable state law.
The bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to oversee compliance with the bill’s provisions, including, but not limited to, promulgating specified standards relating to the inventory of land included within a county’s or city’s housing element.
The bill would permit a local government to adopt an ordinance to implement these provisions, as provided, and would require the local government to submit a copy of this ordinance to the department within 60 days of adoption and the department to review the ordinance for compliance, as specified. If the department finds an ordinance is out of compliance, and a local government does not take specified steps to address compliance, the bill would require the department to notify the local government in writing and authorize the department to notify the Attorney General, as provided.
The bill would define various terms for its purposes and make related findings and declarations.
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. (3) Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires 98 — 3 — SB 79
a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA, until January 1, 2030, exempts from its requirements certain transportation-related projects if specified requirements are met, as provided. CEQA includes within these exempt transportation-related projects a public project for the institution or increase of bus rapid transit, bus, or light rail service, or other passenger rail service, that will be exclusively used by low-emission or zero-emission vehicles, on existing public rights-of-way or existing highway rights-of-way.
This bill would exempt from CEQA a public or private residential, commercial, or mixed-used project that, at the time the project application is filed, is located entirely or principally on land owned by a public transit agency, or fully or partially encumbered by an existing operating easement in favor of a public transit agency, and meets specified requirements. The bill would provide that, for a project that requires the construction of new passenger rail storage and maintenance facilities at a publicly or privately owned offsite location distinct from the principal project site, that project would be considered a wholly separate project from the project described in these provisions and shall not be exempt from CEQA.
(4) By increasing the duties of local officials, this 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.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each city, county, or city and county to prepare and adopt a general plan for its jurisdiction that contains certain mandatory elements, including a housing element.
Under existing law, a part of the housing element is an assessment of housing needs, which includes the locality’s share of the regional housing need. Under existing law, the appropriate council of local governments, or for cities without a council of governments, the Department of Housing and Community Development, adopts a final regional housing need plan that allocates a share of the regional housing 98 SB 79 — 4 —
need to each locality in the region. Existing law requires the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District to adopt by ordinance transit-oriented development (TOD) zoning standards for each station that establish minimum zoning requirements for height, density, parking, and floor area ratio that apply to an eligible TOD project, as provided, and authorizes developers of certain eligible TOD projects to submit an application for a development that is subject to a specified streamlined, ministerial approval process, as provided.
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would make housing more affordable for California families, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance public transit systems by, among other things, requiring the upzoning of land near rail stations and rapid bus lines to encourage transit-oriented development. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 54221 of the Government Code is line 2 amended to read:
line 3 54221. As used in this article, the following definitions shall line 4 apply:
line 5 (a) (1) “Local agency” means every city, whether organized line 6 under general law or by charter, county, city and county, district, line 7 including school, sewer, water, utility, and local and regional park line 8 districts of any kind or class, joint powers authority, successor line 9 agency to a former redevelopment agency, housing authority, or line 10 other political subdivision of this state and any instrumentality line 11 thereof that is empowered to acquire and hold real property. line 12 (2) The Legislature finds and declares that the term “district” line 13 as used in this article includes all districts within the state, line 14 including, but not limited to, all special districts, sewer, water, line 15 utility, and local and regional park districts, and any other political line 16 subdivision of this state that is a district, and therefore the changes line 17 in paragraph (1) made by the act adding this paragraph that specify line 18 that the provisions of this article apply to all districts, including line 19 school, sewer, water, utility, and local and regional park districts line 20 of any kind or class, are declaratory of, and not a change in, line 21 existing law.
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line 1 (b) (1) “Surplus land” means land owned in fee simple by any line 2 local agency for which the local agency’s governing body takes line 3 formal action in a regular public meeting declaring that the land line 4 is surplus and is not necessary for the agency’s use. Land shall be line 5 declared either “surplus land” or “exempt surplus land,” as line 6 supported by written findings, before a local agency may take any line 7 action to dispose of it consistent with an agency’s policies or line 8 procedures. A local agency, on an annual basis, may declare line 9 multiple parcels as “surplus land” or “exempt surplus land.” line 10 (2) “Surplus land” includes land held in the Community line 11 Redevelopment Property Trust Fund pursuant to Section 34191.4 line 12 of the Health and Safety Code and land that has been designated line 13 in the long-range property management plan approved by the line 14 Department of Finance pursuant to Section 34191.5 of the Health line 15 and Safety Code, either for sale or for future development, but line 16 does not include any specific disposal of land to an identified entity line 17 described in the plan.
line 18 (3) Nothing in this article prevents a local agency from obtaining line 19 fair market value for the disposition of surplus land consistent with line 20 Section 54226.
line 21 (4) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a local agency is not required line 22 to make a declaration at a public meeting for land that is “exempt line 23 surplus land” pursuant to subparagraph (A), (B), (E), (K), (L), or line 24 (Q) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) if the local agency identifies line 25 the land in a notice that is published and available for public line 26 comment, including notice to the entities identified in subdivision line 27 (a) of Section 54222, at least 30 days before the exemption takes line 28 effect.
line 29 (c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), “agency’s use” line 30 shall include, but not be limited to, land that is being used, or is line 31 planned to be used pursuant to a written plan adopted by the local line 32 agency’s governing board, for agency work or operations, line 33 including, but not limited to, utility sites, property owned by a port line 34 that is used to support logistics uses, watershed property, land line 35 being used for conservation purposes, land for demonstration, line 36 exhibition, or educational purposes related to greenhouse gas line 37 emissions, sites for broadband equipment or wireless facilities, line 38 land leased to support public transit operations, and buffer sites line 39 near sensitive governmental uses, including, but not limited to, line 40 waste disposal sites, and wastewater treatment plants. “Agency’s 98 SB 79 — 6 —
line 1 use” by a local agency that is a district shall also include land line 2 disposed for uses described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2). line 3 (2) (A) “Agency’s use” shall not include commercial or line 4 industrial uses or activities, including nongovernmental retail, line 5 entertainment, or office development. Property disposed of for the line 6 sole purpose of investment or generation of revenue shall not be line 7 considered necessary for the agency’s use.
line 8 (B) In the case of a local agency that is a district, excepting line 9 those whose primary mission or purpose is to supply the public line 10 with a transportation system, district or a public transit operator, line 11 “agency’s use” may include commercial or industrial uses or line 12 activities, including nongovernmental retail, entertainment, or line 13 office development or be for the sole purpose of investment or line 14 generation of revenue if the agency’s governing body takes action line 15 in a public meeting declaring that the use of the site will do one line 16 of the following:
line 17 (i) Directly further the express purpose of agency work or line 18 operations.
line 19 (ii) Be expressly authorized by a statute governing the local line 20 agency, provided the district complies with Section 54233.5 if line 21 applicable.
line 22 (d) (1) “Dispose” means either of the following:
line 23 (A) The sale of the surplus land.
line 24 (B) The entering of a lease for surplus land, which is for a term line 25 longer than 15 years, inclusive of any extension or renewal options line 26 included in the terms of the initial lease, entered into on or after line 27 January 1, 2024.
line 28 (2) “Dispose” shall not mean either of the following:
line 29 (A) The entering of a lease for surplus land, which is for a term line 30 of 15 years or less, inclusive of any extension or renewal options line 31 included in the terms of the initial lease.
line 32 (B) The entering of a lease for surplus land on which no line 33 development or demolition will occur, regardless of the term of line 34 the lease.
line 35 (e) “Open-space purposes” means the use of land for public line 36 recreation, enjoyment of scenic beauty, or conservation or use of line 37 natural resources.
line 38 (f) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), “exempt surplus line 39 land” means any of the following:
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line 1 (A) Surplus land that is transferred pursuant to Section 25539.4 line 2 or 37364.
line 3 (B) Surplus land that is less than one-half acre in area and is line 4 not contiguous to land owned by a state or local agency that is line 5 used for open-space or low- and moderate-income housing line 6 purposes.
line 7 (C) Surplus land that a local agency is exchanging for another line 8 property necessary for the agency’s use. “Property” may include line 9 easements necessary for the agency’s use.
line 10 (D) Surplus land that a local agency is transferring to another line 11 local, state, or federal agency, or to a third-party intermediary for line 12 future dedication for the receiving agency’s use, or to a federally line 13 recognized California Indian tribe. If the surplus land is transferred line 14 to a third-party intermediary, the receiving agency’s use must be line 15 contained in a legally binding agreement at the time of transfer to line 16 the third-party intermediary.
line 17 (E) Surplus land that is a former street, right-of-way, or line 18 easement, and is conveyed to an owner of an adjacent property. line 19 (F) (i) Surplus land that is to be developed for a housing line 20 development, which may have ancillary commercial ground floor line 21 uses, that restricts 100 percent of the residential units to persons line 22 and families of low or moderate income, with at least 75 percent line 23 of the residential units restricted to lower income households, as line 24 defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code, with line 25 an affordable sales price or an affordable rent, as defined in Section line 26 50052.5 or 50053 of the Health and Safety Code, for 55 years for line 27 rental housing, 45 years for ownership housing, and 50 years for line 28 rental or ownership housing located on tribal trust lands, unless a line 29 local ordinance or a federal, state, or local grant, tax credit, or other line 30 project financing requires a longer period of affordability, and in line 31 no event shall the maximum affordable sales price or rent level be line 32 higher than 20 percent below the median market rents or sales line 33 prices for the neighborhood in which the site is located. line 34 (ii) The requirements of clause (i) shall be contained in a line 35 covenant or restriction recorded against the surplus land at the time line 36 of sale that shall run with the land and be enforceable against any line 37 owner who violates the covenant or restriction and each successor line 38 in interest who continues the violation.
line 39 (G) (i) Surplus land that is subject to a local agency’s open, line 40 competitive solicitation or that is put to open, competitive bid by 98 SB 79 — 8 —
line 1 a local agency, provided that all entities identified in subdivision line 2 (a) of Section 54222 will be invited to participate in the process, line 3 for a housing or a mixed-use development that is more than one line 4 acre and less than 10 acres in area, consisting of either a single line 5 parcel, or two or more adjacent or non-adjacent parcels combined, line 6 that includes not less than 300 residential units, and that restricts line 7 at least 25 percent of the residential units to lower income line 8 households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety line 9 Code, with an affordable sales price or an affordable rent, as line 10 defined in Sections 50052.5 and 50053 of the Health and Safety line 11 Code, for 55 years for rental housing, 45 years for ownership line 12 housing, and 50 years for rental or ownership housing located on line 13 tribal trust lands, unless a local ordinance or a federal, state, or line 14 local grant, tax credit, or other project financing requires a longer line 15 period of affordability.
line 16 (ii) The requirements of clause (i) shall be contained in a line 17 covenant or restriction recorded against the surplus land at the time line 18 of sale that shall run with the land and be enforceable against any line 19 owner who violates the covenant or restriction and each successor line 20 in interest who continues the violation.
line 21 (H) (i) Surplus land totaling 10 or more acres, consisting of line 22 either a single parcel, or two or more adjacent or non-adjacent line 23 parcels combined for disposition to one or more buyers pursuant line 24 to a plan or ordinance adopted by the legislative body of the local line 25 agency, or a state statute. That surplus land shall be subject to a line 26 local agency’s open, competitive solicitation process or put out to line 27 open, competitive bid by a local agency, provided that all entities line 28 identified in subdivision (a) of Section 54222 will be invited to line 29 participate in the process for a housing or mixed-use development. line 30 (ii) The aggregate development shall include the greater of the line 31 following:
line 32 (I) Not less than 300 residential units.
line 33 (II) A number of residential units equal to 10 times the number line 34 of acres of the surplus land or 10,000 residential units, whichever line 35 is less.
line 36 (iii) At least 25 percent of the residential units shall be restricted line 37 to lower income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the line 38 Health and Safety Code, with an affordable sales price or an line 39 affordable rent pursuant to Sections 50052.5 and 50053 of the line 40 Health and Safety Code, for a minimum of 55 years for rental 98 — 9 — SB 79
line 1 housing, 45 years for ownership housing, and 50 years for rental line 2 or ownership housing located on tribal trust lands, unless a local line 3 ordinance or a federal, state, or local grant, tax credit, or other line 4 project financing requires a longer period of affordability. line 5 (iv) If nonresidential development is included in the line 6 development pursuant to this subparagraph, at least 25 percent of line 7 the total planned units affordable to lower income households shall line 8 be made available for lease or sale and permitted for use and line 9 occupancy before or at the same time with every 25 percent of line 10 nonresidential development made available for lease or sale and line 11 permitted for use and occupancy.
line 12 (v) A violation of this subparagraph is subject to the penalties line 13 described in Section 54230.5. Those penalties are in addition to line 14 any remedy a court may order for violation of this subparagraph. line 15 A local agency shall only dispose of land pursuant to this line 16 subparagraph through a disposition and development agreement line 17 that includes an indemnification clause that provides that if an line 18 action occurs after disposition violates this subparagraph, the line 19 person or entity that acquired the property shall be liable for the line 20 penalties.
line 21 (vi) The requirements of clauses (i) to (v), inclusive, shall be line 22 contained in a covenant or restriction recorded against the surplus line 23 land at the time of sale that shall run with the land and be line 24 enforceable against any owner who violates the covenant or line 25 restriction and each successor in interest who continues the line 26 violation.
line 27 (I) A mixed-use development, which may include more than line 28 one publicly owned parcel, that meets all of the following line 29 conditions:
line 30 (i) The development restricts at least 25 percent of the residential line 31 units to lower income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 line 32 of the Health and Safety Code, with an affordable sales price or line 33 an affordable rent, as defined in Sections 50052.5 and 50053 of line 34 the Health and Safety Code, for 55 years for rental housing, 45 line 35 years for ownership housing, and 50 years for rental or ownership line 36 housing located on tribal trust lands, unless a local ordinance or a line 37 federal, state, or local grant, tax credit, or other project financing line 38 requires a longer period of affordability.
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line 1 (ii) At least 50 percent of the square footage of the new line 2 construction associated with the development is designated for line 3 residential use.
line 4 (iii) The development is not located in an urbanized area, as line 5 defined in Section 21094.5 of the Public Resources Code. line 6 (J) (i) Surplus land that is subject to a valid legal restriction line 7 that is not imposed by the local agency and that makes housing line 8 prohibited, unless there is a feasible method to satisfactorily line 9 mitigate or avoid the prohibition on the site. A declaration of line 10 exemption pursuant to this subparagraph shall be supported by line 11 documentary evidence establishing the valid legal restriction. For line 12 the purposes of this section, “documentary evidence” includes, line 13 but is not limited to, a contract, agreement, deed restriction, statute, line 14 regulation, or other writing that documents the valid legal line 15 restriction.
line 16 (ii) Valid legal restrictions include, but are not limited to, all of line 17 the following:
line 18 (I) Existing constraints under ownership rights or contractual line 19 rights or obligations that prevent the use of the property for line 20 housing, if the rights or obligations were agreed to prior to line 21 September 30, 2019.
line 22 (II) Conservation or other easements or encumbrances that line 23 prevent housing development.
line 24 (III) Existing leases, or other contractual obligations or line 25 restrictions, if the terms were agreed to prior to September 30, line 26 2019.
line 27 (IV) Restrictions imposed by the source of funding that a local line 28 agency used to purchase a property, provided that both of the line 29 following requirements are met:
line 30 (ia) The restrictions limit the use of those funds to purposes line 31 other than housing.
line 32 (ib) The proposed disposal of surplus land meets a use consistent line 33 with that purpose.
line 34 (iii) Valid legal restrictions that would make housing prohibited line 35 do not include either of the following:
line 36 (I) An existing nonresidential land use designation on the surplus line 37 land.
line 38 (II) Covenants, restrictions, or other conditions on the property line 39 rendered void and unenforceable by any other law, including, but line 40 not limited to, Section 714.6 of the Civil Code. 98 — 11 — SB 79
line 1 (iv) Feasible methods to mitigate or avoid a valid legal line 2 restriction on the site do not include a requirement that the local line 3 agency acquire additional property rights or property interests line 4 belonging to third parties.
line 5 (K) Surplus land that was granted by the state in trust to a local line 6 agency or that was acquired by the local agency for trust purposes line 7 by purchase or exchange, and for which disposal of the land is line 8 authorized or required subject to conditions established by statute. line 9 (L) Land that is subject to either of the following, unless line 10 compliance with this article is expressly required:
line 11 (i) Section 17388, 17515, 17536, 81192, 81397, 81399, 81420, line 12 or 81422 of the Education Code.
line 13 (ii) Part 14 (commencing with Section 53570) of Division 31 line 14 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 15 (M) Surplus land that is a former military base that was line 16 conveyed by the federal government to a local agency, and is line 17 subject to Article 8 (commencing with Section 33492.125) of line 18 Chapter 4.5 of Part 1 of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code, line 19 provided that all of the following conditions are met:
line 20 (i) The former military base has an aggregate area greater than line 21 five acres, is expected to include a mix of residential and line 22 nonresidential uses, and is expected to include no fewer than 1,400 line 23 residential units upon completion of development or redevelopment line 24 of the former military base.
line 25 (ii) The affordability requirements for residential units shall be line 26 governed by a settlement agreement entered into prior to September line 27 1, 2020. Furthermore, at least 25 percent of the initial 1,400 line 28 residential units developed shall be restricted to lower income line 29 households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety line 30 Code, with an affordable sales price or an affordable rent, as line 31 defined in Sections 50052.5 and 50053 of the Health and Safety line 32 Code, for 55 years for rental housing, 45 years for ownership line 33 housing, and 50 years for rental or ownership housing located on line 34 tribal trust lands, unless a local ordinance or a federal, state, or line 35 local grant, tax credit, or other project financing requires a longer line 36 period of affordability.
line 37 (iii) Before disposition of the surplus land, the agency adopts line 38 written findings that the land is exempt surplus land pursuant to line 39 this subparagraph.
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line 1 (iv) Before disposition of the surplus land, the recipient has line 2 negotiated a project labor agreement consistent with the local line 3 agency’s project stabilization agreement resolution, as adopted on line 4 February 2, 2021, and any succeeding ordinance, resolution, or line 5 policy, regardless of the length of the agreement between the local line 6 agency and the recipient.
line 7 (v) The agency includes in the annual report required by line 8 paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 65400 the status of line 9 development of residential units on the former military base, line 10 including the total number of residential units that have been line 11 permitted and what percentage of those residential units are line 12 restricted for persons and families of low or moderate income, or line 13 lower income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the line 14 Health and Safety Code.
line 15 A violation of this subparagraph is subject to the penalties line 16 described in Section 54230.5. Those penalties are in addition to line 17 any remedy a court may order for violation of this subparagraph line 18 or the settlement agreement.
line 19 (N) Real property that is used by a district for an agency’s use line 20 expressly authorized in subdivision (c).
line 21 (O) Land that has been transferred before June 30, 2019, by the line 22 state to a local agency pursuant to Section 32667 of the Streets line 23 and Highways Code and has a minimum planned residential density line 24 of at least 100 dwelling units per acre, and includes 100 or more line 25 residential units that are restricted to persons and families of low line 26 or moderate income, with an affordable sales price or an affordable line 27 rent, as defined in Sections 50052.5 and 50053 of the Health and line 28 Safety Code, for 55 years for rental housing, 45 years for ownership line 29 housing, and 50 years for rental or ownership housing located on line 30 tribal trust lands, unless a local ordinance or a federal, state, or line 31 local grant, tax credit, or other project financing requires a longer line 32 period of affordability. For purposes of this subparagraph, not line 33 more than 20 percent of the affordable units may be restricted to line 34 persons and families of moderate income and at least 80 percent line 35 of the affordable units must be restricted to lower income line 36 households as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety line 37 Code.
line 38 (P) (i) Land that meets the following conditions:
line 39 (I) Land that is subject to a sectional planning area document line 40 that meets both of the following:
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line 1 (ia) The sectional planning area was adopted prior to January line 2 1, 2019.
line 3 (ib) The sectional planning area document is consistent with line 4 county and city general plans applicable to the land. line 5 (II) The land identified in the adopted sectional planning area line 6 document was dedicated prior to January 1, 2019. line 7 (III) On January 1, 2019, the parcels on the land met at least line 8 one of the following conditions:
line 9 (ia) The land was subject to an irrevocable offer of dedication line 10 of fee interest requiring the land to be used for a specified purpose. line 11 (ib) The land was acquired through a land exchange subject to line 12 a land offer agreement that grants the land’s original owner the line 13 right to repurchase the land acquired by the local agency pursuant line 14 to the agreement if the land will not be developed in a manner line 15 consistent with the agreement.
line 16 (ic) The land was subject to a grant deed specifying that the line 17 property shall be used for educational uses and limiting other types line 18 of uses allowed on the property.
line 19 (IV) At least 25 percent of the units are dedicated to lower line 20 income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health line 21 and Safety Code, at an affordable rent, as defined by Section 50053 line 22 of the Health and Safety Code, or an affordable housing cost, as line 23 defined by Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code, and line 24 subject to a recorded deed restriction for a period of 55 years for line 25 rental units and 45 years for owner-occupied units, unless a local line 26 ordinance or a federal, state, or local grant, tax credit, or other line 27 project financing requires a longer period of affordability. line 28 (V) The land is developed at an average density of at least 10 line 29 units per acre, calculated with respect to the entire sectional line 30 planning area.
line 31 (VI) No more than 25 percent of the nonresidential square line 32 footage identified in the sectional planning area document receives line 33 its first certificate of occupancy before at least 25 percent of the line 34 residential square footage identified in the sectional planning area line 35 document has received its first certificate of occupancy. line 36 (VII) No more than 50 percent of the nonresidential square line 37 footage identified in the sectional planning area document receives line 38 its first certificate of occupancy before at least 50 percent of the line 39 residential square footage identified in the sectional planning area line 40 document has received its first certificate of occupancy. 98 SB 79 — 14 —
line 1 (VIII) No more than 75 percent of the nonresidential square line 2 footage identified in the sectional planning area document shall line 3 receive its first certificate of occupancy before at least 75 percent line 4 of the residential square footage identified in the sectional planning line 5 area document has received its first certificate of occupancy. line 6 (ii) The local agency includes in the annual report required by line 7 paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 65400 the status of line 8 development, including the total square footage of the residential line 9 and nonresidential development, the number of residential units line 10 that have been permitted, and what percentage of those residential line 11 units are restricted for persons and families of low or moderate line 12 income, or lower income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 line 13 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 14 (iii) The Department of Housing and Community Development line 15 may request additional information from the agency regarding line 16 land disposed of pursuant to this subparagraph. line 17 (iv) At least 30 days prior to disposing of land declared “exempt line 18 surplus land,” a local agency shall provide the Department of line 19 Housing and Community Development a written notification of line 20 its declaration and findings in a form prescribed by the Department line 21 of Housing and Community Development. Within 30 days of line 22 receipt of the written notification and findings, the department line 23 shall notify the local agency if the department has determined that line 24 the local agency is in violation of this article. A local agency that line 25 fails to submit the written notification and findings shall be liable line 26 for a civil penalty pursuant to this subparagraph. A local agency line 27 shall not be liable for the civil penalty if the Department of Housing line 28 and Community Development does not notify the agency that the line 29 agency is in violation of this article within 30 days of receiving line 30 the written notification and findings. Once the department line 31 determines that the declarations and findings comply with line 32 subclauses (I) to (IV), inclusive, of clause (i), the local agency line 33 may proceed with disposal of land pursuant to this subparagraph. line 34 This clause is declaratory of, and not a change in, existing law. line 35 (v) If the local agency disposes of land in violation of this line 36 subparagraph, the local agency shall be liable for a civil penalty line 37 calculated as follows:
line 38 (I) For a first violation, 30 percent of the greater of the final line 39 sale price or the fair market value of the land at the time of line 40 disposition.
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line 1 (II) For a second or subsequent violation, 50 percent of the line 2 greater of the final sale price or the fair market value of the land line 3 at the time of disposition.
line 4 (III) For purposes of this subparagraph, fair market value shall line 5 be determined by an independent appraisal of the land. line 6 (IV) An action to enforce this subparagraph may be brought by line 7 any of the following:
line 8 (ia) An entity identified in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of line 9 Section 54222.
line 10 (ib) A person who would have been eligible to apply for line 11 residency in affordable housing had the agency not violated this line 12 section.
line 13 (ic) A housing organization, as that term is defined in Section line 14 65589.5.
line 15 (id) A beneficially interested person or entity. line 16 (ie) The Department of Housing and Community Development. line 17 (V) A penalty assessed pursuant to this subparagraph shall, line 18 except as otherwise provided, be deposited into a local housing line 19 trust fund. The local agency may elect to instead deposit the penalty line 20 moneys into the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund or the line 21 Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund. Penalties shall not be paid out line 22 of funds already dedicated to affordable housing, including, but line 23 not limited to, Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Funds, line 24 funds dedicated to housing for very low, low-, and line 25 moderate-income households, and federal HOME Investment line 26 Partnerships Program and Community Development Block Grant line 27 Program funds. The local agency shall commit and expend the line 28 penalty moneys deposited into the local housing trust fund within line 29 five years of deposit for the sole purpose of financing newly line 30 constructed housing units that are affordable to extremely low, line 31 very low, or low-income households.
line 32 (VI) Five years after deposit of the penalty moneys into the line 33 local housing trust fund, if the funds have not been expended, the line 34 funds shall revert to the state and be deposited in the Building line 35 Homes and Jobs Trust Fund or the Housing Rehabilitation Loan line 36 Fund for the sole purpose of financing newly constructed housing line 37 units located in the same jurisdiction as the surplus land and that line 38 are affordable to extremely low, very low, or low-income line 39 households. Expenditure of any penalty moneys deposited into the line 40 Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund or the Housing Rehabilitation 98 SB 79 — 16 —
line 1 Loan Fund pursuant to this subdivision shall be subject to line 2 appropriation by the Legislature.
line 3 (vi) For purposes of this subparagraph, the following definitions line 4 apply:
line 5 (I) “Sectional planning area” means an area composed of line 6 identifiable planning units, within which common services and line 7 facilities, a strong internal unity, and an integrated pattern of land line 8 use, circulation, and townscape planning are readily achievable. line 9 (II) “Sectional planning area document” means a document or line 10 plan that sets forth, at minimum, a site utilization plan of the line 11 sectional planning area and development standards for each land line 12 use area and designation.
line 13 (vii) This subparagraph shall become inoperative on January 1, line 14 2034.
line 15 (Q) Land that is owned by a California public-use airport on line 16 which residential uses are prohibited pursuant to Federal Aviation line 17 Administration Order 5190.6B, Airport Compliance Program, line 18 Chapter 20 -- Compatible Land Use and Airspace Protection. line 19 (R) Land that is transferred to a community land trust, and all line 20 of the following conditions are met:
line 21 (i) The property is being or will be developed or rehabilitated line 22 as any of the following:
line 23 (I) An owner-occupied single-family dwelling.
line 24 (II) An owner-occupied unit in a multifamily dwelling. line 25 (III) A member-occupied unit in a limited equity housing line 26 cooperative.
line 27 (IV) A rental housing development.
line 28 (ii) Improvements on the property are or will be available for line 29 use and ownership or for rent by qualified persons, as defined in line 30 paragraph (6) of subdivision (c) of Section 214.18 of the Revenue line 31 and Taxation Code.
line 32 (iii) (I) A deed restriction or other instrument, requiring a line 33 contract or contracts serving as an enforceable restriction on the line 34 sale or resale value of owner-occupied units or on the affordability line 35 of rental units is recorded on or before the lien date following the line 36 acquisition of the property by the community land trust. line 37 (II) For the purpose of this clause, the following definitions line 38 apply:
line 39 (ia) “A contract or contracts serving as an enforceable restriction line 40 on the sale or resale value of owner-occupied units” means a 98 — 17 — SB 79
line 1 contract described in paragraph (11) of subdivision (a) of Section line 2 402.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
line 3 (ib) “A contract or contracts serving as an enforceable restriction line 4 on the affordability of rental units” means an enforceable and line 5 verifiable agreement with a public agency, a recorded deed line 6 restriction, or other legal document described in subparagraph (A) line 7 of paragraph (2) of subdivision (g) of Section 214 of the Revenue line 8 and Taxation Code.
line 9 (iv) A copy of the deed restriction or other instrument shall be line 10 provided to the assessor.
line 11 (S) (i) For local agencies whose primary mission or purpose is line 12 to supply the public with a transportation system, surplus land that line 13 is developed for commercial or industrial uses or activities, line 14 including nongovernmental retail, entertainment, or office line 15 development or for the sole purpose of investment or generation line 16 of revenue, if the agency meets all of the following conditions:
line 17 (I) The agency has an adopted land use plan or policy that line 18 designates at least 50 percent of the gross acreage covered by the line 19 adopted land use plan or policy for residential purposes. The line 20 adopted land use plan or policy shall also require the development line 21 of at least 300 residential units, or at least 10 residential units per line 22 gross acre, averaged across all land covered by the land use plan line 23 or policy, whichever is greater.
line 24 (II) The agency has an adopted land use plan or policy that line 25 requires at least 25 percent of all residential units to be developed line 26 on the parcels covered by the adopted land use plan or policy made line 27 available to lower income households, as defined in Section 50079 line 28 of the Health and Safety Code, at an affordable sales price or rented line 29 at an affordable rent, as defined in Sections 50052.5 and 50053 of line 30 the Health and Safety Code, for 55 years for rental housing and line 31 45 years for ownership housing, unless a local ordinance or the line 32 terms of a federal, state, or local grant, tax credit, or other project line 33 financing requires a longer period of affordability. These terms line 34 shall be included in the land use plan or policy and dictate that line 35 they will be contained in a covenant or restriction recorded against line 36 the surplus land at the time of disposition that shall run with the line 37 land and be enforceable against any owner or lessee who violates line 38 the covenant or restriction and each successor in interest who line 39 continues the violation.
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line 1 (III) Land disposed of for residential purposes shall issue a line 2 competitive request for proposals subject to the local agency’s line 3 open, competitive solicitation process or put out to open, line 4 competitive bid by the local agency, provided that all entities line 5 identified in subdivision (a) of Section 54222 are invited to line 6 participate.
line 7 (IV) Prior to entering into an agreement to dispose of a parcel line 8 for nonresidential development on land designated for the purposes line 9 authorized pursuant to this subparagraph in an agency’s adopted line 10 land use plan or policy, the agency, since January 1, 2020, must line 11 have entered into an agreement to dispose of a minimum of 25 line 12 percent of the land designated for affordable housing pursuant to line 13 subclause (II).
line 14 (ii) The agency may exempt at one time all parcels covered by line 15 the adopted land use plan or policy pursuant to this subparagraph. line 16 (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a written notice of the line 17 availability of surplus land for open-space purposes shall be sent line 18 to the entities described in subdivision (b) of Section 54222 before line 19 disposing of the surplus land, provided the land does not meet the line 20 criteria in subparagraph (H) of paragraph (1), if the land is any of line 21 the following:
line 22 (A) Within a coastal zone.
line 23 (B) Adjacent to a historical unit of the State Parks System. line 24 (C) Listed on, or determined by the State Office of Historic line 25 Preservation to be eligible for, the National Register of Historic line 26 Places.
line 27 (D) Within the Lake Tahoe region as defined in Section 66905.5. line 28 (g) “Persons and families of low or moderate income” has the line 29 same meaning as provided in Section 50093 of the Health and line 30 Safety Code.
line 31 SEC. 2. Chapter 4.1.5 (commencing with Section 65912.155) line 32 is added to Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, to read:
line 33
line 34 Chapter 4.1.5. Transit-Oriented Development
line 35
line 36 65912.155. The Legislature finds and declares all of the line 37 following:
line 38 (a) California faces a housing shortage both acute and chronic, line 39 particularly in areas with access to robust public transit line 40 infrastructure.
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line 1 (b) Building more homes near transit access reduces housing line 2 and transportation costs for California families, and promotes line 3 environmental sustainability, economic growth, and reduced traffic line 4 congestion.
line 5 (c) Public transit systems require sustainable funding to provide line 6 reliable service, especially in areas experiencing increased density line 7 and ridership. The state does not invest in public transit service line 8 to the same degree as it does in roads, and the state funds a smaller line 9 proportion of the state’s major transit agencies’ operations costs line 10 than other states with comparable systems. Transit systems in line 11 other countries derive significant revenue from transit oriented line 12 development at and near their stations.
line 13 65912.156. For purposes of this chapter, the following line 14 definitions apply:
line 15 (a) “Adjacent” means sharing a property line with a transit line 16 station or stop, including any parcels that serve a parking or line 17 circulation purpose related to the station or stop. line 18 (b) “Department” means the Department of Housing and line 19 Community Development.
line 20 (c) “Floor area ratio” means the ratio of net habitable square line 21 footage dedicated to residential use to the area of the lot. line 22 (d) “High-frequency commuter rail” means a commuter rail line 23 service operating a total of at least six trains per hour during line 24 weekday peak periods at any point in the past three years, or with line 25 a service plan to implement that frequency in the next three years. line 26 (e) “High-resource area” means a high-resource neighborhood line 27 opportunity area, as used in the opportunity area maps published line 28 annually by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and line 29 the department.
line 30 (f) “Moderate-frequency commuter rail” means a commuter line 31 rail service with a total of at least 24 daily trains per weekday and line 32 service frequency below a total of 6 trains per hour during weekday line 33 peak periods at any point in the past three years, or with a service line 34 plan to implement that frequency in the next three years. line 35 (g) “Net habitable square footage” means the finished and line 36 heated floor area fully enclosed by the inside surface of walls, line 37 windows, doors, and partitions, and having a headroom of at least line 38 six and one-half feet, including working, living, eating, cooking, line 39 sleeping, stair, hall, service, and storage areas, but excluding 98 SB 79 — 20 —
line 1 garages, carports, parking spaces, cellars, half-stories, and line 2 unfinished attics and basements.
line 3 (h) “Rail transit” has the same meaning as defined in Section line 4 99602 of the Public Utilities Code.
line 5 (i) “Tier 1 transit-oriented development stop” means a line 6 transit-oriented development stop served by rail transit, as defined line 7 in Section 99602 of the Public Utilities Code, including, but not line 8 limited to, high-frequency commuter rail and light rail transit that line 9 uses fixed guideway facilities immediately adjacent to the line 10 transit-oriented development stop, excluding those rail transit line 11 services defined as part of Tier 2 or 3.
line 12 (j) “Tier 2 transit-oriented development stop” means a line 13 transit-oriented development stop served by light rail transit run line 14 by a public transit operator that uses fixed guideway facilities that line 15 are not grade separated immediately adjacent to the line 16 transit-oriented development stop, or fixed guideway or nonfixed line 17 guideway bus service with frequencies of 15 minutes or better that line 18 uses transit priority lanes for some or all of the route. line 19 (k) “Tier 3 transit-oriented development stop” means a line 20 transit-oriented development stop served by moderate-frequency line 21 commuter rail service or ferry service.
line 22 (l) “Transit-oriented development stop” means a major transit line 23 stop, as defined by Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, line 24 excluding any stop served by rail transit with a frequency of fewer line 25 than 10 total trains per weekday.
line 26 65912.157. (a) A residential development within one-half or line 27 one-quarter mile of a transit-oriented development stop shall be line 28 an allowed use on any site zoned for residential, mixed, line 29 commercial, or light industrial development, if the development line 30 complies with the applicable of all of the following requirements:
line 31 (1) For a residential development within one-quarter mile of a line 32 Tier 1 transit-oriented development stop, all of the following apply:
line 33 (A) A development may be built up to 75 feet high, or up to the line 34 local height limit, whichever is greater.
line 35 (B) A local government shall not impose any maximum density line 36 of less than 120 dwelling units per acre. The development line 37 proponent may seek a further increased density in accordance line 38 with applicable density bonus law.
98 — 21 — SB 79
line 1 (C) A local government shall not enforce any other local line 2 development standard or combination of standards that would line 3 prevent achieving a floor area ratio of up to 3.5. line 4 (D) A development that otherwise meets the eligibility line 5 requirements of Section 65915, including, but not limited to, line 6 affordability requirements, shall be eligible for three additional line 7 concessions pursuant to Section 65915.
line 8 (2) For a residential development within one-half mile of a Tier line 9 1 transit-oriented development stop, all of the following apply:
line 10 (A) A development may be built up to 65 feet high, or up to the line 11 local height limit, whichever is greater.
line 12 (B) A local government shall not impose any maximum density line 13 standard of less of less than 100 dwelling units per acre. The line 14 development proponent may seek a further increased density in line 15 accordance with applicable density bonus law.
line 16 (C) A local government shall not enforce any other local line 17 development standard or combination of standards that would line 18 prevent achieving a floor area ratio of up to 3. line 19 (D) A development that otherwise meets the eligibility line 20 requirements of Section 65915, including, but not limited to, line 21 affordability requirements, shall be eligible for two additional line 22 concessions pursuant to Section 65915.
line 23 (3) For a residential development within one-quarter mile of a line 24 Tier 2 transit-oriented development stop, all of the following apply:
line 25 (A) A development may be built up to 65 feet high, or up to the line 26 local height limit, whichever is greater.
line 27 (B) A local government shall not impose any maximum density line 28 standard of less than 100 dwelling units per acre. The development line 29 proponent may seek a further increased density in accordance line 30 with applicable density bonus law.
line 31 (C) A local government shall not enforce any other local line 32 development standard or combination of standards that would line 33 prevent achieving a floor area ratio of up to 3. line 34 (D) A development that otherwise meets the eligibility line 35 requirements of Section 65915, including, but not limited to, line 36 affordability requirements, shall be eligible for two additional line 37 concessions pursuant to Section 65915.
line 38 (4) For a residential development within one-half mile of a Tier line 39 2 transit-oriented development stop, all of the following apply:
98 SB 79 — 22 —
line 1 (A) A development may be built up to 55 feet high, or up to the line 2 local height limit, whichever is greater.
line 3 (B) A local government shall not impose any maximum density line 4 standard of less than 80 dwelling units per acre. The development line 5 proponent may seek a further increased density in accordance line 6 with applicable density bonus law.
line 7 (C) A local government shall not enforce any other local line 8 development standard or combination of standards that would line 9 prevent achieving a floor area ratio of up to 2.5. line 10 (D) A development that otherwise meets the eligibility line 11 requirements of Section 65915, including, but not limited to, line 12 affordability requirements, shall be eligible for one additional line 13 concession pursuant to Section 65915.
line 14 (5) For a residential development within one-quarter mile of a line 15 Tier 3 transit-oriented development stop, all of the following apply:
line 16 (A) A development may be built up to 55 feet high, or up to the line 17 local height limit, whichever is greater.
line 18 (B) A local government shall not impose any maximum density line 19 standard of less than 80 dwelling units per acre. The development line 20 proponent may seek a further increased density in accordance line 21 with applicable density bonus law.
line 22 (C) A local government shall not enforce any other local line 23 development standard or combination of standards that would line 24 prevent achieving a floor area ratio of up to 2.5. line 25 (D) A development that otherwise meets the eligibility line 26 requirements of Section 65915, including, but not limited to, line 27 affordability requirements, shall be eligible for one additional line 28 concession pursuant to Section 65915.
line 29 (6) For a residential development within one-half mile of a Tier line 30 3 transit-oriented development stop, all of the following apply:
line 31 (A) A development may be built up to 45 feet high, or up to the line 32 local height limit, whichever is greater.
line 33 (B) A local government shall not impose any maximum density line 34 standard of less than 60 dwelling units per acre. The development line 35 proponent may seek a further increased density in accordance line 36 with applicable density bonus law.
line 37 (C) A local government shall not enforce any other local line 38 development standard or combination of standards that would line 39 prevent achieving a floor area ratio of up to 2. 98 — 23 — SB 79
line 1 (b) Notwithstanding any other law, a parcel that meets any of line 2 the eligibility criteria under subdivision (a) and is immediately line 3 adjacent to a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 transit-oriented development line 4 stop shall be eligible for an adjacency intensifier to increase the line 5 height limit by an additional 20 feet, the maximum density standard line 6 by an additional 40 dwelling units per acre, and the floor area line 7 ratio by 1.
line 8 (c) A development proposed pursuant to this section shall line 9 comply with the antidisplacement requirements of Section 66300.6. line 10 This subdivision shall apply to any city or county. line 11 (d) A local government that denies a project meeting of the line 12 requirements of this section that is located in a high-resource area line 13 shall be presumed to be in violation of the Housing Accountability line 14 Act (Section 65589.5) and liable for penalties pursuant to line 15 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (k) of Section line 16 65589.5, unless the local government demonstrates substantial line 17 evidence that it has a health, life, or safety reason for denying the line 18 project.
line 19 65912.158. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, line 20 a transit agency may adopt objective standards for both residential line 21 and commercial developments proposed to be constructed on land line 22 owned by the transit agency or on which the transit agency has a line 23 permanent operating easement, if the objective standards allow line 24 for the same or greater development intensity as that allowed by line 25 local standards or applicable state law.
line 26 65912.159. A development project proposed pursuant to Section line 27 65912.157 shall be eligible for streamlined ministerial approval line 28 pursuant to Section 65913.4 in accordance with both of the line 29 following:
line 30 (a) The proposed project shall be exempt from subparagraph line 31 (A) of paragraph (4) of, paragraph (5) of, and clause (iv) of line 32 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6) of, subdivision (a) of Section line 33 65913.4.
line 34 (b) The project shall comply with all other requirements of line 35 Section 65913.4, including, but not limited to, the prohibition line 36 against a site that is within a very high fire hazard severity zone, line 37 pursuant to subparagraph (D) of paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) line 38 of Section 65913.4.
line 39 65912.160. (a) The department shall oversee compliance with line 40 this chapter, including, but not limited to, promulgating standards 98 SB 79 — 24 —
line 1 on how to account for capacity pursuant to this chapter in a city line 2 or county’s inventory of land suitable for residential development, line 3 pursuant to Section 65583.2.
line 4 (b) (1) A local government may adopt an ordinance to line 5 implement the provisions of this chapter, which may include line 6 revisions to applicable zoning requirements on individual sites line 7 within a transit-oriented development zone, provided that those line 8 revisions maintain the average density allowed for the applicable line 9 tier, or up to a 100-percent increase, subject to review by the line 10 department pursuant to paragraph (3).
line 11 (2) An ordinance adopted to implement this section shall not line 12 be considered a project under Division 13 (commencing with line 13 Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.
line 14 (3) (A) A local government shall submit a copy of any ordinance line 15 adopted pursuant to this section to the department within 60 days line 16 of adoption.
line 17 (B) Upon receipt of an ordinance pursuant to this paragraph, line 18 the department shall review that ordinance and determine whether line 19 it complies with this section. If the department determines that the line 20 ordinance does not comply with this section, the department shall line 21 notify the local government in writing and provide the local line 22 government a reasonable time, not to exceed 30 days, to respond line 23 before taking further action as authorized by this section. line 24 (C) The local government shall consider any findings made by line 25 the department pursuant to subparagraph (B) and shall do one of line 26 the following:
line 27 (i) Amend the ordinance to comply with this section. line 28 (ii) Adopt the ordinance without changes. The local government line 29 shall include findings in its resolution adopting the ordinance that line 30 explain the reasons the local government believes that the line 31 ordinance complies with this section despite the findings of the line 32 department.
line 33 (D) If the local government does not amend its ordinance in line 34 response to the department’s findings or does not adopt a line 35 resolution with findings explaining the reason the ordinance line 36 complies with this chapter and addressing the department’s line 37 findings, the department shall notify the local government and may line 38 notify the Attorney General that the local government is in violation line 39 of this section.
98 — 25 — SB 79
line 1 65912.161. The Legislature finds and declares that the state line 2 faces a housing crisis of availability and affordability, in large line 3 part due to a severe shortage of housing, and solving the housing line 4 crisis therefore requires a multifaceted, statewide approach, line 5 including, but not limited to, encouraging an increase in the overall line 6 supply of housing, encouraging the development of housing that line 7 is affordable to households at all income levels, removing barriers line 8 to housing production, expanding homeownership opportunities, line 9 and expanding the availability of rental housing, and is a matter line 10 of statewide concern and is not a municipal affair as that term is line 11 used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. line 12 Therefore, this chapter applies to all cities, including charter cities. line 13 SEC. 3. Section 21080.26.5 is added to the Public Resources line 14 Code, to read:
line 15 21080.26.5. (a) For the purposes of this section, “public line 16 project” means a project constructed by either a public agency or line 17 private entity, that, upon the completion of the construction, will line 18 be operated by a public agency.
line 19 (b) This division shall not apply to a public or private line 20 residential, commercial, or mixed-used project that, at the time line 21 the project application is filed, is located entirely or principally line 22 on land owned by a public transit agency, or fully or partially line 23 encumbered by an existing operating easement in favor of a public line 24 transit agency, and that includes at least one of the following:
line 25 (1) A project component identified in paragraphs (1) to (5), line 26 inclusive, or paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 21080.25. line 27 (2) A public project for passenger rail service facilities, other line 28 than light rail service eligible under paragraph (5) of subdivision line 29 (b) of Section 21080.25, including the construction, line 30 reconfiguration, or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, rails, line 31 platforms, or existing operations facilities, which will be exclusively line 32 used by zero-emission or electric trains. The project shall be line 33 located on land owned by a public transit agency, or land fully or line 34 partially encumbered by an existing operating easement in favor line 35 of a public transit agency, at the time the project application is line 36 filed.
line 37 (3) An agreement between the project applicant and public line 38 transit agency that owns the land or has the permanent operating line 39 easement to finance transit capital infrastructure, transit line 40 maintenance, or transit operations, including through a proposed 98 SB 79 — 26 —
line 1 public financing district, community financing district, or tax line 2 increment generated by the project.
line 3 (c) If a project described in subdivision (b) requires the line 4 construction of new passenger rail storage and maintenance line 5 facilities at a publicly or privately owned offsite location distinct line 6 from the principal project site, then that project shall be considered line 7 a wholly separate project from the project described in subdivision line 8 (b) and shall not be exempt from this division. Any required line 9 environmental review shall not affect or render invalid the line 10 exemption provided in subdivision (b), regardless of whether the line 11 project described in subdivision (b) cannot proceed unless the line 12 offsite facilities are constructed.
line 13 SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 14 Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because line 15 a local government or school district has the authority to levy line 16 service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the line 17 program or level of service mandated by this act, within the line 18 meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code. line 19 SECTION 1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact line 20 legislation that makes housing more affordable for California line 21 families, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and enhances public line 22 transit systems.
line 23 (b) Specifically, it is the intent of the Legislature that the line 24 legislation described in subdivision (a) do all of the following:
line 25 (1) Require the upzoning of land near rail stations and rapid bus line 26 lines to encourage transit-oriented development. line 27 (2) Ensure that the degree of upzoning is proportional to the line 28 capacity of the adjacent transit network and the distance to transit line 29 stations, thereby maximizing the use of public transit infrastructure. line 30 (3) Integrate upzoning provisions into local jurisdictions’ line 31 housing elements to align with statewide housing goals and line 32 promote compliance with the regional housing need allocation line 33 process.
line 34 (4) Support transit agencies in increasing and diversifying their line 35 revenue sources beyond existing public subsidies and fare revenue line 36 either in this bill or in subsequent legislation, ensuring sustainable line 37 funding for operational and capital improvements necessary to line 38 meet increased demand resulting from upzoning initiatives. line 39 SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
98 — 27 — SB 79
line 1 (1) California faces a housing shortage both acute and chronic, line 2 particularly in areas with access to robust public transit line 3 infrastructure.
line 4 (2) Building more homes near transit access reduces housing line 5 and transportation costs for California families, and promotes line 6 environmental sustainability, economic growth, and reduced traffic line 7 congestion.
line 8 (3) Public transit systems require sustainable funding to provide line 9 reliable service, especially in areas experiencing increased density line 10 and ridership. The state does not invest in public transit service to line 11 the same degree as it does in roads, and the state funds a smaller line 12 proportion of the state’s major transit agencies’ operations costs line 13 than other states with comparable systems.
line 14 (b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to address these line 15 challenges by enacting legislation to do the following:
line 16 (1) Establishing a framework for transit-based upzoning that is line 17 sensitive to the capacity of existing and planned transit line 18 infrastructure.
line 19 (2) Supporting local jurisdictions in integrating these upzoning line 20 requirements into their housing elements as part of their general line 21 plans.
line 22 (3) Allowing local jurisdictions to be exempt from the upzoning line 23 provisions if they adopt higher intensity or more permissive zoning line 24 standards than those set by state law.
line 25 (4) Ensuring that all eligible parcels may also benefit from the line 26 streamlining provisions under Section 65913.4 of the Government line 27 Code, provided they meet the labor, environmental, and other line 28 relevant standards outlined in the statute.
line 29 (5) Granting transit agencies the authority to set residential and line 30 commercial zoning standards on properties they own or have a line 31 permanent operating easement on, provided that the residential line 32 and commercial zoning standards are higher intensity and more line 33 permissive than the zoning standards set by the local government. line 34 SEC. 3. In enacting the legislation described in Section 1, it is line 35 further the intent of the Legislature to do the following:
line 36 (a) Consult with local governments, regional planning agencies, line 37 transit operators, housing advocates, environmental groups, and line 38 other stakeholders to develop effective and equitable upzoning line 39 criteria.
98 SB 79 — 28 —
line 1 (b) Require local jurisdictions to adopt and implement these line 2 transit-based upzoning policies in a timely and effective manner. line 3 (c) Monitor and evaluate the outcomes of transit-based upzoning line 4 policies to ensure alignment with the state’s housing, line 5 environmental, and transportation goals.
O
98 — 29 — SB 79