AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 16, 2023
SENATE BILL No. 450
Introduced by Senator Atkins
February 13, 2023
An act to amend Section 65589.5 Sections 65585, 65852.21, and 66411.7 of the Government Code, relating to housing. land use. legislative counsel’s digest
SB 450, as amended, Atkins. Housing Accountability Act: standards, forms, and definitions. Housing development: approvals. (1) The Planning and Zoning Law pr ovides for the cr eation of accessory dwelling units by local or dinance, or, if a local a gency has not adopted an ordinance, by ministerial approval, in accordance with specified standards and conditions.
Existing law r equires a pr oposed housing de velopment containing no more than 2 residential units within a single-family residential zone to be considered ministerially, without discretionary review or hearing, if the pr oposed housing de velopment meets certain r equirements, including that the pr oposed housing de velopment does not allow for the demolition of mor e than 25% of the e xisting exterior structur al walls, except as pr ovided. Existing law authorizes a local a gency to impose objective zoning standar ds, objective subdivision standar ds, and objective design standards, as defined, except as specified, on the proposed housing development. Existing law authorizes a local agency to deny a pr oposed housing de velopment if specified conditions ar e met, including that the b uilding official mak es a written finding that the pr oposed housing de velopment pr oject would have a specific, adverse impact upon public health and safety or the physical environment, as provided.
98 This bill would r emove the r equirement that a pr oposed housing development does not allow for the demolition of more than 25% of the existing exterior structural walls to be consider ed ministerially. The bill would pr ohibit a local a gency fr om imposing objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standar ds, and objective design standards that do not apply uniformly to de velopment within the underlying zone. 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 r equire the local a gency to consider and appr ove or deny the pr oposed housing de velopment application within 60 days from the date the local agency receives the completed application, and would deem the application appr oved after that time . The bill would require a permitting a gency, if it denies an application, to pr ovide 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 r egulate and control the design and impr ovement of subdivisions in the le gislative body of a local a gency and sets forth pr ocedures governing the local agency’s processing, approval, conditional appr oval or disappr oval, 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 r equirements. Existing law authorizes a local a gency to impose objective zoning standar ds, objective subdivision standar ds, and objective design standar ds, as defined, except as specified. Existing law authorizes a local agency to deny an urban lot split if specified conditions ar e 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 specify that objective zoning standar ds, objective subdivision standards, and objective design standar ds 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 a gency to deny a proposed housing development if the building official makes a written finding that the pr oposed housing de velopment project would have a specific, adverse impact upon the physical environment. The bill would 98 — 2 — SB 450
require the local agency to consider and approve or deny the proposed housing development application within 60 days from the date the local agency r eceives 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 ar e 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 compr ehensive, long-term g eneral plan for the physical development of the county or city and r equires that g eneral plan to include, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. Existing law requires a planning a gency to submit a copy of its dr aft housing element or amendments to its housing element to the department for review, and requires the department to notify the city , city, county, or city and county if the department finds that the housing element or the amendment does not substantially comply with or is in violation of specified statutes.
This bill would add the proposed housing development and urban lot split provisions described above to the list of statutes the department is required to notify a city, county, or city and county of when reviewing a housing element or amendment.
(4) By increasing the duties of local a gencies with respect to land use regulations, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) The bill would include findings that c hanges proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state .
Statutory pr ovisions establish pr ocedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, which is part of the Planning and Zoning Law, prohibits, among other things, a local agency from disapproving a housing de velopment project that complies with applicable, objective general plan, zoning, and subdi vision standards and criteria, or from imposing a condition that it be developed at a lower density, unless the local agenc y bases its decision on written findings supported by the preponderance of the e vidence on the record that specified conditions exist, as provided.
98 SB 450 — 3 —
Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, in part, sets forth procedural requirements for the adoption, publication, re view, and implementation of regulations by state agencies, and for review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law.
This bill would authorize the Department of Housing and Community Development to review, adopt, amend, and repeal the standards, forms, or definitions to implement the Housing Accountability Act without compliance with those procedural requirements, as provided.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 65585 of the Government Code is line 2 amended to read:
line 3 65585. (a) In the preparation of its housing element, each city line 4 and county shall consider the guidelines adopted by the department line 5 pursuant to Section 50459 of the Health and Safety Code. Those line 6 guidelines shall be advisory to each city or county in the line 7 preparation of its housing element.
line 8 (b) (1) At least 90 days prior to adoption of a re vision of its line 9 housing element pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 65588, or line 10 at least 60 days prior to the adoption of a subsequent amendment line 11 to this element, the planning agency shall submit a draft element line 12 revision or draft amendment to the department. The local line 13 government of the planning agenc y shall mak e the first draft line 14 revision of a housing element available for public comment for at line 15 least 30 days and, if an y comments are recei ved, the local line 16 government shall take at least 10 b usiness days after the 30-day line 17 public comment period to consider and incorporate public line 18 comments into the draft re vision prior to submitting it to the line 19 department. F or an y subsequent draft re vision, the local line 20 government shall post the draft revision on its internet website and line 21 shall email a link to the draft re vision to all indi viduals and line 22 organizations that ha ve previously requested notices relating to line 23 the local government’s housing element at least seven days before line 24 submitting the draft revision to the department. line 25 (2) The planning agenc y staf f shall collect and compile the line 26 public comments regarding the housing element recei ved by the line 27 city, county, or city and county , and pro vide these comments to 98 — 4 — SB 450
line 1 each member of the legislative body before it adopts the housing line 2 element.
line 3 (3) The department shall review the draft and report its written line 4 findings to the planning agency within 90 days of its receipt of the line 5 first draft submittal for each housing element revision pursuant to line 6 subdivision (e) of Section 65588 or within 60 days of its receipt line 7 of a subsequent draft amendment or an adopted revision or adopted line 8 amendment to an element. The department shall not re view the line 9 first draft submitted for each housing element re vision pursuant line 10 to subdivision (e) of Section 65588 until the local government has line 11 made the draft available for public comment for at least 30 days line 12 and, if comments were recei ved, has tak en at least 10 b usiness line 13 days to consider and incorporate public comments pursuant to line 14 paragraph (1).
line 15 (c) In the preparation of its findings, the department may consult line 16 with any public agenc y, group, or person. The department shall line 17 receive and consider an y written comments from an y public line 18 agency, group, or person re garding the draft or adopted element line 19 or amendment under review.
line 20 (d) In its written findings, the department shall determine line 21 whether the draft element or draft amendment substantially line 22 complies with this article.
line 23 (e) Prior to the adoption of its draft element or draft amendment, line 24 the le gislative body shall consider the findings made by the line 25 department. If the department’s findings are not a vailable within line 26 the time limits set by this section, the le gislative body may act line 27 without them.
line 28 (f) If the department finds that the draft element or draft line 29 amendment does not substantially comply with this article, the line 30 legislative body shall take one of the following actions:
line 31 (1) Change the draft element or draft amendment to substantially line 32 comply with this article.
line 33 (2) Adopt the draft element or draft amendment without changes. line 34 The legislative body shall include in its resolution of adoption line 35 written findings which e xplain the reasons the le gislative body line 36 believes that the draft element or draft amendment substantially line 37 complies with this article despite the findings of the department. line 38 (g) Promptly follo wing the adoption of its element or line 39 amendment, the planning agenc y shall submit a cop y to the line 40 department.
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line 1 (h) The department shall, within 90 days, re view adopted line 2 housing elements or amendments and report its findings to the line 3 planning agency.
line 4 (i) (1) (A) The department shall re view any action or f ailure line 5 to act by the city, county, or city and county that it determines is line 6 inconsistent with an adopted housing element or Section 65583, line 7 including any failure to implement any program actions included line 8 in the housing element pursuant to Section 65583. The department line 9 shall issue written findings to the city, county, or city and county line 10 as to whether the action or f ailure to act substantially complies line 11 with this article, and provide a reasonable time no longer than 30 line 12 days for the city , county, or city and county to respond to the line 13 findings before taking any other action authorized by this section, line 14 including the action authorized by subparagraph (B). line 15 (B) If the department finds that the action or f ailure to act by line 16 the city, county, or city and county does not substantially comply line 17 with this article, and if it has issued findings pursuant to this section line 18 that an amendment to the housing element substantially complies line 19 with this article, the department may re voke its findings until it line 20 determines that the city, county, or city and county has come into line 21 compliance with this article.
line 22 (2) The department may consult with an y local go vernment, line 23 public agency, group, or person, and shall recei ve and consider line 24 any written comments from any public agency, group, or person, line 25 regarding the action or f ailure to act by the city , county, or city line 26 and county described in paragraph (1), in determining whether the line 27 housing element substantially complies with this article. line 28 (j) The department shall notify the city , county, or city and line 29 county and may notify the office of the Attorney General that the line 30 city, county, or city and county is in violation of state la w if the line 31 department finds that the housing element or an amendment to this line 32 element, or an y action or f ailure to act described in subdi vision line 33 (i), does not substantially comply with this article or that any local line 34 government has taken an action in violation of the following:
line 35 (1) Housing Accountability Act (Section 65589.5). line 36 (2) Section 65863.
line 37 (3) Chapter 4.3 (commencing with Section 65915). line 38 (4) Section 65008.
line 39 (5) Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (Chapter 654, Statutes of 2019, line 40 Sections 65941.1, 65943, and 66300).
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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 pro visions identified in line 13 subdivision (j) related to housing element compliance and seeking line 14 remedies available pursuant to this subdi vision, the department line 15 shall offer the jurisdiction the opportunity for tw o meetings in line 16 person or via telephone to discuss the violation, and shall provide line 17 the jurisdiction written findings re garding the violation. This line 18 paragraph does not af fect any action filed prior to the ef fective line 19 date of this section. The requirements set forth in this subdivision line 20 do not apply to an y 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 an y incentives pro vided 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 98 SB 450 — 7 —
line 1 that the jurisdiction f ailed 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 le vied 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 pro vided in paragraphs (2) and (3). In the e vent 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 such 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 follo wing 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 e vent that the jurisdiction f ails to pay line 23 fines imposed by the court in full and on time, the court may line 24 require the Controller to intercept an y available state and local line 25 funds and direct such 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 an y 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 follo wing 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 f actor 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 such funds 98 — 8 — SB 450
line 1 to the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund to correct the line 2 jurisdiction’s f ailure to pay . The intercept of the funds by the line 3 Controller for this purpose shall not violate an y 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 tak e all go vernmental 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 ha ve e xpertise 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 a vailable 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 la w. The court may consider line 24 whether a city, county, or city and county is making a good f aith 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 la w 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 an y 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 98 SB 450 — 9 —
line 1 brought by the Office of the Attorney General or pursuant to a line 2 notice or referral under subdi vision (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 de velopment 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.
line 20 (3) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or an y local line 21 law, the proposed housing de velopment w ould 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 la w that restricts rents to le vels af fordable 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 o wner of residential real property has line 32 exercised the o wner’s rights under Chapter 12.75 (commencing line 33 with Section 7060) of Di vision 7 of Title 1 to withdra w 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 proposed housing de velopment does not allo w the line 37 demolition of more than 25 percent of the e xisting e xterior line 38 structural walls, unless the housing de velopment meets at least line 39 one of the following conditions:
line 40 (A) If a local ordinance so allows.
98 — 10 — SB 450
line 1 (B) The site has not been occupied by a tenant in the last three line 2 years.
line 3 (6)
line 4 (5) The development is not located within a historic district or line 5 property included on the State Historic Resources In ventory, as line 6 defined in Section 5020.1 of the Public Resources Code, or within line 7 a site that is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or line 8 historic property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance. line 9 (b) (1) Notwithstanding any local law and except as provided line 10 in paragraph (2), par agraphs (2) and (3), a local agenc y may line 11 impose objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, line 12 and objective design re view standards that do not conflict with line 13 this section.
line 14 (2) (A) The local agenc y shall not impose objecti ve zoning line 15 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objecti ve design line 16 standards that would have the effect of physically precluding the line 17 construction of up to two units or that would physically preclude line 18 either of the two units from being at least 800 square feet in floor line 19 area.
line 20 (B) (i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), no setback shall be line 21 required for an existing structure or a structure constructed in the line 22 same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure. line 23 (ii) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), in all other circumstances line 24 not described in clause (i), a local agenc y may require a setback line 25 of up to four feet from the side and rear lot lines. line 26 (3) A local agency shall not impose objective zoning standards, line 27 objective subdivision standar ds, and objective design standar ds line 28 that do not apply uniformly to development within the underlying line 29 zone.
line 30 (c) In addition to any conditions established in accordance with line 31 subdivision (b), a local agenc y may require any of the following line 32 conditions when considering an application for tw o residential line 33 units as provided for in this section:
line 34 (1) Off-street parking of up to one space per unit, except that a line 35 local agency shall not impose parking requirements in either of line 36 the following instances:
line 37 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 38 of either a high-quality transit corridor, as defined in subdivision line 39 (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, or a major 98 SB 450 — 11 —
line 1 transit stop, as defined in Section 21064.3 of the Public Resources line 2 Code.
line 3 (B) There is a car share vehicle located within one block of the line 4 parcel.
line 5 (2) For residential units connected to an onsite w astewater line 6 treatment system, a percolation test completed within the last 5 line 7 years, or, if the percolation test has been recertified, within the last line 8 10 years.
line 9 (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a local agenc y may deny line 10 a proposed housing de velopment project if the b uilding official line 11 makes a written finding, based upon a preponderance of the line 12 evidence, that the proposed housing de velopment project w ould line 13 have a specific, adv erse impact, as defined and determined in line 14 paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 65589.5, upon public line 15 health and safety or the physical environment and for which there line 16 is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, line 17 adverse impact.
line 18 (e) A local agency shall require that a rental of any unit created line 19 pursuant to this section be for a term longer than 30 days. line 20 (f) Notwithstanding Section 65852.2 or 65852.22, a local agency line 21 shall not be required to permit an accessory dwelling unit or a line 22 junior accessory dwelling unit on parcels that use both the authority line 23 contained within this section and the authority contained in Section line 24 66411.7.
line 25 (g) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of line 26 subdivision (b), an application shall not be rejected solely because line 27 it proposes adjacent or connected structures pro vided that the line 28 structures meet building code safety standards and are sufficient line 29 to allow separate conveyance.
line 30 (h) (1) An application for a pr oposed housing de velopment line 31 pursuant to this section shall be considered and approved or denied line 32 within 60 days from the date the local agency receives a completed line 33 application. If the local a gency has not appr oved or denied the line 34 completed application within 60 days, the application shall be line 35 deemed approved.
line 36 (2) If a permitting agency denies an application for a proposed line 37 housing development pursuant to par agraph (1), the permitting line 38 agency shall, within the time period described in par agraph (1), line 39 return in writing a full set of comments to the applicant with a list 98 — 12 — SB 450
line 1 of items that ar e defective or deficient and a description of how line 2 the application can be remedied by the applicant. line 3 (h)
line 4 (i) Local agencies shall include units constructed pursuant to line 5 this section in the annual housing element report as required by line 6 subparagraph (I) of paragraph (2) of subdi vision (a) of Section line 7 65400.
line 8 (i)
line 9 (j) For purposes of this section, all of the following apply:
line 10 (1) A housing development contains two residential units if the line 11 development proposes no more than two new units or if it proposes line 12 to add one new unit to one existing unit.
line 13 (2) The terms “objecti ve zoning standards, ” “objecti ve line 14 subdivision standards,” and “objecti ve design re view standards” line 15 mean standards that in volve no personal or subjecti ve judgment line 16 by a public official and are uniformly v erifiable by reference to line 17 an e xternal and uniform benchmark or criterion a vailable and line 18 knowable by both the development applicant or proponent and the line 19 public official prior to submittal. These standards may be embodied line 20 in alternative objective land use specifications adopted by a local line 21 agency, and may include, b ut are not limited to, housing o verlay line 22 zones, specific plans, inclusionary zoning ordinances, and density line 23 bonus ordinances.
line 24 (3) “Local agency” means a city , county, or city and county , line 25 whether general law or chartered.
line 26 (j)
line 27 (k) A local agenc y may adopt an ordinance to implement the line 28 provisions of this section. An ordinance adopted to implement this line 29 section shall not be considered a project under Di vision 13 line 30 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. line 31 (k)
line 32 (l) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or in line 33 any way alter or lessen the effect or application of the California line 34 Coastal Act of 1976 (Di vision 20 (commencing with Section line 35 30000) of the Public Resources Code), except that the local agency line 36 shall not be required to hold public hearings for coastal line 37 development permit applications for a housing de velopment line 38 pursuant to this section.
line 39 SEC. 3. Section 66411.7 of the Government Code is amended line 40 to read:
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line 1 66411.7. (a) Notwithstanding an y other pro vision of this line 2 division and an y local la w, a local agenc y shall ministerially line 3 approve, as set forth in this section, a parcel map for an urban lot line 4 split only if the local agenc y determines that the parcel map for line 5 the urban lot split meets all the following requirements:
line 6 (1) The parcel map subdi vides an existing parcel to create no line 7 more than tw o ne w parcels of approximately equal lot area line 8 provided that one parcel shall not be smaller than 40 percent of line 9 the lot area of the original parcel proposed for subdivision. line 10 (2) (A) Except as pro vided in subparagraph (B), both ne wly line 11 created parcels are no smaller than 1,200 square feet. line 12 (B) A local agency may by ordinance adopt a smaller minimum line 13 lot size subject to ministerial approval under this subdivision. line 14 (3) The parcel being subdi vided meets all the follo wing line 15 requirements:
line 16 (A) The parcel is located within a single-family residential zone. line 17 (B) The parcel subject to the proposed urban lot split is located line 18 within a city , the boundaries of which include some portion of line 19 either an urbanized area or urban cluster , as designated by the line 20 United States Census Bureau, or, for unincorporated areas, a legal line 21 parcel wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban line 22 cluster, as designated by the United States Census Bureau. line 23 (C) The parcel satisfies the requirements specified in line 24 subparagraphs (B) to (K), inclusive, of paragraph (6) of subdivision line 25 (a) of Section 65913.4.
line 26 (D) The proposed urban lot split would not require demolition line 27 or alteration of any of the following types of housing:
line 28 (i) Housing that is subject to a recorded co venant, ordinance, line 29 or la w that restricts rents to le vels af fordable to persons and line 30 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
line 31 (ii) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 32 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. line 33 (iii) A parcel or parcels on which an o wner of residential real line 34 property has e xercised the o wner’s rights under Chapter 12.75 line 35 (commencing with Section 7060) of Di vision 7 of Title 1 to line 36 withdraw accommodations from rent or lease within 15 years line 37 before the date that the de velopment proponent submits an line 38 application.
line 39 (iv) Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three line 40 years.
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line 1 (E) The parcel is not located within a historic district or property line 2 included on the State Historic Resources Inventory, as defined in line 3 Section 5020.1 of the Public Resources Code, or within a site that line 4 is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or historic line 5 property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance. line 6 (F) The parcel has not been established through prior e xercise line 7 of an urban lot split as provided for in this section. line 8 (G) Neither the owner of the parcel being subdi vided nor any line 9 person acting in concert with the owner has previously subdivided line 10 an adjacent parcel using an urban lot split as pro vided for in this line 11 section.
line 12 (b) An application for a parcel map for an urban lot split shall line 13 be approved in accordance with the following requirements:
line 14 (1) (A) A local agency shall approve or deny an application for line 15 a parcel map for an urban lot split ministerially without line 16 discretionary review.
line 17 (B) An application for an urban lot split shall be consider ed line 18 and approved or denied within 60 days fr om the date the local line 19 agency receives a completed application. If the local a gency has line 20 not approved or denied the completed application within 60 days, line 21 the application shall be deemed approved.
line 22 (C) If a permitting agency denies an application for an urban line 23 lot split pursuant to subparagraph (B), the permitting agency shall, line 24 within the time period described in paragraph (1), return in writing line 25 a full set of comments to the applicant with a list of items that are line 26 defective or deficient and a description of how the application can line 27 be remedied by the applicant.
line 28 (2) A local agenc y shall appro ve an urban lot split only if it line 29 conforms to all applicable objecti ve requirements of the line 30 Subdivision Map Act (Di vision 2 (commencing with Section line 31 66410)), except as otherwise expressly provided in this section. line 32 (3) Notwithstanding Section 66411.1, a local agenc y shall not line 33 impose regulations that require dedications of rights-of-way or the line 34 construction of offsite improvements for the parcels being created line 35 as a condition of issuing a parcel map for an urban lot split pursuant line 36 to this section.
line 37 (c) (1) Except as pro vided in paragraph (2), notwithstanding line 38 any local la w, a local agenc y may impose objecti ve zoning line 39 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objecti ve design line 40 review standards that are related to the design or to improvements 98 SB 450 — 15 —
line 1 of a parcel, consistent with paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) and line 2 with subdivision (e), and are applicable to a parcel created by an line 3 urban lot split that do not conflict with this section. line 4 (2) A local agency shall not impose objective zoning standards, line 5 objective subdi vision standards, and objecti ve design re view line 6 standards that would have the effect of physically precluding the line 7 construction of two units on either of the resulting parcels or that line 8 would result in a unit size of less than 800 square feet. line 9 (3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), no setback shall be line 10 required for an existing structure or a structure constructed in the line 11 same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure. line 12 (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), in all other circumstances line 13 not described in subparagraph (A), a local agenc y may require a line 14 setback of up to four feet from the side and rear lot lines. line 15 (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a local agenc y may deny line 16 an urban lot split if the building official makes a written finding, line 17 based upon a preponderance of the e vidence, that the proposed line 18 housing de velopment project w ould ha ve a specific, adv erse line 19 impact, as defined and determined in paragraph (2) of subdivision line 20 (d) of Section 65589.5, upon public health and safety or the line 21 physical environment and for which there is no feasible method line 22 to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. line 23 (e) In addition to any conditions established in accordance with line 24 this section, a local agenc y may require an y of the follo wing line 25 conditions when considering an application for a parcel map for line 26 an urban lot split:
line 27 (1) Easements required for the provision of public services and line 28 facilities.
line 29 (2) A requirement that the parcels have access to, provide access line 30 to, or adjoin the public right-of-way.
line 31 (3) Off-street parking of up to one space per unit, except that a line 32 local agency shall not impose parking requirements in either of line 33 the following instances:
line 34 (A) The parcel is located within one-half mile walking distance line 35 of either a high-quality transit corridor as defined in subdi vision line 36 (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, or a major line 37 transit stop as defined in Section 21064.3 of the Public Resources line 38 Code.
line 39 (B) There is a car share vehicle located within one block of the line 40 parcel.
98 — 16 — SB 450
line 1 (f) A local agency shall require that the uses allo wed on a lot line 2 created by this section be limited to residential uses. line 3 (g) (1) A local agency shall require an applicant for an urban line 4 lot split to sign an affida vit stating that the applicant intends to line 5 occupy one of the housing units as their principal residence for a line 6 minimum of three years from the date of the approval of the urban line 7 lot split.
line 8 (2) This subdivision shall not apply to an applicant that is a line 9 “community land trust,” as defined in clause (ii) of subparagraph line 10 (C) of paragraph (11) of subdi vision (a) of Section 402.1 of the line 11 Revenue and Taxation Code, or is a “qualified nonprofit line 12 corporation” as described in Section 214.15 of the Re venue and line 13 Taxation Code.
line 14 (3) A local agency shall not impose additional owner occupancy line 15 standards, other than provided for in this subdivision, on an urban line 16 lot split pursuant to this section.
line 17 (h) A local agency shall require that a rental of any unit created line 18 pursuant to this section be for a term longer than 30 days. line 19 (i) A local agency shall not require, as a condition for ministerial line 20 approval of a parcel map application for the creation of an urban line 21 lot split, the correction of nonconforming zoning conditions. line 22 (j) (1) Notwithstanding an y pro vision of Section 65852.2, line 23 65852.21, 65852.22, 65915, or this section, a local agenc y shall line 24 not be required to permit more than two units on a parcel created line 25 through the exercise of the authority contained within this section. line 26 (2) For the purposes of this section, “unit” means any dwelling line 27 unit, including, but not limited to, a unit or units created pursuant line 28 to Section 65852.21, a primary dwelling, an accessory dwelling line 29 unit as defined in Section 65852.2, or a junior accessory dwelling line 30 unit as defined in Section 65852.22.
line 31 (k) Notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdi vision (c), an line 32 application shall not be rejected solely because it proposes adjacent line 33 or connected structures provided that the structures meet building line 34 code safety standards and are sufficient to allo w separate line 35 conveyance.
line 36 (l) Local agencies shall include the number of applications for line 37 parcel maps for urban lot splits pursuant to this section in the line 38 annual housing element report as required by subparagraph (I) of line 39 paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 65400. 98 SB 450 — 17 —
line 1 (m) For purposes of this section, both of the follo wing shall line 2 apply:
line 3 (1) “Objective zoning standards, ” “objecti ve subdi vision line 4 standards,” and “objective design review standards” mean standards line 5 that involve no personal or subjective judgment by a public official line 6 and are uniformly v erifiable by reference to an e xternal and line 7 uniform benchmark or criterion a vailable and knowable by both line 8 the development applicant or proponent and the public official line 9 prior to submittal. These standards may be embodied in alternative line 10 objective land use specifications adopted by a local agenc y, and line 11 may include, but are not limited to, housing overlay zones, specific line 12 plans, inclusionary zoning ordinances, and density bonus line 13 ordinances.
line 14 (2) “Local agency” means a city , county, or city and county , line 15 whether general law or chartered.
line 16 (n) A local agenc y may adopt an ordinance to implement the line 17 provisions of this section. An ordinance adopted to implement this line 18 section shall not be considered a project under Di vision 13 line 19 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. line 20 (o) 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 (Di vision 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 urban lot splits pursuant to line 26 this section.
line 27 SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that ensuring access line 28 to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern and is not line 29 a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI line 30 of the California Constitution. Therefore, Sections 2 and 3 of this line 31 act amending Sections 65852.21 and 66411.7 of the Government line 32 Code apply to all cities, including charter cities. line 33 SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 34 Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because line 35 a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service line 36 charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or line 37 level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section line 38 17556 of the Government Code.
98 — 18 — SB 450
line 1
line 2 All matter omitted in this version of the bill
line 3 appears in the bill as intr oduced in the
line 4 Senate, February 13, 2023. (JR11)
line 5
O
98 SB 450 — 19 —