AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 2024
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2024
california legislature—2023–24 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2243
Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks
February 8, 2024
An act to amend Sections 65912.101, 65912.111, 65912.112, 65912.113, 65912.114, 65912.121, 65912.122, 65912.123, and 65912.124 of the Government Code, relating to housing.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 2243, as amended, Wicks. Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022: objective standards and affordability and site criteria. (1) Existing law, the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, until January 1, 2033, authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for an af fordable housing de velopment or a mixed-income housing de velopment that meets specified objecti ve standards and af fordability and site criteria, including being located within a zone where office, retail, or parking are a principally permitted use. The act makes a development that meets those objective standards and affordability and site criteria a use by right and subject to one of 2 streamlined, ministerial review processes depending on, among other things, the affordability requirements applicable to the project.
This bill would make various changes to the objective standards and affordability and site criteria applicable to an af fordable housing development or mix ed-income housing de velopment subject to the streamlined, ministerial re view process under the act. Among other changes to those objecti ve standards, the bill w ould prohibit an
97 affordable housing development subject to the act from demolishing a historic structure that was placed on a national, state, or local historic register.
(2) The act prohibits a housing de velopment from being subject to the streamlined, ministerial approval process if it is located on a site or adjoined to a site where more than 1⁄3 of the square footage is dedicated to industrial use in the latest v ersion of a local go vernment’s general plan adopted before January 1, 2022.
This bill would instead prohibit a housing de velopment from being subject to the streamlined, ministerial appro val process if it w as designated for industrial use in the latest version of a local government’s general plan adopted before January 1, 2022, and either residential uses are not principally permitted on the site or the site is not adjoining a parcel with a residential use.
Existing law prohibits a housing development from being subject to the streamlined, ministerial approval process if it is located within 500 feet of a freeway or within 3,200 feet of a facility that actively extracts or refines oil or natural gas.
This bill would authorize those housing developments to be subject to the streamlined, ministerial approval process, provided that habitable areas of the building provide air filtration media for outside and return air that provide a minimum efficiency reporting value of 13, as specified. (3) The act requires a mix ed-income housing development subject to the streamlined, ministerial re view process to be located on a site that ab uts a commercial corridor and has a frontage along the commercial corridor of a minimum of 50 feet.
This bill w ould, alternati vely, allo w a mix ed-income housing development to instead be located on a site that is an e xisting office building. The bill w ould prohibit a local go vernment from imposing any density limitation on a mix ed-income development project that is a con version of e xisting b uildings into residential use, e xcept as specified.
The act prohibits a mix ed-income housing de velopment subject to the streamlined, ministerial review process from being located on a site greater than 20 acres.
This bill, if the mix ed-income housing development is located on a site that is a regional mall, as defined, would prohibit the development from being located on a site greater than 100 acres.
The act requires a mixed-income housing development subject to the streamlined, ministerial review process to meet specified affordability 97 — 2 — AB 2243
criteria. In this regard, the act requires a rental housing development to include either 8% of the units for very low income households and 5% of the units for extremely low income households or 15% of the units for lower income households. In the case of an owner-occupied housing development, the act requires either 30% of the units be of fered to moderate-income households or 15% of the units be of fered to lower income households.
This bill would clarify that those affordability thresholds apply only to the base units of the housing development project and excludes units added by a density bonus.
(4) Existing law defines various terms for purposes of the act. The act defines “use by right” to mean that the de velopment is not subject to a conditional use permit or other discretionary local go vernment review and the development project is not a “project” for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act.
This bill would revise various definitions for purposes of the act. The bill would clarify that “use by right” means that the development project is not subject to a conditional use permit or any other discretionary local government approval, permit, or re view process and no aspect of the development project is a “project” for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act.
Existing law requires at least 75% of the perimeter of the housing development site to be adjoined with parcels that are de veloped with urban uses in order to be subject to the act. The act defines “urban uses” to include an y current or former residential, commercial, public institutional, transit or transportation passenger facility, or retail use.
This bill would include a public park that is surrounded by other urban uses as an “urban use.”
(5) Existing la w requires a local go vernment that determines a housing development project is in conflict with an y of the standards established in the act to pro vide the de velopment proponent written documentation of the standards with which the de velopment conflicts within 60 days or 90 days of the submittal of the development proposal, depending on the number of housing units.
This bill would require a local go vernment to determine whether a development is consistent or inconsistent with the act within 30 days of submittal of a development proposal that was resubmitted to address written feedback. The bill, after the local go vernment determines that a development is consistent with the objecti ve planning standards of the act, w ould require a local go vernment to appro ve a de velopment 97 AB 2243 — 3 —
within 90 days or within 180 days, depending on the number of housing units.
(6) The act authorizes a local government, by ordinance, to exempt parcels from the act if the local go vernment makes specified written findings, including that the local government identifies another parcel that meets the requirements of the act and that the substitution of parcels will result in no net loss of the total residential capacity in the jurisdiction.
This bill would additionally require the local government to designate the exempted parcels and identify the reclassified parcels on its zoning maps, as specified.
(7) The bill w ould mak e v arious other clarifying and technical changes.
(8) Because the bill would impose various new requirements on local governments reviewing and approving affordable housing developments and mixed-income housing developments under the act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimb urse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 65912.101 of the Government Code is line 2 amended to read:
line 3 65912.101. For purposes of this chapter:
line 4 (a) “Base units” has the same meaning as “total units” as defined line 5 in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (o) of Section line 6 65915.
line 7 (b) “Commercial corridor” means a highw ay that is not a line 8 freeway and that has either of the following:
line 9 (1) For parcels in which an y part of the parcel is zoned for a line 10 height limit of less than 65 feet, a right-of-w ay of at least 70 and line 11 not greater than 150 feet.
line 12 (2) For an y other parcel not subject to paragraph (1), a line 13 right-of-way of at least 50 and not greater than 150 feet. 97 — 4 — AB 2243
line 1 (c) “Development proponent” means a developer who submits line 2 a housing development project application to a local government line 3 under the streamlined, ministerial review process pursuant to this line 4 chapter.
line 5 (d) “Extremely low income households” has the same meaning line 6 as defined in Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code. line 7 (e) “Freeway” has the same meaning as defined in Section 332 line 8 of the Vehicle Code, e xcept it does not include the portion of a line 9 freeway that is an onramp or of framp that serves as a connector line 10 between the freeway and other roadways that are not freeways. line 11 (f) “Health care e xpenditures” include contrib utions under line 12 Sections 501(c) or (d) or 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and line 13 payments toward “medical care” as defined under Section 213(d)(1) line 14 of the Internal Revenue Code.
line 15 (g) “Highway” has the same meaning as defined in Section 360 line 16 of the Vehicle Code, and includes sidewalks, as defined in Section line 17 555 of the Vehicle Code.
line 18 (h) “Housing development project” has the same meaning as line 19 defined in Section 65589.5.
line 20 (i) “Industrial use” means utilities, manufacturing, transportation line 21 storage and maintenance f acilities, w arehousing uses, and an y line 22 other use that is a source that is subject to permitting by a district, line 23 as defined in Section 39025 of the Health and Safety Code, line 24 pursuant to Division 26 (commencing with Section 39000) of the line 25 Health and Safety Code or the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. line 26 Sec. 7401 et seq.). “Industrial use” does not include an y of the line 27 following:
line 28 (1) Power substations or utility con veyances such as po wer line 29 lines, broadband wires, and pipes.
line 30 (2) A use where the only source permitted by a district is an line 31 emergency backup generator.
line 32 (3) Self-storage for the residents of a building. line 33 (j) “Local affordable housing requirement” means either of the line 34 following:
line 35 (1) A local go vernment requirement, as a condition of line 36 development of residential units, that a housing de velopment line 37 project include a certain percentage of units af fordable to, and line 38 occupied by, extremely low, very low, lower, or moderate-income line 39 households as a condition of development of residential units. 97 AB 2243 — 5 —
line 1 (2) A local go vernment requirement allo wing a housing line 2 development project to be a use by right if the project includes a line 3 certain percentage of units af fordable to, and occupied by , line 4 extremely low, very low, lower, or moderate-income households line 5 as a condition of development of residential units. line 6 (k) “Local government” means a city, including a charter city, line 7 a county, including a charter county, or a city and county, including line 8 a charter city and county.
line 9 (l) “Lower income households” has the same meaning as defined line 10 in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code. line 11 (m) “Major transit stop” has the same meaning as defined in line 12 subdivision (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code. line 13 (n) “Minimum efficiency reporting value” or “MERV” means line 14 the measurement scale de veloped by the American Society of line 15 Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers used to line 16 report the effectiveness of air filters.
line 17 (o) “Moderate-income households” means households of persons line 18 and families of moderate income, as defined in Section 50093 of line 19 the Health and Safety Code.
line 20 (p) “Multifamily” means a property with five or more housing line 21 units for sale or for rent.
line 22 (q) “Neighborhood plan” means a specific plan adopted pursuant line 23 to Article 8 (commencing with Section 65450) of Chapter 3, an line 24 area plan, precise plan, community plan, urban village plan, or line 25 master plan. To qualify as a neighborhood plan, the plan must have line 26 been adopted by a local government before January 1, 2024, and line 27 within 25 years of the date that a development proponent submits line 28 an application pursuant to this chapter. a A neighborhood plan does line 29 not include a community plan or plans where the cumulative area line 30 covered by the community plans in the jurisdiction is more than line 31 one-half of the area of the jurisdiction.
line 32 (r) “Principally permitted use” means a use that, as of January line 33 1, 2023, or thereafter , may occup y more than one-third of the line 34 square footage of designated use on the site and does not require line 35 a conditional use permit, except that parking uses are considered line 36 principally permitted whether or not they require a conditional use line 37 permit.
line 38 (s) “Regional mall” means a site that meets all of the following line 39 criteria on the date that a de velopment proponent submits an line 40 application pursuant to this chapter:
97 — 6 — AB 2243
line 1 (1) The permitted uses on the site include at least 250,000 square line 2 feet of retail use.
line 3 (2) At least two-thirds of the permitted uses on the site are retail line 4 uses.
line 5 (3) At least tw o of the permitted retail uses on the site are at line 6 least 10,000 square feet.
line 7 (t) “Urban uses” means an y current or former residential, line 8 commercial, public institutional, public park that is surrounded by line 9 other urban uses, transit or transportation passenger f acility, or line 10 retail use, or any combination of those uses.
line 11 (u) “Use by right” means a development project for which both line 12 of the following are true:
line 13 (1) The development project is not subject to a conditional use line 14 permit, planned unit development permit, or any other discretionary line 15 local government approval, permit, or review process. line 16 (2) No aspect of the de velopment project is a “project” for line 17 purposes of Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the line 18 Public Resources Code.
line 19 (v) “Very low income households” has the same meaning as line 20 defined in Section 50105 of the Health and Safety Code. line 21 SEC. 2. Section 65912.111 of the Government Code is amended line 22 to read:
line 23 65912.111. A development project shall not be subject to the line 24 streamlined, ministerial re view process pro vided by Section line 25 65912.114 unless the development is proposed to be located on a line 26 site that satisfies all of the following criteria:
line 27 (a) It is located in a zone where office, retail, or parking are a line 28 principally permitted use.
line 29 (b) It is a legal parcel or parcels that meet either of the following:
line 30 (1) It is within a city where the city boundaries include some line 31 portion of either an urbanized area or urban cluster, as designated line 32 by the United States Census Bureau.
line 33 (2) It is in an unincorporated area, and the legal parcel or parcels line 34 are wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban line 35 cluster, as designated by the United States Census Bureau. line 36 (c) At least 75 percent of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels line 37 that are de veloped with urban uses. F or purposes of this line 38 subdivision, parcels that are only separated by a street, highw ay, line 39 pedestrian path, or bicycle path shall be considered to be adjoined. 97 AB 2243 — 7 —
line 1 (d) (1) It is not on a site or adjoined to an y site where more line 2 than one-third of the square footage on the site is dedicated to line 3 industrial use.
line 4 (2) For purposes of this subdivision, parcels only separated by line 5 a street or highway shall be considered to be adjoined. line 6 (3) For purposes of this subdi vision, “dedicated to industrial line 7 use” means any of the following:
line 8 (A) The square footage is currently being used as an industrial line 9 use.
line 10 (B) The most recently permitted use of the square footage is an line 11 industrial use, and the site has not been occupied within the past line 12 three years.
line 13 (C) The site w as designated for industrial use in the latest line 14 version of a local go vernment’s general plan adopted before line 15 January 1, 2022, and meets either of the following conditions:
line 16 (i) Residential uses are not principally permitted on the site. line 17 (ii) The site is not adjoining a parcel with a residential use. line 18 (e) It satisfies the requirements specified in paragraph (6) of line 19 subdivision (a) of Section 65913.4, e xclusive of clause (i v) of line 20 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6) of subdi vision (a) of Section line 21 65913.4.
line 22 (f) The development is not located on a site where either of the line 23 following apply:
line 24 (1) The development would require the demolition of a historic line 25 structure that w as placed on a national, state, or local historic line 26 register.
line 27 (2) The existing parcel of land or site that is governed under the line 28 Mobilehome Residenc y La w (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with line 29 Section 798) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code), line 30 the Recreational Vehicle P ark Occupanc y La w (Chapter 2.6 line 31 (commencing with Section 799.20) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division line 32 2 of the Ci vil Code), the Mobilehome P arks Act (P art 2.1 line 33 (commencing with Section 18200) of Di vision 13 of the Health line 34 and Safety Code), or the Special Occupanc y Parks Act (Part 2.3 line 35 (commencing with Section 18860) of Di vision 13 of the Health line 36 and Safety Code).
line 37 (g) For a site within a neighborhood plan area, the neighborhood line 38 plan applicable to the site permitted multif amily housing line 39 development on the site.
line 40 (h) For a vacant site, the site satisfies both of the following:
97 — 8 — AB 2243
line 1 (1) It does not contain tribal cultural resources, as defined by line 2 Section 21074 of the Public Resources Code, that could be affected line 3 by the development that were found pursuant to a consultation as line 4 described by Section 21080.3.1 of the Public Resources Code and line 5 the effects of which cannot be mitig ated pursuant to the process line 6 described in Section 21080.3.2 of the Public Resources Code. line 7 (2) It is not within a v ery high fire hazard se verity zone, as line 8 indicated on maps adopted by the Department of Forestry and Fire line 9 Protection pursuant to Section 4202 of the Public Resources Code line 10 or as designated pursuant to subdi visions (a) and (b) of Section line 11 51179.
line 12 SEC. 3. Section 65912.112 of the Government Code is amended line 13 to read:
line 14 65912.112. A development project shall not be subject to the line 15 streamlined, ministerial re view process pro vided by Section line 16 65912.114 unless the new units created by the development project line 17 meet all of the following affordability criteria:
line 18 (a) One hundred percent of the units within the de velopment line 19 project, excluding managers’ units, shall be dedicated to lo wer line 20 income households at an af fordable cost, as defined by Section line 21 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code, or an af fordable rent set line 22 in an amount consistent with the rent limits established by the line 23 California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
line 24 (b) The units shall be subject to a recorded deed restriction for line 25 a period of 55 years for rental units and 45 years for line 26 owner-occupied units.
line 27 SEC. 4. Section 65912.113 of the Government Code is amended line 28 to read:
line 29 65912.113. A development project shall not be subject to the line 30 streamlined, ministerial re view process pro vided by Section line 31 65912.114 unless the de velopment proposal meets all of the line 32 following objective development standards:
line 33 (a) The development shall be a multifamily housing development line 34 project.
line 35 (b) The residential density for the de velopment will meet or line 36 exceed the applicable density deemed appropriate to accommodate line 37 housing for lo wer income households in that jurisdiction as line 38 specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 65583.2. line 39 (c) For any housing on the site located within 500 feet of a line 40 freeway, habitable areas of the building shall provide air filtration 97 AB 2243 — 9 —
line 1 media for outside and return air that provide a minimum efficiency line 2 reporting value of 13.
line 3 (d) For any housing on the site located within 3,200 feet of a line 4 facility that actively extracts or refines oil or natural gas, habitable line 5 areas of the building shall provide air filtration media for outside line 6 and return air that provide a minimum efficiency reporting value line 7 of 13.
line 8 (e) The development will meet the following objective zoning line 9 standards, objective subdivision standards, and objecti ve design line 10 review standards:
line 11 (1) The applicable objecti ve standards shall be those for the line 12 zone that allows residential use at a greater density between the line 13 following:
line 14 (A) The existing zoning designation for the parcel if e xisting line 15 zoning allows multifamily residential use.
line 16 (B) The zoning designation for the closest parcel that allo ws line 17 residential use at a density that meets the requirements of line 18 subdivision (b).
line 19 (2) The applicable objective standards shall be those in ef fect line 20 at the time that the de velopment application is submitted to the line 21 local government pursuant to this article.
line 22 (f) For any project that is the conversion of the use of an existing line 23 nonresidential use building to residential use, the local government line 24 shall not require the provision of common open space beyond what line 25 is already existing on the project site.
line 26 (g) For purposes of this section, “objecti ve zoning standards,” line 27 “objective subdivision standards,” and “objecti ve design re view line 28 standards” mean standards that involve no personal or subjective line 29 judgment by a public official and are uniformly v erifiable by line 30 reference to an e xternal and uniform benchmark or criterion line 31 available and kno wable by both the de velopment applicant or line 32 proponent and the public official before submittal. These standards line 33 may be embodied in alternative objective land use specifications line 34 adopted by a city or county, and may include, but are not limited line 35 to, housing o verlay zones, specific plans, inclusionary zoning line 36 ordinances, and density bonus ordinances, subject to the following:
line 37 (1) A development shall be deemed consistent with the objective line 38 zoning standards related to housing density , as applicable, if the line 39 density proposed is compliant with the maximum density allowed line 40 within that land use designation, notwithstanding an y specified 97 — 10 — AB 2243
line 1 maximum unit allocation that may result in fewer units of housing line 2 being permitted.
line 3 (2) In the event that objective zoning, general plan, subdivision, line 4 or design re view standards are mutually inconsistent, a line 5 development shall be deemed consistent with the objective zoning line 6 and subdi vision standards pursuant to this section if the line 7 development is consistent with the standards set forth in the general line 8 plan.
line 9 SEC. 5. Section 65912.114 of the Government Code is amended line 10 to read:
line 11 65912.114. (a) (1) A local go vernment shall determine line 12 whether a de velopment submitted pursuant to this article is line 13 consistent or inconsistent with the objecti ve planning standards line 14 specified in this article within the following timeframes:
line 15 (A) Within 60 days of submittal of the de velopment proposal line 16 to the local government if the development contains 150 or fewer line 17 housing units.
line 18 (B) Within 90 days of submittal of the de velopment proposal line 19 to the local go vernment if the de velopment contains more than line 20 150 housing units.
line 21 (C) Within 30 days of submittal of an y development proposal line 22 that was resubmitted to address written feedback provided by the line 23 local government pursuant to paragraph (2).
line 24 (2) If a local go vernment determines that a de velopment line 25 submitted pursuant to this article is in conflict with an y of the line 26 objective planning standards specified in this article, it shall provide line 27 the development proponent, in writing, with an exhaustive list of line 28 the standard or standards the de velopment conflicts with, and an line 29 explanation for the reason or reasons the de velopment conflicts line 30 with that standard or standards, within the timeframes specified line 31 in paragraph (1).
line 32 (3) Once the local government determines that a de velopment line 33 submitted pursuant to this article is consistent with the objecti ve line 34 planning standards specified in this article, it shall appro ve the line 35 development within the following timeframes:
line 36 (A) Within 90 days of submittal of the de velopment proposal line 37 to the local government if the development contains 150 or fewer line 38 housing units.
97 AB 2243 — 11 —
line 1 (B) Within 180 days of submittal of the development proposal line 2 to the local go vernment if the de velopment contains more than line 3 150 housing units.
line 4 (4) If the local go vernment f ails to pro vide the required line 5 documentation pursuant to paragraph (2), the de velopment shall line 6 be deemed to satisfy the required objective planning standards. line 7 (b) (1) For purposes of this section, a development is consistent line 8 with the objecti ve planning standards if there is substantial line 9 evidence that w ould allow a reasonable person to conclude that line 10 the development is consistent with the objective planning standards. line 11 (2) For purposes of this section, a development is not in conflict line 12 with the objecti ve planning standards solely on the basis that line 13 application materials are not included, if the application contains line 14 substantial e vidence that w ould allo w a reasonable person to line 15 conclude that the de velopment is consistent with the objecti ve line 16 planning standards.
line 17 (c) The determination of whether a proposed project submitted line 18 pursuant to this section is or is not in conflict with the objecti ve line 19 planning standards is not a “project” as defined in Section 21065 line 20 of the Public Resources Code.
line 21 (d) Design review of the development may be conducted by the line 22 local government’s planning commission or any equivalent board line 23 or commission responsible for design review. That design review line 24 shall be objective and be strictly focused on assessing compliance line 25 with criteria required for streamlined, ministerial review of projects, line 26 as well as an y reasonable objecti ve design standards published line 27 and adopted by ordinance or resolution by a local jurisdiction line 28 before submittal of the development to the local government, and line 29 shall be broadly applicable to developments within the jurisdiction. line 30 That design review shall not in any way inhibit, chill, or preclude line 31 the ministerial approval provided by this section. line 32 (e) If a development is located within an area of the coastal zone line 33 that is not e xcluded under paragraph (6) of subdi vision (a) of line 34 Section 65913.4, the de velopment shall require a coastal line 35 development permit pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with line 36 Section 30600) of Di vision 20 of the Public Resources Code. A line 37 public agency with coastal development permitting authority shall line 38 approve a coastal de velopment permit if it determines that the line 39 development is consistent with all objective standards of the local line 40 government’s certified local coastal program or, for areas that are 97 — 12 — AB 2243
line 1 not subject to a fully certified local coastal program, the certified line 2 land use plan of that area.
line 3 (f) (1) A development proposed pursuant to this article shall line 4 be eligible for a density bonus, incentives or concessions, waivers line 5 or reductions of development standards, and parking ratios pursuant line 6 to Section 65915.
line 7 (2) The utilization by a de velopment proponent of incenti ves, line 8 concessions, and waivers or reductions of development standards line 9 allowed pursuant to Section 65915 shall not cause the project to line 10 be subject to a local discretionary government review process, or line 11 be considered a “project” under Di vision 13 (commencing with line 12 Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code, e ven if that line 13 incentive, concession, or w aiver or reduction of de velopment line 14 standards is not specified in a local ordinance. line 15 (3) For purposes of this section, receipt of an y density bonus, line 16 concession, incenti ve, w aiver or reduction of de velopment line 17 standards, and parking ratios to which the applicant is entitled line 18 under Section 65915 shall not constitute a basis to find the project line 19 inconsistent with the local coastal program.
line 20 (g) Any fee, as defined in Section 66000, imposed on a line 21 development proposed pursuant to this article shall be entitled to line 22 a credit for e xisting uses that are demolished as part of the line 23 development at the rate established by the local go vernment for line 24 those existing uses.
line 25 (h) The local government shall ensure that the project satisfies line 26 the requirements specified in Article 2 (commencing with Section line 27 66300.5) of Chapter 12, regardless of whether the development is line 28 within or not within an af fected city or within or not within an line 29 affected county.
line 30 (i) If the development is consistent with all objective subdivision line 31 standards in the local subdivision ordinance, an application for a line 32 subdivision pursuant to the Subdi vision Map Act (Di vision 2 line 33 (commencing with Section 66410)) shall be e xempt from the line 34 requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division line 35 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources line 36 Code).
line 37 (j) A local government may, by ordinance adopted to implement line 38 this article, exempt a parcel from this section before a development line 39 proponent submits a development application on a parcel pursuant 97 AB 2243 — 13 —
line 1 to this article if the local go vernment mak es written findings line 2 establishing all of the following:
line 3 (1) The local go vernment has identified one or more parcels line 4 that meet the criteria described in subdi visions (b) through (f) of line 5 Section 65912.111.
line 6 (2) (A) If a parcel identified in paragraph (1) w ould not line 7 otherwise be eligible for development pursuant to this chapter, the line 8 implementing ordinance authorizes the parcel to be de veloped line 9 pursuant to the requirements of this chapter. A parcel reclassified line 10 for development pursuant to this subparagraph shall be suitable line 11 for residential development. For purposes of this subparagraph, a line 12 parcel suitable for residential de velopment shall ha ve the same line 13 meaning as “land suitable for residential development,” as defined line 14 in Section 65583.2.
line 15 (B) If a parcel identified in paragraph (1) w ould otherwise be line 16 eligible for development pursuant to this chapter, the implementing line 17 ordinance authorizes the parcel to be de veloped ministerially at line 18 residential densities abo ve the residential density required in line 19 subdivision (b) of Section 65912.113.
line 20 (3) The substitution of the parcel or parcels identified in this line 21 subdivision for parcels reclassified pursuant to paragraph (2) will line 22 result in all of the following:
line 23 (A) No net loss of the total potential residential capacity in the line 24 jurisdiction relati ve to the total capacity that e xisted in the line 25 jurisdiction through the combined effect of this chapter and local line 26 law as of the date of the adoption of the ordinance. In making the line 27 no net loss calculation specified by this subparagraph, the local line 28 government need only f actor in the parcels substituted and line 29 reclassified pursuant to this subdivision.
line 30 (B) No net loss of the total potential residential capacity of line 31 housing affordable to lower income households in the jurisdiction line 32 relative to the total capacity that existed in the jurisdiction through line 33 the combined effect of this chapter and local law as of the date of line 34 the adoption of the ordinance. In making the no net loss calculation line 35 specified by this subparagraph, the local go vernment need only line 36 factor in the parcels substituted and reclassified pursuant to this line 37 subdivision.
line 38 (C) Affirmative furthering of fair housing.
line 39 (4) A parcel or parcels reclassified for de velopment pursuant line 40 to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) shall be eligible for 97 — 14 — AB 2243
line 1 development pursuant to this chapter notwithstanding any contrary line 2 provision of the local go vernment’s charter , general plan, or line 3 ordinances, and a parcel or parcels reclassified for de velopment line 4 pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) shall be developed line 5 ministerially at the densities and heights specified in the ordinance line 6 notwithstanding any contrary provision of the local government’s line 7 charter, general plan, or ordinances.
line 8 (5) The local go vernment has completed all of the rezonings line 9 required pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65583 for the sixth line 10 revision of its housing element.
line 11 (6) The local go vernment has designated on its zoning maps line 12 which parcels ha ve been e xempted from this chapter and which line 13 parcels have been reclassified for de velopment pursuant to this line 14 chapter. This information shall be made publicly available through line 15 the local government’s internet website.
line 16 (k) (1) The local government shall, as a condition of approval line 17 of the development, require the development proponent to complete line 18 a phase I environmental assessment, as defined in Section 78090 line 19 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 20 (2) If a recognized en vironmental condition is found, the line 21 development proponent shall undertak e a preliminary line 22 endangerment assessment, as defined in Section 78095 of the line 23 Health and Safety Code, prepared by an en vironmental assessor line 24 to determine the existence of any release of a hazardous substance line 25 on the site and to determine the potential for e xposure of future line 26 occupants to significant health hazards from any nearby property line 27 or activity.
line 28 (A) If a release of a hazardous substance is found to e xist on line 29 the site, before the local go vernment issues a certificate of line 30 occupancy, the release shall be removed, or any significant effects line 31 of the release shall be mitig ated to a le vel of insignificance in line 32 compliance with current state and federal requirements. line 33 (B) If a potential for e xposure to significant hazards from line 34 surrounding properties or acti vities is found to e xist, before the line 35 local government issues a certificate of occupanc y, the effects of line 36 the potential exposure shall be mitigated to a level of insignificance line 37 in compliance with current state and federal requirements. line 38 (l) A local go vernment’s approval of a de velopment pursuant line 39 to this section shall, notwithstanding any other law, be subject to 97 AB 2243 — 15 —
line 1 the expiration timeframes specified in subdivision (g) of Section line 2 65913.4.
line 3 (m) Any proposed modifications to a de velopment project line 4 approved pursuant to this section shall be undertaken pursuant to line 5 subdivision (h) of Section 65913.4.
line 6 (n) A local go vernment shall not adopt or impose an y line 7 requirement, including, b ut not limited to, increased fees or line 8 inclusionary housing requirements, that applies to a project solely line 9 or partially on the basis that the project is eligible to recei ve line 10 streamlined, ministerial review pursuant to this section. line 11 (o) A local government shall issue a subsequent permit required line 12 for a de velopment appro ved under this section pursuant to line 13 paragraph (2) of subdivision (i) of Section 65913.4. line 14 (p) A public impro vement that is necessary to implement a line 15 development that is appro ved pursuant to this section shall be line 16 undertaken pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (i) of Section line 17 65913.4.
line 18 (q) A local government may adopt an ordinance to implement line 19 the provisions of this article. An ordinance adopted to implement line 20 this section shall not be considered a “project” under Division 13 line 21 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. line 22 SEC. 6. Section 65912.121 of the Government Code is amended line 23 to read:
line 24 65912.121. A development project shall not be subject to the line 25 streamlined, ministerial re view process pro vided by Section line 26 65912.124 unless the development project is on a site that satisfies line 27 all of the following criteria:
line 28 (a) It is located within a zone where office, retail, or parking line 29 are principally permitted use.
line 30 (b) It is located on a legal parcel, or parcels, that meet either of line 31 the following:
line 32 (1) It is within a city where the city boundaries include some line 33 portion of either an urbanized area or urban cluster, as designated line 34 by the United States Census Bureau.
line 35 (2) It is in an unincorporated area, and the le gal parcel, or line 36 parcels, are wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or line 37 urban cluster, as designated by the United States Census Bureau. line 38 (c) The project site complies with either of the following:
line 39 (1) The project site ab uts a commercial corridor and has a line 40 frontage along the commercial corridor of a minimum of 50 feet. 97 — 16 — AB 2243
line 1 (2) The project site is an existing office building. line 2 (d) The site is not greater than 20 acres, unless the site is a line 3 regional mall, in which case the site is not greater than 100 acres. line 4 (e) At least 75 percent of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels line 5 that are de veloped with urban uses. F or purposes of this line 6 subdivision, parcels that are only separated by a street, highw ay, line 7 pedestrian path, or bicycle path shall be considered to be adjoined. line 8 (f) (1) It is not on a site or adjoined to any site where more than line 9 one-third of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial line 10 use.
line 11 (2) For purposes of this subdivision, parcels only separated by line 12 a street or highway shall be considered to be adjoined. line 13 (3) For purposes of this subdi vision, “dedicated to industrial line 14 use” means any of the following:
line 15 (A) The square footage is currently being used as an industrial line 16 use.
line 17 (B) The most recently permitted use of the square footage is an line 18 industrial use, and the site has not been occupied within the past line 19 three years.
line 20 (C) The site w as designated for industrial use in the latest line 21 version of a local go vernment’s general plan adopted before line 22 January 1, 2022, and meets either of the following conditions:
line 23 (i) Residential uses are not principally permitted on the site. line 24 (ii) The site is not adjoining a parcel with a residential use. line 25 (g) It satisfies the requirements specified in paragraph (6) of line 26 subdivision (a) of Section 65913.4, e xclusive of clause (i v) of line 27 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6) of subdi vision (a) of Section line 28 65913.4.
line 29 (h) The development is not located on a site where an y of the line 30 following apply:
line 31 (1) The de velopment w ould require the demolition of the line 32 following types of housing:
line 33 (A) Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, line 34 or la w that restricts rents to le vels af fordable to persons and line 35 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
line 36 (B) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control line 37 through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power. line 38 (C) Housing that has been occupied by tenants within the past line 39 10 years, excluding any manager’s units.
97 AB 2243 — 17 —
line 1 (2) The site w as previously used for permanent housing that line 2 was occupied by tenants, excluding any manager’s units, that was line 3 demolished within 10 years before the de velopment proponent line 4 submits an application under this article.
line 5 (3) The development would require the demolition of a historic line 6 structure that w as placed on a national, state, or local historic line 7 register.
line 8 (4) The property contains one to four dwelling units. line 9 (5) The property is v acant and zoned for housing b ut not for line 10 multifamily residential use.
line 11 (6) The existing parcel of land or site is go verned under the line 12 Mobilehome Residenc y La w (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with line 13 Section 798) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code), line 14 the Recreational Vehicle P ark Occupanc y La w (Chapter 2.6 line 15 (commencing with Section 799.20) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division line 16 2 of the Ci vil Code), the Mobilehome P arks Act (P art 2.1 line 17 (commencing with Section 18200) of Di vision 13 of the Health line 18 and Safety Code), or the Special Occupanc y Parks Act (Part 2.3 line 19 (commencing with Section 18860) of Di vision 13 of the Health line 20 and Safety Code).
line 21 (i) For a site within a neighborhood plan area, the neighborhood line 22 plan applicable to the site permitted multif amily housing line 23 development on the site.
line 24 (j) For a vacant site, the site satisfies both of the following:
line 25 (1) It does not contain tribal cultural resources, as defined by line 26 Section 21074 of the Public Resources Code, that could be affected line 27 by the development that were found pursuant to a consultation as line 28 described by Section 21080.3.1 of the Public Resources Code and line 29 the effects of which cannot be mitig ated pursuant to the process line 30 described in Section 21080.3.2 of the Public Resources Code. line 31 (2) It is not within a v ery high fire hazard se verity zone, as line 32 indicated on maps adopted by the Department of Forestry and Fire line 33 Protection pursuant to Section 4202 of the Public Resources Code line 34 or as designated pursuant to subdi visions (a) and (b) of Section line 35 51179.
line 36 SEC. 7. Section 65912.122 of the Government Code is amended line 37 to read:
line 38 65912.122. A development project shall not be subject to the line 39 streamlined, ministerial re view process pro vided by Section 97 — 18 — AB 2243
line 1 65912.124 unless the new housing units created by the development line 2 project meet all of the following affordability criteria:
line 3 (a) (1) A rental housing development shall include either of the line 4 following:
line 5 (A) Eight percent of the base units for v ery lo w income line 6 households and 5 percent of the units for e xtremely low income line 7 households.
line 8 (B) Fifteen percent of the base units for lo wer income line 9 households.
line 10 (2) The development proponent shall agree to, and the local line 11 government shall ensure, the continued af fordability of all line 12 affordable rental units included pursuant to this subdivision for 55 line 13 years. Rents shall be set at an affordable rent, as defined in Section line 14 50053 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 15 (b) (1) An owner-occupied housing development shall include line 16 either of the following:
line 17 (A) Thirty percent of the base units must be of fered at an line 18 affordable housing cost, as defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health line 19 and Safety Code, to moderate-income households. line 20 (B) Fifteen percent of the base units must be of fered at an line 21 affordable housing cost, as defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health line 22 and Safety Code, to lower income households.
line 23 (2) The development proponent shall agree to, and the local line 24 government shall ensure, the continued af fordability of all line 25 affordable ownership units for a period of 45 years. line 26 (c) If the local go vernment has a local af fordable housing line 27 requirement, the housing development project shall comply with line 28 all of the following:
line 29 (1) The de velopment project shall include the percentage of line 30 affordable units required by this section or the local requirement, line 31 whichever is higher.
line 32 (2) The development project shall meet the af fordability level line 33 of a local affordable housing requirement if it is a deeper affordable line 34 level than required by this section.
line 35 (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the local af fordable line 36 housing requirement requires greater than 15 percent of the units line 37 to be dedicated for lower income households and does not require line 38 the inclusion of units af fordable to v ery low and e xtremely low line 39 income households, then the housing de velopment shall do both line 40 of the following:
97 AB 2243 — 19 —
line 1 (A) Include 8 percent of the units for v ery lo w income line 2 households and 5 percent of the units for e xtremely low income line 3 households.
line 4 (B) Include an amount of units af fordable to lo wer income line 5 households that is 15 percentage points fewer than the percentage line 6 of units required by the local policy.
line 7 (d) Affordable units in the de velopment project shall have the line 8 same bedroom and bathroom count ratio as the market rate units, line 9 be equitably distributed within the project, and have the same type line 10 or quality of appliances, fixtures, and finishes. line 11 SEC. 8. Section 65912.123 of the Government Code is amended line 12 to read:
line 13 65912.123. A development project shall not be subject to the line 14 streamlined, ministerial re view process pro vided by Section line 15 65912.124 unless the de velopment project meets all of the line 16 following objective development standards:
line 17 (a) The development shall be a multifamily housing development line 18 project.
line 19 (b) The residential density for the de velopment, prior to the line 20 award of an y eligible density bonus pursuant to Section 65915, line 21 shall be determined as follows:
line 22 (1) In a metropolitan jurisdiction, as determined pursuant to line 23 subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 65583.2, the allo wable line 24 residential density for the development shall be the greater of the line 25 following:
line 26 (A) The maximum allowable residential density, as defined in line 27 paragraph (6) of subdivision (o) of Section 65915, allowed on the line 28 parcel by the local government.
line 29 (B) For sites of less than one acre in size, 30 units per acre. line 30 (C) For sites of one acre in size or greater located on a line 31 commercial corridor of less than 100 feet in width, 40 units per line 32 acre.
line 33 (D) For sites of one acre in size or greater located on a line 34 commercial corridor of 100 feet in width or greater , 60 units per line 35 acre.
line 36 (E) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), (C), or (D), for sites line 37 within one-half mile of a major transit stop, 80 units per acre. line 38 (2) In a jurisdiction that is not a metropolitan jurisdiction, as line 39 determined pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 65583.2, 97 — 20 — AB 2243
line 1 the allowable residential density for the development shall be the line 2 greater of the following:
line 3 (A) The maximum allowable residential density, as defined in line 4 paragraph (6) of subdivision (o) of Section 65915, allowed on the line 5 parcel by the local government.
line 6 (B) For sites of less than one acre in size, 20 units per acre. line 7 (C) For sites of one acre in size or greater located on a line 8 commercial corridor of less than 100 feet in width, 30 units per line 9 acre.
line 10 (D) For sites of one acre in size or greater located on a line 11 commercial corridor of 100 feet in width or greater , 50 units per line 12 acre.
line 13 (E) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), (C), or (D), for sites line 14 within one-half mile of a major transit stop, 70 units per acre. line 15 (3) The development project shall be developed at a density that line 16 is 75 percent or greater of the applicable allo wable residential line 17 density contained in subparagraphs (B) to (E), inclusi ve, of line 18 paragraph (1) or subparagraphs (B) to (E), inclusive, of paragraph line 19 (2), as applicable.
line 20 (4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), a de velopment line 21 project shall not be subject to an y density limitation if the line 22 development project is a con version of e xisting b uildings into line 23 residential use, unless the development project includes additional line 24 new square footage that is more than 20 percent of the o verall line 25 square footage of the project.
line 26 (c) The height limit applicable to the housing development shall line 27 be the greater of the following:
line 28 (1) The height allowed on the parcel by the local government. line 29 (2) For sites on a commercial corridor of less than 100 feet in line 30 width, 35 feet.
line 31 (3) For sites on a commercial corridor of 100 feet in width or line 32 greater, 45 feet.
line 33 (4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3), 65 feet for sites line 34 that meet all of the following criteria:
line 35 (A) They are within one-half mile of a major transit stop. line 36 (B) They are within a city with a population of greater than line 37 100,000.
line 38 (C) They are not within a coastal zone, as defined in Di vision line 39 20 (commencing with Section 30000) of the Public Resources line 40 Code.
97 AB 2243 — 21 —
line 1 (d) The property meets the following setback standards:
line 2 (1) For the portion of the property that fronts a commercial line 3 corridor, the following shall occur:
line 4 (A) No setbacks shall be required.
line 5 (B) All parking must be set back at least 25 feet. line 6 (C) On the ground floor, a building or buildings must abut within line 7 10 feet of the highway for at least 80 percent of the frontage. line 8 (2) For the portion of the property that ab uts an adjoining line 9 property that also ab uts the same commercial corridor as the line 10 property, no setbacks are required unless the adjoining property line 11 contains a residential use that w as constructed prior to the line 12 enactment of this chapter , in which case the requirements of line 13 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4) apply.
line 14 (3) For the portion of the property line that does not abut or lie line 15 within a commercial corridor , or an adjoining property that also line 16 abuts the same commercial corridor as the property, the following line 17 shall occur:
line 18 (A) Along property lines that ab ut a property that contains a line 19 residential use, the following shall occur:
line 20 (i) The ground floor of the development project shall be set back line 21 at 10 feet. The amount required to be set back may be decreased line 22 by the local government.
line 23 (ii) Starting with the second floor of the property , each line 24 subsequent floor of the development project shall be stepped back line 25 in an amount equal to seven feet multiplied by the floor number. line 26 For purposes of this paragraph, the ground floor counts as the first line 27 floor. The amount required to be stepped back may be decreased line 28 by the local government.
line 29 (B) Along property lines that ab ut a property that does not line 30 contain a residential use, the development shall be set back 15 feet. line 31 The amount required to be stepped back may be decreased by the line 32 local government.
line 33 (e) No parking shall be required, e xcept that this article shall line 34 not reduce, eliminate, or preclude the enforcement of an y line 35 requirement imposed on a ne w multif amily residential or line 36 nonresidential development to pro vide bicycle parking, electric line 37 vehicle supply equipment installed parking spaces, or parking line 38 spaces that are accessible to persons with disabilities that w ould line 39 have otherwise applied to the de velopment if this article did not line 40 apply.
97 — 22 — AB 2243
line 1 (f) For an y housing on the site located within 500 feet of a line 2 freeway, regularly occupied areas of the building shall provide air line 3 filtration media for outside and return air that provide a minimum line 4 efficiency reporting value of 13.
line 5 (g) For any housing on the site located within 3,200 feet of a line 6 facility that actively extracts or refines oil or natural gas, regularly line 7 occupied areas of the b uilding shall pro vide air filtration media line 8 for outside and return air that pro vide a minimum efficienc y line 9 reporting value of 13.
line 10 (h) (1) The development proponent shall provide written notice line 11 of the pending application to each commercial tenant on the parcel line 12 when the application is submitted.
line 13 (2) The de velopment proponent shall pro vide relocation line 14 assistance to each eligible commercial tenant located on the site line 15 as follows:
line 16 (A) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least line 17 one year but less than five years, the relocation assistance shall be line 18 equivalent to six months’ rent.
line 19 (B) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least 5 line 20 years b ut less than 10 years, the relocation assistance shall be line 21 equivalent to nine months’ rent.
line 22 (C) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least line 23 10 years but less than 15 years, the relocation assistance shall be line 24 equivalent to 12 months’ rent.
line 25 (D) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least line 26 15 years but less than 20 years, the relocation assistance shall be line 27 equivalent to 15 months’ rent.
line 28 (E) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least 20 line 29 years, the relocation assistance shall be equivalent to 18 months’ line 30 rent.
line 31 (3) The relocation assistance shall be pro vided to an eligible line 32 commercial tenant upon expiration of the lease of that commercial line 33 tenant.
line 34 (4) For purposes of this subdi vision, a commercial tenant is line 35 eligible for relocation assistance if the commercial tenant meets line 36 all of the following criteria:
line 37 (A) The commercial tenant is an independently o wned and line 38 operated business with its principal office located in the county in line 39 which the property on the site that is leased by the commercial line 40 tenant is located.
97 AB 2243 — 23 —
line 1 (B) The commercial tenant’s lease expired and was not renewed line 2 by the property owner.
line 3 (C) The commercial tenant’s lease expired within the three years line 4 following the de velopment proponent’ s submission of the line 5 application for a housing development pursuant to this article. line 6 (D) The commercial tenant employs 20 or fewer employees and line 7 has annual a verage gross receipts under one million dollars line 8 ($1,000,000) for the three-taxable-year period ending with the line 9 taxable year that precedes the expiration of their lease. line 10 (E) The commercial tenant is still in operation on the site at the line 11 time of the expiration of its lease.
line 12 (5) Notwithstanding paragraph (4), for purposes of this line 13 subdivision, a commercial tenant is ineligible for relocation line 14 assistance if the commercial tenant meets both of the follo wing line 15 criteria:
line 16 (A) The commercial tenant entered into a lease on the site after line 17 the development proponent’s submission of the application for a line 18 housing development pursuant to this article.
line 19 (B) The commercial tenant had not pre viously entered into a line 20 lease on the site.
line 21 (6) (A) The commercial tenant shall utilize the funds provided line 22 by the development proponent to relocate the business or for costs line 23 of a new business.
line 24 (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), if the commercial tenant line 25 elects not to use the funds pro vided as required by subparagraph line 26 (A), the development proponent shall provide only assistance equal line 27 to three months’ rent, regardless of the duration of the commercial line 28 tenant’s lease.
line 29 (7) For purposes of this subdi vision, monthly rent is equal to line 30 one-twelfth of the total amount of rent paid by the commercial line 31 tenant in the last 12 months.
line 32 (i) For any project that is the conversion of an existing building line 33 for nonresidential use b uilding to residential use, the local line 34 government shall not require the provision of common open space line 35 beyond what is required for the existing project site. line 36 (j) Objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, line 37 and objective design review standards not specified elsewhere in line 38 this section, as follows:
line 39 (1) The applicable objecti ve standards shall be those for the line 40 closest zone in the city , county, or city and county that allo ws 97 — 24 — AB 2243
line 1 multifamily residential use at the residential density determined line 2 pursuant to subdi vision (b). If no zone e xists that allo ws the line 3 residential density determined pursuant to subdi vision (b), the line 4 applicable objecti ve standards shall be those for the zone that line 5 allows the greatest density within the city , county, or city and line 6 county.
line 7 (2) The applicable objective standards shall be those in ef fect line 8 at the time that the de velopment application is submitted to the line 9 local government pursuant to this article.
line 10 (3) The objective standards shall not preclude a de velopment line 11 from being at the residential density required pursuant to line 12 paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b) and shall not require the line 13 development to reduce unit size to meet the objective standards. line 14 (4) The applicable objecti ve standards may include a line 15 requirement that up to one-half of the ground floor of the housing line 16 development project be dedicated to retail use. line 17 (5) For purposes of this section, “objecti ve zoning standards,” line 18 “objective subdivision standards,” and “objecti ve design re view line 19 standards” mean standards that involve no personal or subjective line 20 judgment by a public official and are uniformly v erifiable by line 21 reference to an e xternal and uniform benchmark or criterion line 22 available and kno wable by both the de velopment applicant or line 23 proponent and the public official before submittal. These standards line 24 may be embodied in alternative objective land use specifications line 25 adopted by a city or county, and may include, but are not limited line 26 to, housing o verlay zones, specific plans, inclusionary zoning line 27 ordinances, and density bonus ordinances. In the e vent that line 28 objective zoning, general plan, subdi vision, or design re view line 29 standards are mutually inconsistent, a development shall be deemed line 30 consistent with the objecti ve zoning and subdi vision standards line 31 pursuant to this subdivision if the development is consistent with line 32 the standards set forth in the general plan.
line 33 SEC. 9. Section 65912.124 of the Government Code is amended line 34 to read:
line 35 65912.124. (a) (1) A local go vernment shall determine line 36 whether a de velopment submitted pursuant to this article is line 37 consistent or is not consistent with the objective planning standards line 38 specified in this article within the following timeframes:
97 AB 2243 — 25 —
line 1 (A) Within 60 days of submittal of the de velopment proposal line 2 to the local government if the development contains 150 or fewer line 3 housing units.
line 4 (B) Within 90 days of submittal of the de velopment proposal line 5 to the local go vernment if the de velopment contains more than line 6 150 housing units.
line 7 (C) Within 30 days of submittal of an y development proposal line 8 that was resubmitted to address written feedback provided by the line 9 local government pursuant to this subdivision.
line 10 (2) If a local go vernment determines that a de velopment line 11 submitted pursuant to this article is in conflict with an y of the line 12 objective planning standards specified in this article, it shall provide line 13 the development proponent, in writing, with an exhaustive list of line 14 the standard or standards the de velopment conflicts with, and an line 15 explanation for the reason or reasons the de velopment conflicts line 16 with that standard or standards, within the timeframes specified line 17 in paragraph (1).
line 18 (3) Once the local government determines that a de velopment line 19 submitted pursuant to this article is consistent with the objecti ve line 20 planning standards specified in this article, it shall appro ve the line 21 development within the following timeframes:
line 22 (A) Within 90 days of submittal of the de velopment proposal line 23 to the local government if the development contains 150 or fewer line 24 housing units.
line 25 (B) Within 180 days of submittal of the development proposal line 26 to the local go vernment if the de velopment contains more than line 27 150 housing units.
line 28 (4) If the local go vernment f ails to pro vide the required line 29 documentation pursuant to paragraph (2), the de velopment shall line 30 be deemed to satisfy the required objective planning standards. line 31 (b) (1) For purposes of this section, a development is consistent line 32 with the objecti ve planning standards if there is substantial line 33 evidence that w ould allow a reasonable person to conclude that line 34 the development is consistent with the objective planning standards. line 35 (2) For purposes of this section, a development is not in conflict line 36 with the objecti ve planning standards solely on the basis that line 37 application materials are not included, if the application contains line 38 substantial e vidence that w ould allo w a reasonable person to line 39 conclude that the de velopment is consistent with the objecti ve line 40 planning standards.
97 — 26 — AB 2243
line 1 (c) The determination of whether a proposed project submitted line 2 pursuant to this section is or is not in conflict with the objecti ve line 3 planning standards is not a “project” as defined in Section 21065 line 4 of the Public Resources Code.
line 5 (d) Design review of the development may be conducted by the line 6 local government’s planning commission or any equivalent board line 7 or commission responsible for design review. That design review line 8 shall be objective and be strictly focused on assessing compliance line 9 with criteria required for streamlined, ministerial review of projects, line 10 as well as an y reasonable objecti ve design standards published line 11 and adopted by ordinance or resolution by a local jurisdiction line 12 before submittal of the development to the local government, and line 13 shall be broadly applicable to developments within the jurisdiction. line 14 That design review shall not in any way inhibit, chill, or preclude line 15 the ministerial approval provided by this section. line 16 (e) If a development is located within an area of the coastal zone line 17 that is not e xcluded under paragraph (6) of subdi vision (a) of line 18 Section 65913.4, the de velopment shall require a coastal line 19 development permit pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with line 20 Section 30600) of Di vision 20 of the Public Resources Code. A line 21 public agency with coastal development permitting authority shall line 22 approve a coastal de velopment permit if it determines that the line 23 development is consistent with all objective standards of the local line 24 government’s certified local coastal program or, for areas that are line 25 not subject to a fully certified local coastal program, the certified line 26 land use plan of that area.
line 27 (f) (1) A housing development proposed pursuant to this article line 28 shall be eligible for a density bonus, incenti ves or concessions, line 29 waivers or reductions of development standards, and parking ratios line 30 pursuant to Section 65915, except that the project shall not use a line 31 concession to reduce a local go vernment requirement for the line 32 provision of ground floor retail that is consistent with the allowance line 33 contained in paragraph (3) of subdivision (j) of Section 65912.123. line 34 (2) A development proponent may use incentives, concessions, line 35 and w aivers or reductions of de velopment standards allotted line 36 pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 65915 to de viate line 37 from the objecti ve standards contained in subdi vision (c) and line 38 paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (d) of Section 65912.123. line 39 (3) The utilization by a de velopment proponent of incenti ves, line 40 concessions, and waivers or reductions of development standards 97 AB 2243 — 27 —
line 1 allowed pursuant to Section 65915 shall not cause the project to line 2 be subject to a local discretionary government review process, or line 3 be considered a “project” under Di vision 13 (commencing with line 4 Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code, e ven if that line 5 incentive, concession, or w aiver or reduction of de velopment line 6 standards is not specified in a local ordinance. line 7 (4) For purposes of this section, receipt of an y density bonus, line 8 concession, incenti ve, w aiver or reduction of de velopment line 9 standards, and parking ratios to which the applicant is entitled line 10 under Section 65915 shall not constitute a basis to find the project line 11 inconsistent with the local coastal program.
line 12 (g) Any fee, as defined in Section 66000, imposed on a line 13 development proposed pursuant to this article shall be entitled to line 14 a credit for e xisting uses that are demolished as part of the line 15 development at the rate established by the local go vernment for line 16 those existing uses.
line 17 (h) The local government shall ensure that the project satisfies line 18 the requirements specified in Article 2 (commencing with Section line 19 66300.5) of Chapter 12, regardless of whether the development is line 20 within or not within an af fected city or within or not within an line 21 affected county.
line 22 (i) If the development is consistent with all objective subdivision line 23 standards in the local subdivision ordinance, an application for a line 24 subdivision pursuant to the Subdi vision Map Act (Di vision 2 line 25 (commencing with Section 66410)) shall be e xempt from the line 26 requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division line 27 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources line 28 Code).
line 29 (j) A local government may, by ordinance adopted to implement line 30 this article, exempt a parcel from this section before a development line 31 proponent submits a development application on a parcel pursuant line 32 to this article if the local go vernment mak es written findings line 33 establishing all of the following:
line 34 (1) The local government has identified a parcel or parcels that line 35 meet the criteria described in subdi visions (b) and (e) to (h), line 36 inclusive, of Section 65912.121.
line 37 (2) (A) If a parcel identified in paragraph (1) w ould not line 38 otherwise be eligible for development pursuant to this chapter, the line 39 implementing ordinance authorizes the parcel to be de veloped line 40 pursuant to the requirements of this chapter. A parcel reclassified 97 — 28 — AB 2243
line 1 for development pursuant to this subparagraph shall be suitable line 2 for residential development. For purposes of this subparagraph, a line 3 parcel suitable for residential de velopment shall ha ve the same line 4 meaning as “land suitable for residential development,” as defined line 5 in Section 65583.2.
line 6 (B) If a parcel identified in paragraph (1) w ould otherwise be line 7 eligible for development pursuant to this chapter, the implementing line 8 ordinance authorizes the parcel to be de veloped ministerially at line 9 residential densities abo ve the residential density required in line 10 subdivision (b) of Section 65912.123 and heights required in line 11 subdivision (c) of Section 65912.123.
line 12 (3) The substitution of the parcel or parcels identified in this line 13 subdivision for parcels reclassified pursuant to paragraph (2) will line 14 result in all of the following:
line 15 (A) No net loss of the total potential residential capacity in the line 16 jurisdiction relati ve to the total capacity that e xisted in the line 17 jurisdiction through the combined effect of local and state law as line 18 of the date of the adoption of the ordinance. In making the no net line 19 loss calculation specified by this subparagraph, the local line 20 government need only f actor in the parcels substituted and line 21 reclassified pursuant to this subdivision.
line 22 (B) No net loss of the total potential residential capacity of line 23 housing affordable to lower income households in the jurisdiction line 24 relative to the total capacity that existed in the jurisdiction through line 25 the combined effect of this chapter and local law as of the date of line 26 the adoption of the ordinance. In making the no net loss calculation line 27 specified by this subparagraph, the local go vernment need only line 28 factor in the parcels substituted and reclassified pursuant to this line 29 subdivision.
line 30 (C) Affirmative furthering of fair housing.
line 31 (4) A parcel or parcels reclassified for de velopment pursuant line 32 to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) shall be eligible for line 33 development pursuant to this chapter notwithstanding any contrary line 34 provision of the local go vernment’s charter , general plan, or line 35 ordinances, and a parcel or parcels reclassified for de velopment line 36 pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) shall be developed line 37 ministerially at the densities and heights specified in the ordinance line 38 notwithstanding any contrary provision of the local government’s line 39 charter, general plan, or ordinances.
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line 1 (5) The local go vernment has completed all of the rezonings line 2 required pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65583 for the sixth line 3 revision of its housing element.
line 4 (6) The local go vernment has designated on its zoning maps line 5 which parcels ha ve been e xempted from this chapter and which line 6 parcels have been reclassified for de velopment pursuant to this line 7 chapter. This information must be made publicly available through line 8 the local government’s internet website.
line 9 (k) (1) The local government shall, as a condition of approval line 10 of the development, require the development proponent to complete line 11 a phase I environmental assessment, as defined in Section 78090 line 12 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 13 (2) If a recognized en vironmental condition is found, the line 14 development proponent shall undertak e a preliminary line 15 endangerment assessment, as defined in Section 78095 of the line 16 Health and Safety Code, prepared by an en vironmental assessor line 17 to determine the existence of any release of a hazardous substance line 18 on the site and to determine the potential for e xposure of future line 19 occupants to significant health hazards from any nearby property line 20 or activity.
line 21 (A) If a release of a hazardous substance is found to e xist on line 22 the site, before the local go vernment issues a certificate of line 23 occupancy, the release shall be removed, or any significant effects line 24 of the release shall be mitig ated to a le vel of insignificance in line 25 compliance with current state and federal requirements. line 26 (B) If a potential for e xposure to significant hazards from line 27 surrounding properties or acti vities is found to e xist, before the line 28 local government issues a certificate of occupanc y, the effects of line 29 the potential exposure shall be mitigated to a level of insignificance line 30 in compliance with current state and federal requirements. line 31 (l) A local go vernment’s approval of a de velopment pursuant line 32 to this section shall, notwithstanding any other law, be subject to line 33 the expiration timeframes specified in subdivision (g) of Section line 34 65913.4.
line 35 (m) Any proposed modifications to a de velopment project line 36 approved pursuant to this section shall be undertaken pursuant to line 37 subdivision (h) of Section 65913.4.
line 38 (n) A local go vernment shall not adopt or impose an y line 39 requirement, including, b ut not limited to, increased fees or line 40 inclusionary housing requirements, that applies to a project solely 97 — 30 — AB 2243
line 1 or partially on the basis that the project is eligible to recei ve line 2 streamlined, ministerial review pursuant to this section. line 3 (o) A local government shall issue a subsequent permit required line 4 for a de velopment appro ved under this section pursuant to line 5 paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 65913.4. line 6 (p) A public impro vement that is necessary to implement a line 7 development that is appro ved pursuant to this section shall be line 8 undertaken pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (i) of Section line 9 65913.4.
line 10 (q) A local government may adopt an ordinance to implement line 11 the provisions of this article. An ordinance adopted to implement line 12 this section shall not be considered a “project” under Division 13 line 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. line 14 SEC. 10. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 15 Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because line 16 a local agency or school district has the authority to le vy service line 17 charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or line 18 level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section line 19 17556 of the Government Code.
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