CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—2025-26 REGULAR SESSION
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 893
Introduced by Assembly Member Fong
February 19, 2025
An act to amend Sections 65912.101, 65912.104, 65912.121, 65912.122, and 65912.123 of the Government Code, relating to housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 893, as introduced, Fong. Housing development projects:
objective standards: campus development zone.
Existing law, the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, until January 1, 2033, authorizes a development proponent to nixed-income housing development that meets specified objective tandards and affordability and site criteria, including being locate requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to undertake at least 2 studies, one completed on or before January 1, 2027, and one completed on or before January 1, 2031, on the outcomes This bill would expand the eligibility for the above-described streamlined, ministerial approval to include developments located in a campus development zone, as defined, as long as the development meets certain affordability requirements and objective standards, as provided The bill would require the outcomes of projects built under campus 99 AB 893 — 2 —
development zones to be reported in the January 1, 2031, outcomes report. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to repare a miti
avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA does not apply to the approval of ministerial projects.
By expanding the scope of projects eligible for streamlined, ministerial approval as described above, this bill would expand the scope of the exemption from CEQA for ministerial projects.
By changing the criteria local agencies must follow for the approval of certain development projects, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the 2 following:
3 (1) The state is experiencing a widespread student housing crisis, 4 which has been caused by the shortage of housing units on and 5 around university and college campuses.
6 (2) Housing costs represent a significant proportion of the cost 7 of attendance of California's public and private higher education 8 institutions, and the lack of housing for students represents a 9 significant barrier to academic achievement.
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1 (3) Ettorts to promote the development of off-campus housing 2 to help address the state's student housing crisis are not intended 3 to supplant planning, financing, and facilitating on-campus housing 4 developments.
5 (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to continue to promote the 6 development of housing units for students and faculty of 7 California's colleges and universities, in order to address the ongoing student housing crisis.
SEC. 2. Section 65912.101 of the Government Code is amended 10 11 65912.101. For purposes of this chapter:
12 (a) "Base units" has the same meaning as "total units" as defined 13 in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (o) of Section 14 65915.
15 (b) "Campus development zone" means the set of parcels that 16 are contained either wholly or partially within a one-mile radius 17 ofa "main campus," as defined by Section 94849 of the Education 18 Code, of the University of California, the California State 19 University, or the California Community Colleges, or of a private 20 postsecondary educational institution as defined by Section 94858 21 of the Education Code.
22 (b)
23 (c) "Commercial corridor" means a street that is not a freeway 24 and that has a right-of-way of at least 70 and not greater than 150 25 feet.
26 27 (d) "Development proponent" means a developer who submits 28 a housing development project application to a local government 29 under the streamlined, ministerial review process pursuant to this 30 chapter.
31 (e) "Extremely low income faculty or staff" means an employee 32 of the University of California, the California State University, or the California Community Colleges, or a private postsecondary 34 educational institution, as defined by Section 94858 of the 35 Education Code, who satisfies the requirements of Section 50106 36 of the Health and Safety Code.
37 (d)
38 (f) "Extremely low income households" has the same meaning 39 as defined in Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code. 40 99
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1 (g) "Freeway" has the same meaning as defined in Section 332 2 of the Vehicle Code, except it does not include the portion of a 3 freeway that is an on ramp or off ramp that serves as a connector 4 between the freeway and other roadways that are not freeways. 5 6 (h) "Health care expenditures" include contributions under 7 Sections 501(c) or (d) or 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and 8 payments toward "medical care" as defined under Section 213(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code.
10 (g)
11 (i) "Housing development project" has the same meaning as 12 defined in Section 65589.5.
13 14 (j) "Industrial use" means utilities, manufacturing, transportation 15 storage and maintenance facilities, warehousing uses, and any 6 other use that is a source that is subiect to permitting by a district 17 as defined in Section 39025 of the Health and Safety Code, 18 pursuant to Division 26 (commencing with Section 39000) of the 19 Health and Safety Code or the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 20 Sec. 7401 et seq.). "Industrial use" does not include any of the 21 following:
22 (1) Power substations or utility conveyances such as power 23 lines, broadband wires, and pipes.
24 (2) A use where the only source permitted by a district is an 25 emergency backup generator.
26 (3) Self-storage for the residents of a building.
27 28 (k) "Local affordable housing requirement" means either of the 29 following:
30 (1) A local government requirement, as a condition of 31 development of residential units, that a housing development 32 project include a certain percentage of units affordable to, and 33 occupied by, extremely low, very low, lower, or moderate-income 34 households as a condition of development of residential units. 35 (2) A local government requirement allowing a housing 36 development project to be a use by right if the project includes a 37 certain percentage of units affordable to, and occupied by. 38 extremely low, very low, lower, or moderate-income households 39 as a condition of development of residential units.
40 99
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1 (1) "Local government" means a city, including a charter city, 2 a county, including a charter county, or a city and county, including a charter city and county.
(m) "Lower income faculty or staff" means an employee of the University of California, the California State University, or the California Community Colleges, or a private postsecondary educational institution, as defined by Section 94858 of the Education Code, who satisfies the requirements of Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
10 11 (n) "Lower income households" has the same meaning as 12 defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code. 13 (0) (1) "Lower income student" means any of the following:
14 (A) A student who has a household income and asset level that 15 does not exceed either of the following:
16 (i) The level for Cal Grant A or Cal Grant B award recipients 17 as set forth in subdivision (k) of Section 69432.7 of the Education 18 19 (ii) The level for the California College Promise Grant as set 20 forth in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of 21 subdivision (g) of Section 76300 of the Education Code. 22 (B) A student who otherwise qualifies for the California College 23 Promise Grant as set forth in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) 24 of subdivision (g) of section /0300 of the Education Code. 25 (C) A student who qualifies for Federal Pell Grant financial 26 aid pursuant to Section 1070a of Title 20 of the United States Code. 27 (D) A student who qualities for an exemption from paying 28 nonresident tuition pursuant to Section 68130.5 of the Education 29 Code, provided that the student also meets income criteria 30 applicable to the California Dream Act application.
31 (E) A graduate student with income and asset levels that would 32 qualify for one or more of the benefits in subparagraphs (A) to 33 (D), inclusive, as determined by the campus at which the student 34 is enrolled.
35 (2) The eligibility of a student to occupy a unit for lower income 36 students under this subdivision shall be verified by an affidavit, award letter, or letter of eligibility demonstrating that the student 38 is eligible for financial aid, including an institutional grant or fee 39 waiver, provided by the institution of higher education in which 99 AB 893 - 6 -
1 the student is enrolled, by the Student Aid Commission, or by the 2 federal government.
3 4 (p) "Major transit stop" has the same meaning as defined in 5 subdivision (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code. 6 (m)
7 (g) "Minimum efficiency reporting value" or "MERV" means 8 the measurement scale developed by the American Society of 9 Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers used to 10 report the effectiveness of air filters.
11 12 (r) "Moderate-income households" means households of persons 13 and families of moderate income, as defined in Section 50093 of 14 the Health and Safety Code.
15 (o)
16 (s) "Multifamily" means a property with five or more housing 17 units for sale or for rent.
18 (p)
19 (t) "Neighborhood plan" means a specific plan adopted pursuant 20 to Article 8 (commencing with Section 65450) of Chapter 3, an 21 area plan, precise plan, community plan, urban village plan, or 22 master plan. To qualify as a neighborhood plan, the plan must have 23 been adopted by a local government before January 1, 2024, and 24 within 25 years of the date that a development proponent submits 25 an application pursuant to this chapter. Á neighborhood plan does 26 not include a community plan or plans where the cumulative area 27 covered by the community plans in the jurisdiction is more than 28 one-half of the area of the jurisdiction.
29 30 (u) "Principally permitted use" means a use that, as of January 31 1, 2023, or thereafter, may occupy more than one-third of the 32 square footage of designated use on the site and does not require 33 a conditional use permit, except that parking uses are considered 34 principally permitted whether or not they require a conditional use 35 permit.
36 (1)
37 (v) "Regional mall" means a site that meets all of the following 38 criteria on the date that a development proponent submits an 39 application pursuant to this chapter:
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1 (1) The permitted uses on the site include at least 250,000 square 2 feet of retail use.
3 (2) At least two-thirds of the permitted uses on the site are retail 4 5 (3) At least two of the permitted retail uses on the site are at 6 least 10,000 square feet.
8 (w) "Street" has the same meaning as defined in Section 590 of the Vehicle Code, and includes sidewalks, as defined in Section 10 555 of the Vehicle Code.
11 12 (x) "Urban uses" means any current or former residential, 13 commercial, public institutional, public park that is surrounded by 14 other urban uses, parking lot or structure, transit or transportation 15 passenger facility, or retail use, or any combination of those uses. 16 (u)
17 (y) "Use by right" means a development project for which both 18 of the following are true:
19 (1) The development project is not subject to a conditional use 20 permit, planned unit development permit, or any other discretionary 21 local government approval, permit, or review process. 22 (2) No aspect of the development project, including any permits 23 required for the development project, is a "project" for purposes of Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public 25 Resources Code.
26 (z) "Very low income faculty or staff" means an employee of 27 the University of California, the California State University, or 28 the California Community Colleges, or a private postsecondary 29 educational institution, as defined by Section 94858 of the 30 Education Code, who satisfies the requirements of Section 50105 31 of the Health and Safety Code.
32 (V)
33 (aa) "Very low income households" has the same meaning as 34 defined in Section 50105 of the Health and Safety Code. 35 36 (ab) "Very low vehicle travel area" has the same meaning as 37 defined in subdivision (h) of Section 65589.5.
38 SEC. 3. Section 65912.104 of the Government Code is amended 39 to read:
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1 65912.104. (a) The department shall undertake at least two 2 studies of the outcomes of this chapter. One study shall be 3 completed on or before January 1, 2027, and one shall be 4 completed on or betore January 1, 203l.
5 (b) The studies required by subdivision (a) shall include, but 6 not be limited to. the number of proiects built, the number of unit:
built, the jurisdictional and regional location of the housing, the 8 relative wealth and access to resources of the communities in which 9 they are built, the level of affordability, the effect on greenhouse 10 gas emissions, and the creation of construction jobs that pay the 11 prevailing wage.
12 (c) (1) The department shall publish a report of the findings of 13 a study required by subdivision (a), post the report on its internet 14 website, and submit the report to the Legislature pursuant to 15 Section 9795.
16 (2) The outcomes of projects built under campus development 17 zones shall be reported in the January 1, 2031, report. 18 SEC. 4. Section 65912.121 of the Government Code is amended 19 to read:
20 65912.121. A development project shall not be subject to the 21 streamlined, ministerial review process provided by Section 22 65912.124 unless the development project is on a site that satisfies all of the following criteria:
24 (a) It is located within a zone where office, retail, or parking 25 are principally permitted use.
26 (b) It is located on a legal parcel, or parcels, that meet either of 27 the following:
28 (1) It is within a city where the city boundaries include some 29 portion of an urbanized area, as designated by the United States 30 Census Bureau.
31 (2) It is in an unincorporated area, and the legal parcel, or 32 parcels, are wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area, as 33 designated by the United States Census Bureau.
34 (c) The It satisfies either of the following criteria:
35 (1) The project site abuts a commercial corridor and has a 36 frontage along the commercial corridor of a minimum of 50 feet. 37 (2) The site is in a campus development zone.
38 (d) The site is not greater than 20 acres, unless the site is a 39 regional mall, in which case the site is not greater than 100 acres. 99 - 9 - AB 893
1 (e) At least 75 percent of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels 2 that are developed with urban uses. For purposes of this 3 subdivision, parcels that are only separated by a street, pedestrian 4 path, or bicycle path shall be considered to be adjoined. 5 (f) (1) It is not on a site or adjoined to any site where more than 6 one-third of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial 7 8 (2) For purposes of this subdivision, parcels only separated by 9 a street shall be considered to be adjoined.
10 (3) For purposes of this subdivision, "dedicated to industrial 11 use" means any of the following:
12 (A) The square footage is currently being used as an industrial 13 14 (B) The most recently permitted use of the square footage is an 15 industrial use, and the site has been occupied within the past three 16 years.
17 (C) The site was designated for industrial use in the latest 18 version of a local government's general plan adopted before 19 January 1, 2022, and residential uses are not principally permitted on the site.
21 (g) It satisfies the requirements specified in paragraph (6) of 22 subdivision (a) of Section 65913.4, exclusive of clause (iv) of 23 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 24 65913.4
25 (h) The development is not located on a site where any of the 26 following apply:
27 (1) The development would require the demolition of the 28 following types of housing:
29 (A) Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, 30 or law that restricts rents to levels affordable to persons and 31 families of moderate, low, or very low income.
32 (B) Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control 33 through a public entity's valid exercise of its police power. 34 (C) Housing that has been occupied by tenants within the past 35 10 years, excluding any manager's units.
36 (2) The site was previously used for permanent housing that 37 was occupied by tenants, excluding any manager's units, that was 38 demolished within 10 years before the development proponent 39 submits an application under this article.
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1 (3) The development would require the demolition of a historic 2 structure that was placed on a national, state, or local historic 3 register.
(4) The property contains one to four dwelling units.
(5) The property is vacant and zoned for housing but not for multifamily residential use.
(6) The existing parcel of land or site is governed under the Mobilehome Residency Law (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with
Section 798) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code), 10 the Recreational Vehicle Park Occupancy Law (Chapter 2.6 11 (commencing with Section 799.20) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 12 2 of the Civil Code, the Mobilehome Parks Act (Part 2.1 13 (commencing with Section 18200) of Division 13 of the Health 14 and Safety Code), or the Special Occupancy Parks Act (Part 2.3 15 (commencing with Section 18860) of Division 13 of the Health 16 and Safety Code).
17 (i) For a site within a neighborhood plan area, the neighborhood 18 plan applicable to the site permitted multifamily housing 19 development on the site.
20 (i) For a vacant site, the site satisfies both of the following:
21 (1) It does not contain tribal cultural resources, as defined by 22 Section 21074 of the Public Resources Code, that could be affected 23 by the development that were found pursuant to a consultation as 24 described by Section 21080.3.1 of the Public Resources Code and 25 the effects of which cannot be mitigated pursuant to the process 26 described in Section 21080.3.2 of the Public Resources Code. 27 (2) It is not within a very high fire hazard severity zone, as 28 indicated on maps adopted by the Department of Forestry and Fire 29 Protection pursuant to Section 4202 of the Public Resources Code 30 or as designated pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 31 51179.
32 SEC. 5. Section 65912.122 of the Government Code is amended 33 to read:
34 65912.122. A development project shall not be subject to the 35 streamlined, ministerial review process provided by Section 36 65912.124 unless the new housing units created by the development 37 project meet all of the following affordability criteria:
38 (a) (1) A Except as provided in paragraph (2), a rental housing 39 development shall include either of the following:
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1 (A) Eight percent of the base units for very low income 2 households and 5 percent of the units for extremely low income 3 households.
4 (B) Fifteen percent of the base units for lower income 5 households.
6 (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a rental housing
7 development in a campus development zone shall include either 8 of the following:
9 (A) (i) Both of the following:
10 (I) Five percent of the base units for extremely low income 11 households, extremely low income faculty or staff, or students 12 experiencing homelessness.
13 (II Eight percent of the base units for very low income 14 households, very low income faculty or staff, or students 15 experiencing homelessness.
16 (ii) For the purposes of this subparagraph, a homeless services 17 provider, as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 18 103577 of the Health and Safety Code, or institution of higher 19 education that has knowledge of a person's homelessness status 20 may verify a person's status as homeless.
21 (B) Fifteen percent of the base units for lower income 22 households, lower income students, or lower income faculty or 23 24
25 (3) The development proponent shall agree to, and the local 26 government shall ensure, the continued affordability of all 27 affordable rental units included pursuant to this subdivision for 55 28 years. Rents shall be set at an affordable rent, as defined in Section 29 50053 of the Health and Safety Code.
30 (b) (1) An Except as provided in paragraph (2), an
31 owner-occupied housing development shall include either of the 32 following:
33 (A) Thirty percent of the base units must be offered at an 34 affordable housing cost, as defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health 35 and Safety Code, to moderate-income households.
36 (B) Fifteen percent of the base units must be offered at an 37 affordable housing cost, as defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health 38 and Safety Code, to lower income households.
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1 (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an owner-occupied housing 2 development in a campus development zone shall include either 3 of the following:
4 Thirty percent of the base units must be offered at an 5 affordable housing cost, as defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health 6 and Safety Code, to moderate-income households.
7 (B) Fifteen percent of the base units must be offered at an 8 affordable housing cost, as defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health 9 and Safety Code, to lower income households, lower income 10 students, or lower income faculty or staff.
11 12 (3) The development proponent shall agree to, and the local 13 government shall ensure, the continued affordability of all 14 affordable ownership units for a period of 45 years. 15 (c) If the local government has a local affordable housing 16 requirement, the housing development project shall comply with 17 all of the following:
18 (1) The development project shall include the percentage of 19 affordable units required by this section or the local requirement, 20 whichever is higher.
21 (2) The development project shall meet the affordability level 22 of a local affordable housing requirement if it is a deeper 23 affordability level than required by this section.
24 (3) If the local affordable housing requirement requires greater 25 than 15 percent of the units to be dedicated for lower income households and does not require the inclusion of units affordable 27 to very low and extremely low income households, then the rental 28 housing development shall do both of the following:
29 (A) Include 8 percent of the units for very low income 30 households and 5 percent of the units for extremely low income 31 households.
32 (B) Fifteen percent of units affordable to lower income 33 households shall be subtracted from the percentage of units 34 required by the local policy at the highest required affordability 35 36 (d) Affordable units in the development project shall have the 37 same bedroom and bathroom count ratio as the market rate units, 38 be equitably distributed within the project, and have the same type 39 or quality of appliances, fixtures, and finishes.
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1 SEC. 6. Section 65912.123 of the Government Code is amended 2 to read:
3 65912.123. A development project shall not be subject to the 4 streamlined, ministerial review process provided by Section 5 65912.124 unless the development project meets all of the 6 following objective development standards:
(a) The development shall be a multifamily housing development 8 project.
(b) The residential density for the development, prior to the 10 award of any eligible density bonus pursuant to Section 65915, 11 shall be determined as follows:
12 (1) In a metropolitan jurisdiction, as determined pursuant to 13 subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 65583.2, the allowable 14 residential density for the development shall be the greater of the 15 following:
16 (A) The maximum allowable residential density, as defined in 17 paragraph (6) of subdivision (o) of Section 65915, allowed on the 18 parcel by the local government.
19 (B) For sites of less than one acre in size, 30 units per acre. 20 (C) For sites of one acre in size or greater located on a 21 commercial corridor of less than 100 feet in width, 40 units per 22 23 (D) For sites of one acre in size or greater located on a 24 commercial corridor of 100 feet in width or greater, 60 units per 25 26 (E) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), (C), or (D), for sites 27 within a very low vehicle travel area or area, within one-half mile 28 of a major transit stop, or within a campus development zone, 80 29 units per acre.
30 (2) In a jurisdiction that is not a metropolitan jurisdiction, as 31 determined pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 65583.2, 32 the allowable residential density for the development shall be the 33 greater of the following:
34 (A) The maximum allowable residential density, as defined in 35 paragraph (6) of subdivision (o) of Section 65915, allowed on the 36 parcel by the local government.
37 (B) For sites of less than one acre in size, 20 units per acre. 38 (C) For sites of one acre in size or greater located on a 39 commercial corridor of less than 100 feet in width, 30 units per 40 acre.
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1 (D) For sites of one acre in size or greater located on a 2 commercial corridor of 100 feet in width or greater, 50 units per 3 acre.
4 (E) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), (C), or (D), for sites 5 within a very low vehicle travel area of area, within one-half mile 6 of a major transit stop, or within a campus development zone, 70 7 units per acre.
8 (3) (A) For a housing development project application that has 9 been determined to be consistent with the objective planning 10 standards specified in this article, pursuant to subdivision (a) of 11 Section 65912.124, before January 1, 2027, the development 12 project shall be developed at a density as follows:
13 (i) Except as provided in clause (ii), 50 percent or greater of the 14 applicable allowable residential density contained in subparagraphs 15 (B) to (E), inclusive, of paragraph (1) or subparagraphs (B) to (E), 16 inclusive, of paragraph (2), as applicable.
17 (ii) For a site within one-half mile of an existing passenger rail 18 or bus rapid transit station, 75 percent or greater of the applicable 19 allowable residential density contained in subparagraphs (B) to 20 (E), inclusive, of paragraph (1) or subparagraphs (B) to (E), 21 inclusive, of paragraph (2), as applicable.
22 (iii) For a site within a campus development zone, 75 percent 23 or greater of the applicable allowable residential density contained 24 in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2).
25 (B) For a housing development project application that has been 26 determined to be consistent with the objective planning standards 27 specified in this article, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 20 65912.124, on or after January 1, 2027, the development project 29 shall be developed at a density that is 75 percent or greater of the 30 applicable allowable residential density contained in subparagraphs 31 32
33 (4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), a development 34 project shall not be subject to any density limitation if the 35 development project is a conversion of existing buildings into 36 residential use, unless the development project includes additiona 37 new sauare footage that is more than 20 percent of the overal 38 square footage of the project
39 (c) The height limit applicable to the housing development sha 40 be the greater of the following:
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(1) The height allowed on the parcel by the local government. 2 (2) For sites on a commercial corridor of less than 100 feet in 3 width, 35 feet.
(3) For sites on a commercial corridor of 100 feet in width or 5 greater, 45 feet.
6 (4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3), 65 feet for sites that meet all of the following criteria:
8 (A) They are within one-half mile of a major transit stop. 9 (B) They are within a city with a population of greater than 10 100,000.
11 (C) They are not within a coastal zone, as defined in Division 12 20 (commencing with Section 30000) of the Public Resources 13 Code.
14 (5) For sites in a campus development zone, 65 feet. 15 (d) The property meets the following standards:
16 (1) For the portion of the property that fronts a commercial 17 corridor, corridor or for a property in a campus development zone, 18 the following shall occur:
19 (A) No setbacks shall be required.
20 (B) All parking must be set back at least 25 feet.
21 (C) On the ground floor, a building or buildings must abut within 22 10 feet of the street for at least 80 percent of the frontage. 23 (2) For the portion of the property that abuts an adjoining 24 oroperty that also abuts the same commercial corridor as the 25 property, no setbacks are required unless the adjoining property 26 contains a residential use that was constructed prior to the 27 enactment of this chapter, in which case the requirements of 28 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) apply.
29 (3) For the portion of the property line that does not abut or lie 30 within a commercial corridor, or an adjoining property that also 31 abuts the same commercial corridor as the property, the following 32 shall occur:
33 (A) Along property lines that abut a property that contains a 34 residential use, the following shall occur:
35 (i) The ground floor of the development project shall be set back 36 at 10 feet. The amount required to be set back may be decreased 37 by the local government.
38 (ii) Starting with the second floor of the property, each 39 subsequent floor of the development project shall be stepped back 40 in an amount equal to seven feet multiplied by the floor number. 99 AB 893 - 16-
For purposes of this paragraph, the ground floor counts as the first 2 floor. The amount required to be stepped back may be decreased 3 by the local government.
4 (B) Along property lines that abut a property that does not 5 contain a residential use, the development shall be set back 15 feet. 6 The amount required to be stepped back may be decreased by the 7 local government.
8 (4) For a development project at a regional mall, all of the 9 following requirements apply:
10 (A) The average size of a block shall not exceed three acres. 11 For purposes of this subparagraph, a "block" means an area fully 12 surrounded by streets, pedestrian paths, or a combination of streets 13 and pedestrian paths that are each at least 40 feet in width. 14 (B) At least 5 percent of the site shall be dedicated to open 15 16 (C) For the portion of the property that fronts a street that is 17 newly created by the project and is not a commercial corridor, a 18 building shall abut within 10 feet of the street for at least 60 percent 19 of the frontage.
20 (e) No parking shall be required, including replacement parking, 21 except that this article shall not reduce, eliminate, or preclude the 23 residential or manesdenia developed onto provide bicycle 24 parking, electric vehicle supply equipment installed parking spaces 25 or parking spaces that are accessible to persons with disabilities 26 that would have otherwise applied to the development if this article 27 did not apply.
28 (f For any housing on the site located within 500 feet of a 29 freeway, all of the following shall apply:
30 (1) The building shall have a centralized heating, ventilation, 31 and air-conditioning system.
32 (2) The outdoor air intakes for the heating, ventilation, and 33 air-conditioning system shall face away from the freeway. 34 (3) The building shall provide air filtration media for outside 35 and return air that provide a minimum efficiency reporting value 36 of 16.
37 (4) The air filtration media shall be replaced at the 38 manufacturer's designated interval.
39 (5) The building shall not have any balconies facing the freeway. 99 - 17- AB 893
(g) None of the housing on the site is located within 3,200 feet 2 of a facility that actively extracts or refines oil or natural gas. 3 (h) (1) The development proponent shall provide written notice 4 of the pending application to each commercial tenant on the parcel 5 when the application is submitted
6 (2) The development proponent shall provide relocation 7 assistance to each eligible commercial tenant located on the site 8 as follows:
9 (A) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least 10 one year but less than five years, the relocation assistance shall be 11 equivalent to six months' rent.
12 (B) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least 5 13 years but less than 10 years, the relocation assistance shall be 14 equivalent to nine months' rent.
15 (C) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least 16 10 years but less than 15 years, the relocation assistance shall be 17 equivalent to 12 months' rent.
18 (D) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least 19 15 years but less than 20 years, the relocation assistance shall be 20 equivalent to 15 months' rent.
21 (E) For a commercial tenant operating on the site for at least 20 22 years, the relocation assistance shall be equivalent to 18 months' 23 rent.
24 (3) The relocation assistance shall be provided to an eligible 25 commercial tenant upon expiration of the lease of that commercial 26 tenant.
27 (4) For purposes of this subdivision, a commercial tenant is 28 eligible for relocation assistance if the commercial tenant meets 29 all of the following criteria:
30 (A) The commercial tenant is an independently owned and 31 operated business with its principal office located in the county in 32 which the property on the site that is leased by the commercial 33 tenant is located.
34 (B) The commercial tenant's lease expired and was not renewed 35 by the property owner.
36 (C) The commercial tenant's lease expired within the three years 37 following the development proponent's submission of the 38 application for a housing development pursuant to this article. 39 (D) The commercial tenant employs 20 or fewer employees and 40 has annual average gross receipts under one million dollars 99 AB 893 - 18-
1 ($1,000,000) for the three-taxable-year period ending with the 2 taxable year that precedes the expiration of their lease. 3 (E) The commercial tenant is still in operation on the site at the 4 time of the expiration of its lease.
5 (5) Notwithstanding paragraph (4), for purposes of this 6 subdivision, a commercial tenant is ineligible for relocation assistance if the commercial tenant meets both of the following 8 (A) The commercial tenant entered into a lease on the site after 10 the development proponent's submission of the application for a 11 housing development pursuant to this article.
12 (B) The commercial tenant had not previously entered into a 13 14 (6) (A) The commercial tenant shall utilize the funds provided 15 by the development proponent to relocate the business or for costs 16 of a new business.
17 (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), if the commercial tenant 18 elects not to use the funds provided as required by subparagraph 19 (A), the development proponent shall provide only assistance equal 20 to three months' rent, regardless of the duration of the commercial 21 tenant's lease.
22 (7) For purposes of this subdivision, monthly rent is equal to 23 one-twelfth of the total amount of rent paid by the commercial 24 tenant in the last 12 months.
25 (i) For any project that is the conversion of an existing building 26 for nonresidential use building to residential use, the local 27 government shall not require the provision of common open space 28 beyond what is required tor the existing project site. 29 (j Objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, 30 and objective design review standards not specified elsewhere in 31 this section, as follows:
32 (1) The applicable objective standards shall be those for the 33 closest zone in the city, county, or city and county that allows 37 be those for the zone that allows the greatest density within the 38 city, county, or city and county.
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(2) The applicable objective standards shall be those in effect 2 at the time that the development application is submitted to the 3 local government pursuant to this article.
4 (3) The objective standards shall not preclude a development 5 from being built at the residential density required pursuant to 6 subdivision (b) and shall not require the development to reduce unit size to meet the objective standards.
10 development project be dedicated to retail use.
11 (5) For purposes of this section, "objective zoning standards," 12 "objective subdivision standards," and "objective design review 13 standards" mean standards that involve no personal or subjective 14 Judgment by a public official and are uniformly verifiable by 15 reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the development applicant or proponent and the public official before submittal. These standards 18 may be embodied in alternative objective land use specifications 19 adopted by a city or county, and may include, but are not limited 20 to, housing overlay zones, specific plans, inclusionary zoning 21 ordinances, and density bonus ordinances. In the event that 22 objective zoning, general plan, subdivision, or design review 23 standards are mutually inconsistent, a development shall be deemed 24 consistent with the objective zoning and subdivision standards 25 pursuant to this subdivision if the development is consistent with the standards set forth in the general plan.
27 SEC. 7. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to 28 Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because 29 a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service 30 charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or 31 level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 32 17556 of the Government Code.
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