AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 4, 2026
california legislature—2025–26 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1621
Introduced by Assembly Member Wilson
(Coauthor: (Coauthors: Assembly Member Members Blanca Rubio and Wicks)
January 22, 2026
An act to amend Sections 65589.5 and 65913.3 of the Go vernment Code, relating to planning and zoning.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 1621, as amended, Wilson. Planning and Zoning La w:
postentitlement phase permits: Housing Accountability Act. (1) The Planning and Zoning La w requires a local agenc y or state agency to compile one or more lists that specify in detail the information required from an y applicant for a postentitlement phase permit, as defined. Existing law also establishes time limits for completing reviews regarding whether an application for a postentitlement phase permit is complete and compliant, and whether to approve or deny an application.
Existing law requires the time limits to be tolled, if the local agency or state agency requires re view of the application by an outside entity , until the outside entity completes the review and returns the application, as specified.
This bill would prohibit a local agency or state agency from requiring or requesting more than 2 plan check and specification re views in connection with an application for a b uilding permit, as part of its review, except as specified. The bill would authorize a local agency or state agency to deny an application that is not compliant with the permit standards following 2 plan check and specification re views. The bill
98 would also authorize an applicant to request additional submittals of applications that are not compliant with the permit standards. The bill, if a local agenc y or state agenc y finds that a complete application is noncompliant, w ould prohibit a local agenc y or state agenc y from requesting or requiring any action or inaction as a result of a b uilding inspection undertaken to assess compliance with the applicable building permit standards that w ould represent a de viation from a pre viously approved b uilding plan or similar appro val for the b uilding permit, except as specified.
This bill w ould remo ve the abo ve-described tolling requirements relating to outside entity reviews and, instead, would require, if federal or state law requires review of the application by another public agency that is independent of the local agency or state agency before the local agency or state agency is authorized to act on the application, the time limits to be tolled for the application until the public agency completes the review and returns the application to the local agency or state agency.
The bill w ould require the local agenc y or state agenc y to notify the applicant of the tolling, as specified.
(2) Existing law, if a postentitlement phase permit is determined to be incomplete or noncompliant, requires a local agency or state agency to provide a process for an applicant to appeal that decision in writing to the governing body of the agency or, if there is no governing body, to the director of the agency, as provided by that agency. Existing law requires the city or county to pro vide that the right of appeal is to the governing body or, at their option, the planning commission, or both.
Existing law requires a local agency or state agency to provide a final written determination on the appeal not later than 60 business days after receipt of the applicant’ s written appeal, for housing de velopment projects with 25 units or fewer, and not later than 90 business days for a housing de velopment projects with 26 units or more. Existing la w also specifies that the f act that an appeal is permitted to both the planning commission and to the go verning body does not e xtend the specified time period.
This bill w ould revise those timelines to not later than 30 b usiness days for housing development projects with 25 units or fe wer and 45 business days for housing development projects with 26 units or more.
The bill would remove the specification that the f act that an appeal is permitted to both the planning commission and to the governing body does not extend the specified time period. The bill would remove the requirement that, if a postentitlement phase permit is determined to be 98 — 2 — AB 1621
incomplete or noncompliant, a local agenc y or state agency provide a process for an applicant to appeal that decision to the director of the agency if there is no governing body, as provided by that agency. The bill would remove the requirement that a city or county pro vide that the right of appeal is to the go verning body or , at their option, the planning commission, or both.
This bill would authorize the applicant to seek a writ of mandate to compel approval of the application, if the applicant’s appeal is denied, or a decision on the appeal is not made within the timelines pro vided, or an appeals process is not provided as required.
By imposing additional duties on local agencies re garding postentitlement phase permits, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(3) Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, among other things, prohibits a local agenc y from disapproving, or conditioning appro val in a manner that renders infeasible, a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderate-income households unless the local agency makes written findings as to one of certain sets of conditions, as specified. The act also requires, when a proposed housing development project complies with applicable, objecti ve general plan, zoning, and subdivision standards and criteria in effect at the time that the application was deemed complete, but the local agency proposes to disapprove the project or to impose a condition that the project be developed at a lower density, that the local agency base its decision regarding the proposed housing de velopment project upon written findings supported by a preponderance of the evidence on the record that 2 specified conditions exist. Existing la w defines the term “disappro ve the housing development project” for these purposes to include an y instance in which a local agency takes certain actions or fails to comply with certain requirements, including the time limits described abo ve. Existing law makes a local agency’s failure to meet the above-described time limits relating to postentitlement phase permits a violation of the Housing Accountability Act.
This bill w ould, instead, mak e a violation of the abo ve-described provisions relating to postentitlement phase permits, among others, a violation of the Housing Accountability Act. The bill would also revise the definition of “disapprove the housing development project” under the Housing Accountability Act to include any instance in which a local agency f ails to comply with an y of the pro visions described abo ve relating to postentitlement phase permits. By requiring local agencies 98 AB 1621 — 3 —
to take certain actions, this bill w ould impose a state-mandated local program.
(4) The bill would make other conforming changes and would provide that certain changes are declaratory of existing law.
(5) The bill w ould include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 65589.5 of the Government Code is line 2 amended to read:
line 3 65589.5. (a) (1) The Legislature finds and declares all of the line 4 following:
line 5 (A) The lack of housing, including emer gency shelters, is a line 6 critical problem that threatens the economic, en vironmental, and line 7 social quality of life in California.
line 8 (B) California housing has become the most e xpensive in the line 9 nation. The excessive cost of the state’s housing supply is partially line 10 caused by activities and policies of many local governments that line 11 limit the approval of housing, increase the cost of land for housing, line 12 and require that high fees and e xactions be paid by producers of line 13 housing.
line 14 (C) Among the consequences of those actions are discrimination line 15 against low-income and minority households, lack of housing to line 16 support emplo yment gro wth, imbalance in jobs and housing, line 17 reduced mobility, urban spra wl, e xcessive commuting, and air line 18 quality deterioration.
line 19 (D) Many local governments do not give adequate attention to line 20 the economic, en vironmental, and social costs of decisions that line 21 result in disapproval of housing development projects, reduction line 22 in density of housing projects, and excessive standards for housing line 23 development projects.
98 — 4 — AB 1621
line 1 (2) In enacting the amendments made to this section by the act line 2 adding this paragraph, the Le gislature further finds and declares line 3 the following:
line 4 (A) California has a housing supply and af fordability crisis of line 5 historic proportions. The consequences of f ailing to ef fectively line 6 and aggressi vely confront this crisis are hurting millions of line 7 Californians, robbing future generations of the chance to call line 8 California home, stifling economic opportunities for workers and line 9 businesses, worsening poverty and homelessness, and undermining line 10 the state’s environmental and climate objectives. line 11 (B) While the causes of this crisis are multiple and comple x, line 12 the absence of meaningful and ef fective polic y reforms to line 13 significantly enhance the approval and supply of housing affordable line 14 to Californians of all income levels is a key factor. line 15 (C) The crisis has gro wn so acute in California that supply , line 16 demand, and affordability fundamentals are characterized in the line 17 negative: underserved demands, constrained supply, and protracted line 18 unaffordability.
line 19 (D) According to reports and data, California has accumulated line 20 an unmet housing backlog of nearly 2,000,000 units and must line 21 provide for at least 180,000 new units annually to keep pace with line 22 growth through 2025.
line 23 (E) California’s o verall home o wnership rate is at its lo west line 24 level since the 1940s. The state ranks 49th out of the 50 states in line 25 home ownership rates as well as in the supply of housing per capita. line 26 Only one-half of California’ s households are able to af ford the line 27 cost of housing in their local regions.
line 28 (F) Lack of supply and rising costs are compounding inequality line 29 and limiting advancement opportunities for many Californians. line 30 (G) The majority of California renters, more than 3,000,000 line 31 households, pay more than 30 percent of their income toward rent line 32 and nearly one-third, more than 1,500,000 households, pay more line 33 than 50 percent of their income toward rent.
line 34 (H) When Californians ha ve access to safe and af fordable line 35 housing, they have more money for food and health care; they are line 36 less lik ely to become homeless and in need of
line 37 government-subsidized services; their children do better in school; line 38 and b usinesses ha ve an easier time recruiting and retaining line 39 employees.
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line 1 (I) An additional consequence of the state’s cumulative housing line 2 shortage is a significant increase in greenhouse g as emissions line 3 caused by the displacement and redirection of populations to states line 4 with greater housing opportunities, particularly w orking- and line 5 middle-class households. California’s cumulative housing shortfall line 6 therefore has not only national b ut international en vironmental line 7 consequences.
line 8 (J) California’s housing picture has reached a crisis of historic line 9 proportions despite the fact that, for decades, the Legislature has line 10 enacted numerous statutes intended to significantly increase the line 11 approval, development, and affordability of housing for all income line 12 levels, including this section.
line 13 (K) The Legislature’s intent in enacting this section in 1982 and line 14 in expanding its provisions since then was to significantly increase line 15 the approval and construction of ne w housing for all economic line 16 segments of California’ s communities by meaningfully and line 17 effectively curbing the capability of local go vernments to den y, line 18 reduce the density for, or render infeasible housing de velopment line 19 projects and emergency shelters. That intent has not been fulfilled. line 20 (L) It is the polic y of the state that this section be interpreted line 21 and implemented in a manner to afford the fullest possible weight line 22 to the interest of, and the approval and provision of, housing. line 23 (3) It is the intent of the Le gislature that the conditions that line 24 would have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health and line 25 safety, as described in paragraph (2) of subdi vision (d) and line 26 paragraph (1) of subdivision (j), arise infrequently. line 27 (4) It is the intent of the Le gislature that the amendments line 28 removing provisions from subparagraphs (D) and (E) of paragraph line 29 (6) of subdi vision (h) and adding those pro visions to Sections line 30 65589.5.1 and 65589.5.2 by Assembly Bill 1413 (2023), insof ar line 31 as the y are substantially the same as e xisting la w, shall be line 32 considered restatements and continuations of existing law, and not line 33 new enactments.
line 34 (b) It is the policy of the state that a local government not reject line 35 or mak e infeasible housing de velopment projects, including line 36 emergency shelters, that contribute to meeting the need determined line 37 pursuant to this article without a thorough analysis of the economic, line 38 social, and en vironmental ef fects of the action and without line 39 complying with subdivision (d).
98 — 6 — AB 1621
line 1 (c) The Le gislature also recognizes that premature and line 2 unnecessary de velopment of agricultural lands for urban uses line 3 continues to have adverse effects on the availability of those lands line 4 for food and fiber production and on the economy of the state. line 5 Furthermore, it is the policy of the state that development should line 6 be guided a way from prime agricultural lands; therefore, in line 7 implementing this section, local jurisdictions should encourage, line 8 to the maximum extent practicable, in filling existing urban areas. line 9 (d) For a housing de velopment project for v ery low, low-, or line 10 moderate-income households, or an emer gency shelter, a local line 11 agency shall not disappro ve the housing de velopment project or line 12 emergency shelter, or condition approval in a manner that renders line 13 the housing development project or emergency shelter infeasible, line 14 including through the use of design re view standards, unless it line 15 makes written findings, based upon a preponderance of the line 16 evidence in the record, as to one of the following:
line 17 (1) The jurisdiction has adopted a housing element pursuant to line 18 this article that has been revised in accordance with Section 65588, line 19 is in substantial compliance with this article, and the jurisdiction line 20 has met or e xceeded its share of the re gional housing need line 21 allocation pursuant to Section 65584 for the planning period for line 22 the income category proposed for the housing development project, line 23 provided that any disapproval or conditional approval shall not be line 24 based on any of the reasons prohibited by Section 65008. If the line 25 housing development project includes a mix of income categories, line 26 and the jurisdiction has not met or exceeded its share of the regional line 27 housing need for one or more of those cate gories, then this line 28 paragraph shall not be used to disapprove or conditionally approve line 29 the housing development project. The share of the regional housing line 30 need met by the jurisdiction shall be calculated consistently with line 31 the forms and definitions that may be adopted by the Department line 32 of Housing and Community De velopment pursuant to Section line 33 65400. In the case of an emer gency shelter, the jurisdiction shall line 34 have met or exceeded the need for emergency shelter, as identified line 35 pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 65583. Any line 36 disapproval or conditional appro val pursuant to this paragraph line 37 shall be in accordance with applicable law, rule, or standards. line 38 (2) The housing development project or emer gency shelter as line 39 proposed would have a specific, adv erse impact upon the public line 40 health or safety, and there is no feasible method to satisf actorily 98 AB 1621 — 7 —
line 1 mitigate or avoid the specific, adv erse impact without rendering line 2 the de velopment unaf fordable to lo w- and moderate-income line 3 households or rendering the development of the emergency shelter line 4 financially infeasible. As used in this paragraph, a “specific, line 5 adverse impact” means a significant, quantifiable, direct, and line 6 unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified written public line 7 health or safety standards, policies, or conditions as the y existed line 8 on the date the application was deemed complete. The following line 9 shall not constitute a specific, adv erse impact upon the public line 10 health or safety:
line 11 (A) Inconsistency with the zoning ordinance or general plan line 12 land use designation.
line 13 (B) The eligibility to claim a welf are e xemption under line 14 subdivision (g) of Section 214 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. line 15 (3) The denial of the housing development project or imposition line 16 of conditions is required in order to comply with specific state or line 17 federal law, and there is no feasible method to comply without line 18 rendering the de velopment unaf fordable to lo w- and line 19 moderate-income households or rendering the development of the line 20 emergency shelter financially infeasible.
line 21 (4) The housing de velopment project or emer gency shelter is line 22 proposed on land zoned for agriculture or resource preserv ation line 23 that is surrounded on at least tw o sides by land being used for line 24 agricultural or resource preservation purposes, or which does not line 25 have adequate water or wastewater facilities to serve the project. line 26 (5) On the date an application for the housing de velopment line 27 project or emergency shelter was deemed complete, the jurisdiction line 28 had adopted a re vised housing element that w as in substantial line 29 compliance with this article, and the housing development project line 30 or emergency shelter was inconsistent with both the jurisdiction’s line 31 zoning ordinance and general plan land use designation as specified line 32 in any element of the general plan.
line 33 (A) This paragraph shall not be utilized to disappro ve or line 34 conditionally approve a housing development project proposed on line 35 a site, including a candidate site for rezoning, that is identified as line 36 suitable or a vailable for v ery lo w, lo w-, or moderate-income line 37 households in the jurisdiction’ s housing element if the housing line 38 development project is consistent with the density specified in the line 39 housing element, e ven though the housing de velopment project line 40 was inconsistent with both the jurisdiction’s zoning ordinance and 98 — 8 — AB 1621
line 1 general plan land use designation on the date the application was line 2 deemed complete.
line 3 (B) If the local agenc y has f ailed to identify a zone or zones line 4 where emergency shelters are allowed as a permitted use without line 5 a conditional use or other discretionary permit, has f ailed to line 6 demonstrate that the identified zone or zones include sufficient line 7 capacity to accommodate the need for emergency shelter identified line 8 in paragraph (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 65583, or has failed line 9 to demonstrate that the identified zone or zones can accommodate line 10 at least one emer gency shelter, as required by paragraph (4) of line 11 subdivision (a) of Section 65583, then this paragraph shall not be line 12 utilized to disappro ve or conditionally appro ve an emer gency line 13 shelter proposed for a site designated in any element of the general line 14 plan for industrial, commercial, or multifamily residential uses. In line 15 any action in court, the burden of proof shall be on the local agency line 16 to show that its housing element does satisfy the requirements of line 17 paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 65583. line 18 (6) On the date an application for the housing de velopment line 19 project or emergency shelter was deemed complete, the jurisdiction line 20 did not ha ve an adopted re vised housing element that w as in line 21 substantial compliance with this article and the housing line 22 development project is not a builder’s remedy project. line 23 (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to relieve the local line 24 agency from complying with the congestion management program line 25 required by Chapter 2.6 (commencing with Section 65088) or the line 26 California Coastal Act of 1976 (Di vision 20 (commencing with line 27 Section 30000) of the Public Resources Code). Neither shall line 28 anything in this section be construed to relie ve the local agenc y line 29 from making one or more of the findings required pursuant to line 30 Section 21081 of the Public Resources Code or otherwise line 31 complying with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division line 32 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources line 33 Code).
line 34 (f) (1) Except as pro vided in paragraphs (6) and (8), and line 35 subdivision (o), nothing in this section shall be construed to line 36 prohibit a local agenc y from requiring the housing de velopment line 37 project to comply with objective, quantifiable, written development line 38 standards, conditions, and policies appropriate to, and consistent line 39 with, meeting the jurisdiction’s share of the regional housing need line 40 pursuant to Section 65584. However, the development standards, 98 AB 1621 — 9 —
line 1 conditions, and policies shall be applied to f acilitate and line 2 accommodate development at the density permitted on the site and line 3 proposed by the development. Nothing in this section shall limit line 4 a project’s eligibility for a density bonus, incentive, or concession, line 5 or waiver or reduction of development standards and parking ratios, line 6 pursuant to Section 65915.
line 7 (2) Except as provided in subdivision (o), nothing in this section line 8 shall be construed to prohibit a local agenc y from requiring an line 9 emergency shelter project to comply with objective, quantifiable, line 10 written development standards, conditions, and policies that are line 11 consistent with paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 65583 line 12 and appropriate to, and consistent with, meeting the jurisdiction’s line 13 need for emer gency shelter, as identified pursuant to paragraph line 14 (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 65583. However, the development line 15 standards, conditions, and policies shall be applied by the local line 16 agency to f acilitate and accommodate the de velopment of the line 17 emergency shelter project.
line 18 (3) Except as provided in subdivision (o), nothing in this section line 19 shall be construed to prohibit a local agenc y from imposing fees line 20 and other exactions otherwise authorized by law that are essential line 21 to provide necessary public services and f acilities to the housing line 22 development project or emergency shelter.
line 23 (4) For purposes of this section, a housing development project line 24 or emergency shelter shall be deemed consistent, compliant, and line 25 in conformity with an applicable plan, program, policy, ordinance, line 26 standard, requirement, or other similar pro vision if there is line 27 substantial e vidence that w ould allo w a reasonable person to line 28 conclude that the housing de velopment project or emer gency line 29 shelter is consistent, compliant, or in conformity. line 30 (5) For purposes of this section, a change to the zoning ordinance line 31 or general plan land use designation subsequent to the date the line 32 application was deemed complete shall not constitute a valid basis line 33 to disapprove or condition appro val of the housing de velopment line 34 project or emergency shelter.
line 35 (6) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, all of the line 36 following apply to a housing development project that is a builder’s line 37 remedy project:
line 38 (A) A local agency may only require the project to comply with line 39 the objecti ve, quantifiable, written de velopment standards, line 40 conditions, and policies that would have applied to the project had 98 — 10 — AB 1621
line 1 it been proposed on a site with a general plan designation and line 2 zoning classification that allow the density and unit type proposed line 3 by the applicant. If the local agency has no general plan designation line 4 or zoning classification that w ould have allowed the density and line 5 unit type proposed by the applicant, the de velopment proponent line 6 may identify an y objecti ve, quantifiable, written de velopment line 7 standards, conditions, and policies associated with a dif ferent line 8 general plan designation or zoning classification within that line 9 jurisdiction, that facilitate the project’s density and unit type, and line 10 those shall apply.
line 11 (B) (i) Except as authorized by paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, line 12 of subdivision (d), a local agenc y shall not apply an y individual line 13 or combination of objecti ve, quantifiable, written de velopment line 14 standards, conditions, and policies to the project that do any of the line 15 following:
line 16 (I) Render the project infeasible.
line 17 (II) Preclude a project that meets the requirements allo wed to line 18 be imposed by subparagraph (A), as modified by any density bonus, line 19 incentive, or concession, or w aiver or reduction of de velopment line 20 standards and parking ratios, pursuant to Section 65915, from line 21 being constructed as proposed by the applicant. line 22 (ii) The local agency shall bear the burden of proof of complying line 23 with clause (i).
line 24 (C) (i) A project applicant that qualifies for a density bonus line 25 pursuant to Section 65915 shall recei ve tw o incenti ves or line 26 concessions in addition to those granted pursuant to paragraph (2) line 27 of subdivision (d) of Section 65915.
line 28 (ii) For a project seeking density bonuses, incenti ves, line 29 concessions, or any other benefits pursuant to Section 65915, and line 30 notwithstanding paragraph (6) of subdivision (o) of Section 65915, line 31 for purposes of this paragraph, maximum allo wable residential line 32 density or base density means the density permitted for a builder’s line 33 remedy project pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (11) of line 34 subdivision (h).
line 35 (iii) A local agency shall grant an y density bonus pursuant to line 36 Section 65915 based on the number of units proposed and line 37 allowable pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (11) of line 38 subdivision (h).
line 39 (iv) A project that dedicates units to e xtremely lo w income line 40 households pursuant to subclause (I) of clause (i) of subparagraph 98 AB 1621 — 11 —
line 1 (C) of paragraph (3) of subdi vision (h) shall be eligible for the line 2 same density bonus, incenti ves or concessions, and w aivers or line 3 reductions of de velopment standards as pro vided to a housing line 4 development project that dedicates three percentage points more line 5 units to very low income households pursuant to paragraph (2) of line 6 subdivision (f) of Section 65915.
line 7 (v) All units dedicated to e xtremely lo w income, v ery lo w line 8 income, low-income, and moderate-income households pursuant line 9 to paragraph (11) of subdivision (h) shall be counted as affordable line 10 units in determining whether the applicant qualifies for a density line 11 bonus pursuant to Section 65915.
line 12 (D) (i) The project shall not be required to apply for, or receive line 13 approval of, a general plan amendment, specific plan amendment, line 14 rezoning, or other legislative approval.
line 15 (ii) The project shall not be required to apply for , or recei ve, line 16 any approval or permit not generally required of a project of the line 17 same type and density proposed by the applicant. line 18 (iii) Any project that complies with this paragraph shall be line 19 deemed consistent, compliant, and in conformity with an applicable line 20 plan, program, polic y, ordinance, standard, requirement, line 21 redevelopment plan and implementing instruments, or other similar line 22 provision for all purposes, and shall not be considered or treated line 23 as a nonconforming lot, use, or structure for any purpose. line 24 (E) A local agency shall not adopt or impose any requirement, line 25 process, practice, or procedure or undertake any course of conduct, line 26 including, but not limited to, increased fees or inclusionary housing line 27 requirements, that applies to a project solely or partially on the line 28 basis that the project is a builder’s remedy project. line 29 (F) (i) A b uilder’s remedy project shall be deemed to be in line 30 compliance with the residential density standards for the purposes line 31 of complying with subdivision (b) of Section 65912.123. line 32 (ii) A b uilder’s remedy project shall be deemed to be in line 33 compliance with the objecti ve zoning standards, objecti ve line 34 subdivision standards, and objective design review standards for line 35 the purposes of complying with paragraph (5) of subdi vision (a) line 36 of Section 65913.4.
line 37 (G) (i) (I) If the local agenc y had a local af fordable housing line 38 requirement, as defined in Section 65912.101, that on January 1, line 39 2024, required a greater percentage of af fordable units than line 40 required under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (11) of subdivision 98 — 12 — AB 1621
line 1 (h), or required an affordability level deeper than what is required line 2 under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (11) of subdivision (h), then, line 3 except as pro vided in subclauses (II) and (III), the local agenc y line 4 may require a housing development for mixed-income households line 5 to comply with an otherwise lawfully applicable local affordability line 6 percentage or affordability level. The local agency shall not require line 7 housing for mixed-income households to comply with an y other line 8 aspect of the local affordable housing requirement. line 9 (II) Notwithstanding subclause (I), the local affordable housing line 10 requirements shall not be applied to require housing for line 11 mixed-income households to dedicate more than 20 percent of the line 12 units to affordable units of any kind.
line 13 (III) Housing for mixed-income households that is required to line 14 dedicate 20 percent of the units to af fordable units shall not be line 15 required to dedicate any of the affordable units at an income level line 16 deeper than lo wer income households, as defined in Section line 17 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 18 (IV) A local agency may only require housing for mixed-income line 19 households to comply with the local percentage requirement or line 20 affordability level described in subclause (I) if it first makes written line 21 findings, supported by a preponderance of e vidence, that line 22 compliance with the local percentage requirement or the line 23 affordability le vel, or both, w ould not render the housing line 24 development project infeasible. If a reasonable person could find line 25 compliance with either requirement, either alone or in combination, line 26 would render the project infeasible, the project shall not be required line 27 to comply with that requirement.
line 28 (ii) Affordable units in the de velopment project shall ha ve a line 29 comparable bedroom and bathroom count as the market rate units. line 30 (iii) Each affordable unit dedicated pursuant to this subparagraph line 31 shall count to ward satisfying a local af fordable housing line 32 requirement. Each af fordable unit dedicated pursuant to a local line 33 affordable housing requirement that meets the criteria established line 34 in this subparagraph shall count towards satisfying the requirements line 35 of this subparagraph. This is declaratory of existing law. line 36 (7) (A) For a housing de velopment project application that is line 37 deemed complete before January 1, 2025, the de velopment line 38 proponent for the project may choose to be subject to the provisions line 39 of this section that were in place on the date the preliminary line 40 application was submitted, or, if the project meets the definition 98 AB 1621 — 13 —
line 1 of a builder’s remedy project, it may choose to be subject to an y line 2 or all of the provisions of this section applicable as of January 1, line 3 2025.
line 4 (B) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 65941.1, for a line 5 housing development project deemed complete before January 1, line 6 2025, the de velopment proponent may choose to re vise their line 7 application so that the project is a builder’s remedy project, without line 8 being required to resubmit a preliminary application, e ven if the line 9 revision results in the number of residential units or square footage line 10 of construction changing by 20 percent or more. line 11 (8) A housing de velopment project proposed on a site that is line 12 identified as suitable or a vailable for v ery lo w, lo w-, or line 13 moderate-income households in the jurisdiction’s housing element, line 14 that is consistent with the density specified in the most recently line 15 updated and adopted housing element, and that is inconsistent with line 16 both the jurisdiction’s zoning ordinance and general plan land use line 17 designation on the date the application was deemed complete, shall line 18 be subject to the provisions of subparagraphs (A), (B), and (D) of line 19 paragraph (6) and paragraph (9).
line 20 (9) For purposes of this subdi vision, “objective, quantifiable, line 21 written development standards, conditions, and policies” means line 22 criteria that involve no personal or subjective judgment by a public line 23 official and are uniformly v erifiable by reference to an e xternal line 24 and uniform benchmark or criterion a vailable and kno wable by line 25 both the development applicant or proponent and the public official line 26 before submittal, including, b ut not limited to, an y standard, line 27 ordinance, or policy described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (o). line 28 Nothing herein shall af fect the oblig ation of the housing line 29 development project to comply with the minimum b uilding line 30 standards appro ved by the California Building Standards line 31 Commission as pro vided in P art 2.5 (commencing with Section line 32 18901) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code. In the event line 33 that applicable objecti ve, quantifiable, written de velopment line 34 standards, conditions, and policies are mutually inconsistent, a line 35 development shall be deemed consistent with the criteria that line 36 permits the density and unit type closest to that of the proposed line 37 project.
line 38 (g) This section shall be applicable to charter cities because the line 39 Legislature finds that the lack of housing, including emer gency line 40 shelter, is a critical statewide problem.
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line 1 (h) The follo wing definitions apply for the purposes of this line 2 section:
line 3 (1) “Feasible” means capable of being accomplished in a line 4 successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into line 5 account economic, environmental, social, and technological factors. line 6 (2) “Housing development project” means a use consisting of line 7 any of the following:
line 8 (A) Residential units only.
line 9 (B) Mixed-use de velopments consisting of residential and line 10 nonresidential uses that meet any of the following conditions:
line 11 (i) A mixed-use development that meets both of the following:
line 12 (I) At least two-thirds of the ne w or converted square footage line 13 is designated for residential use.
line 14 (II) (ia) No portion of the project is designated for use as a line 15 hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other transient lodging. line 16 (ib) (Ia) Notwithstanding sub-subclause (ia), if a mix ed-use line 17 project as defined in this paragraph includes a hotel, motel, bed line 18 and breakfast inn, or other transient lodging, the portion of the line 19 mixed-use project which does not include a hotel, motel, bed and line 20 breakfast inn, or other transient lodging shall be considered a line 21 housing development project.
line 22 (Ib) The local agency may separately approve the portion of the line 23 project that includes a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other line 24 transient lodging, which shall not be eligible for an y benefits line 25 conferred on a housing development project by state law, including, line 26 but not limited to, those available to a development under Section line 27 65913.4.
line 28 (ic) For purposes of this subclause, the term “other transient line 29 lodging” does not include either of the following:
line 30 (Ia) A residential hotel, as defined in Section 50519 of the Health line 31 and Safety Code.
line 32 (Ib) After the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, a resident’s line 33 use or mark eting of a unit as short-term lodging, as defined in line 34 Section 17568.8 of the Business and Professions Code, in a manner line 35 consistent with local law.
line 36 (ii) At least 50 percent of the new or converted square footage line 37 is designated for residential use and the project meets both of the line 38 following:
line 39 (I) The project includes at least 500 net new residential units. 98 AB 1621 — 15 —
line 1 (II) No portion of the project is designated for use as a hotel, line 2 motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other transient lodging, except a line 3 portion of the project may be designated for use as a residential line 4 hotel, as defined in Section 50519 of the Health and Safety Code. line 5 (iii) At least 50 percent of the net ne w or con verted square line 6 footage is designated for residential use and the project meets all line 7 of the following:
line 8 (I) The project includes at least 500 net new residential units. line 9 (II) The project involves the demolition or conversion of at least line 10 100,000 square feet of nonresidential use.
line 11 (III) The project demolishes at least 50 percent of the e xisting line 12 nonresidential uses on the site.
line 13 (IV) No portion of the project is designated for use as a hotel, line 14 motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other transient lodging, except a line 15 portion of the project may be designated for use as a residential line 16 hotel, as defined in Section 50519 of the Health and Safety Code. line 17 (C) Transitional housing or supportive housing. line 18 (D) Farmworker housing, as defined in subdi vision (h) of line 19 Section 50199.7 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 20 (3) (A) “Housing for v ery lo w, lo w-, or moderate-income line 21 households” means housing for lo wer income households, line 22 mixed-income households, or moderate-income households. line 23 (B) “Housing for lower income households” means a housing line 24 development project in which 100 percent of the units, excluding line 25 managers’ units, are dedicated to lo wer income households, as line 26 defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code, at an line 27 affordable cost, as defined by Section 50052.5 of the Health and line 28 Safety Code, or an affordable rent set in an amount consistent with line 29 the rent limits established by the California Tax Credit Allocation line 30 Committee. The units shall be subject to a recorded deed restriction line 31 for a period of 55 years for rental units and 45 years for line 32 owner-occupied units.
line 33 (C) (i) “Housing for mixed-income households” means any of line 34 the following:
line 35 (I) A housing development project in which at least 7 percent line 36 of the total units, as defined in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (9) line 37 of subdivision (o) of Section 65915, are dedicated to e xtremely line 38 low income households, as defined in Section 50106 of the Health line 39 and Safety Code.
98 — 16 — AB 1621
line 1 (II) A housing development project in which at least 10 percent line 2 of the total units, as defined in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (9) line 3 of subdivision (o) of Section 65915, are dedicated to v ery low line 4 income households, as defined in Section 50105 of the Health and line 5 Safety Code.
line 6 (III) A housing development project in which at least 13 percent line 7 of the total units, as defined in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (9) line 8 of subdivision (o) of Section 65915, are dedicated to lower income line 9 households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety line 10 Code.
line 11 (IV) A housing development project in which there are 10 or line 12 fewer total units, as defined in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (9) line 13 of subdivision (o) of Section 65915, that is on a site that is smaller line 14 than one acre, and that is proposed for development at a minimum line 15 density of 10 units per acre.
line 16 (ii) All units dedicated to e xtremely lo w income, v ery lo w line 17 income, and low-income households pursuant to clause (i) shall line 18 meet both of the following:
line 19 (I) The units shall have an affordable housing cost, as defined line 20 in Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code, or an affordable line 21 rent, as defined in Section 50053 of the Health and Safety Code. line 22 (II) The development proponent shall agree to, and the local line 23 agency shall ensure, the continued af fordability of all affordable line 24 rental units included pursuant to this section for 55 years and all line 25 affordable ownership units included pursuant to this section for a line 26 period of 45 years.
line 27 (D) “Housing for moderate-income households” means a line 28 housing development project in which 100 percent of the units are line 29 sold or rented to moderate-income households, as defined in line 30 Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code, at an af fordable line 31 housing cost, as defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health and line 32 Safety Code, or an affordable rent, as defined in Section 50053 of line 33 the Health and Safety Code. The units shall be subject to a recorded line 34 deed restriction for a period of 55 years for rental units and 45 line 35 years for owner-occupied units.
line 36 (4) “Area median income” means area median income as line 37 periodically established by the Department of Housing and line 38 Community Development pursuant to Section 50093 of the Health line 39 and Safety Code.
98 AB 1621 — 17 —
line 1 (5) Notwithstanding any other law, “deemed complete” means line 2 that the applicant has submitted a preliminary application pursuant line 3 to Section 65941.1 or , if the applicant has not submitted a line 4 preliminary application, has submitted a complete application line 5 pursuant to Section 65943. The local agency shall bear the burden line 6 of proof in establishing that the application is not complete. line 7 (6) “Disapprove the housing development project” includes any line 8 instance in which a local agency does any of the following:
line 9 (A) Votes or tak es final administrati ve action on a proposed line 10 housing development project application and the application is line 11 disapproved, including an y required land use appro vals or line 12 entitlements necessary for the issuance of a building permit. line 13 (B) Fails to comply with the time periods specified in line 14 subdivision (a) of Section 65950. An extension of time pursuant line 15 to Article 5 (commencing with Section 65950) of Chapter 4.5 shall line 16 be deemed to be an extension of time pursuant to this paragraph. line 17 (C) Fails to comply with subdi visions (b) to (e), inclusi ve, of line 18 Section 65913.3.
line 19 (D) Fails to meet the time limit specified in Section 17970.3 of line 20 the Health and Safety Code.
line 21 (E) Fails to cease a course of conduct undertak en for an line 22 improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay line 23 or needless increases in the cost of the proposed housing line 24 development project, that ef fectively disappro ves the proposed line 25 housing development without taking final administrative action if line 26 all of the following conditions are met:
line 27 (i) The project applicant pro vides written notice detailing the line 28 challenged conduct and why it constitutes disapproval to the local line 29 agency established under Section 65100.
line 30 (ii) Within five working days of receiving the applicant’s written line 31 notice described in clause (i), the local agency shall post the notice line 32 on the local agency’s internet website, provide a copy of the notice line 33 to any person who has made a written request for notices pursuant line 34 to subdivision (f) of Section 21167 of the Public Resources Code, line 35 and file the notice with the county clerk of each county in which line 36 the project will be located. The county clerk shall post the notice line 37 and make it available for public inspection in the manner set forth line 38 in subdivision (c) of Section 21152 of the Public Resources Code. line 39 (iii) The local agency shall consider all objections, comments, line 40 evidence, and concerns about the project or the applicant’s written 98 — 18 — AB 1621
line 1 notice and shall not mak e a determination until at least 60 days line 2 after the applicant has gi ven written notice to the local agenc y line 3 pursuant to clause (i).
line 4 (iv) Within 90 days of receipt of the applicant’s written notice line 5 described in clause (i), the local agenc y shall issue a written line 6 statement that it will immediately cease the challenged conduct or line 7 issue written findings that comply with both of the follo wing line 8 requirements:
line 9 (I) The findings articulate an objecti ve basis for wh y the line 10 challenged course of conduct is necessary.
line 11 (II) The findings provide clear instructions on what the applicant line 12 must submit or supplement so that the local agenc y can mak e a line 13 final determination re garding the ne xt necessary appro val or set line 14 the date and time of the next hearing.
line 15 (v) (I) If a local agenc y continues the challenged course of line 16 conduct described in the applicant’ s written notice and f ails to line 17 issue the written findings described in clause (iv), the local agency line 18 shall bear the burden of establishing that its course of conduct does line 19 not constitute a disappro val of the housing de velopment project line 20 under this subparagraph in an action taken by the applicant. line 21 (II) If an applicant challenges a local agency’s course of conduct line 22 as a disapproval under this subparagraph, the local agency’s written line 23 findings described in clause (i v) shall be incorporated into the line 24 administrative record and be deemed to be the final administrative line 25 action for purposes of adjudicating whether the local agenc y’s line 26 course of conduct constitutes a disappro val of the housing line 27 development project under this subparagraph.
line 28 (vi) A local agency’s action in furtherance of complying with line 29 the California En vironmental Quality Act (Di vision 13 line 30 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), line 31 including, but not limited to, imposing mitigating measures, shall line 32 not constitute project disapproval under this subparagraph. line 33 (F) Fails to comply with Section 65905.5. For purposes of this line 34 subparagraph, a b uilder’s remedy project shall be deemed to line 35 comply with the applicable, objecti ve general plan and zoning line 36 standards in effect at the time an application is deemed complete. line 37 (G) (i) Determines that an application for a housing line 38 development project is incomplete pursuant to subdi vision (a) or line 39 (b) of Section 65943 and includes in the determination an item line 40 that is not required on the local agenc y’s submittal requirement 98 AB 1621 — 19 —
line 1 checklist. The local agency shall bear the burden of proof that the line 2 required item is listed on the submittal requirement checklist. line 3 (ii) In a subsequent review of an application pursuant to Section line 4 65943, requests the applicant pro vide new information that w as line 5 not identified in the initial determination and upholds this line 6 determination in the final written determination on an appeal filed line 7 pursuant to subdi vision (c) of Section 65943. The local agenc y line 8 shall bear the burden of proof that the required item was identified line 9 in the initial determination.
line 10 (iii) Determines that an application for a housing development line 11 project is incomplete pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section line 12 65943, a reasonable person would conclude that the applicant has line 13 submitted all of the items required on the local agency’s submittal line 14 requirement checklist, and the local agenc y upholds this line 15 determination in the final written determination on an appeal filed line 16 pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65943.
line 17 (iv) If a local agenc y determines that an application is line 18 incomplete under Section 65943 after tw o resubmittals of the line 19 application by the applicant, the local agency shall bear the burden line 20 of establishing that the determination is not an effective disapproval line 21 of a housing development project under this section. line 22 (H) Violates subparagraph (D) or (E) of paragraph (6) of line 23 subdivision (f).
line 24 (I) Makes a written determination that a preliminary application line 25 described in subdivision (a) of Section 65941.1 has expired or that line 26 the applicant has otherwise lost its v ested rights under the line 27 preliminary application for any reason other than those described line 28 in subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 65941.1. line 29 (J) (i) Fails to make a determination of whether the project is line 30 exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (Division line 31 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources line 32 Code), or commits an abuse of discretion, as defined in subdivision line 33 (b) of Section 65589.5.1 if all of the conditions in Section line 34 65589.5.1 are satisfied.
line 35 (ii) This subparagraph shall become inoperative on January 1, line 36 2031.
line 37 (K) (i) Fails to adopt a ne gative declaration or addendum for line 38 the project, to certify an en vironmental impact report for the line 39 project, or to approve another comparable environmental document, line 40 such as a sustainable communities en vironmental assessment 98 — 20 — AB 1621
line 1 pursuant to Section 21155.2 of the Public Resources Code, as line 2 required pursuant to the California En vironmental Quality Act line 3 (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public line 4 Resources Code), if all of the conditions in Section 65589.5.2 are line 5 satisfied.
line 6 (ii) This subparagraph shall become inoperative on January 1, line 7 2031.
line 8 (7) (A) For purposes of this section and Sections 65589.5.1 and line 9 65589.5.2, “lawful determination” means any final decision about line 10 whether to appro ve or disappro ve a statutory or cate gorical line 11 exemption or a ne gative declaration, addendum, en vironmental line 12 impact report, or comparable en vironmental re view document line 13 under the California En vironmental Quality Act (Di vision 13 line 14 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) line 15 that is not an abuse of discretion, as defined in subdivision (b) of line 16 Section 65589.5.1 or subdivision (b) of Section 65589.5.2. line 17 (B) This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2031. line 18 (8) “Lower density” includes any conditions that have the same line 19 effect or impact on the ability of the project to provide housing. line 20 (9) “Objective” means in volving no personal or subjecti ve line 21 judgment by a public official and being uniformly v erifiable by line 22 reference to an e xternal and uniform benchmark or criterion line 23 available and kno wable by both the de velopment applicant or line 24 proponent and the public official.
line 25 (10) Notwithstanding an y other la w, “determined to be line 26 complete” means that the applicant has submitted a complete line 27 application pursuant to Section 65943.
line 28 (11) “Builder’s remedy project” means a project that meets all line 29 of the following criteria:
line 30 (A) The project is a housing development project that provides line 31 housing for very low, low-, or moderate-income households. line 32 (B) On or after the date an application for the housing line 33 development project or emergency shelter was deemed complete, line 34 the jurisdiction did not ha ve a housing element that w as in line 35 substantial compliance with this article.
line 36 (C) The project has a density such that the number of units, as line 37 calculated before the application of a density bonus pursuant to line 38 Section 65915, complies with all of the following conditions:
line 39 (i) The density does not e xceed the greatest of the follo wing line 40 densities:
98 AB 1621 — 21 —
line 1 (I) Fifty percent greater than the minimum density deemed line 2 appropriate to accommodate housing for that jurisdiction as line 3 specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) line 4 of Section 65583.2.
line 5 (II) Three times the density allowed by the general plan, zoning line 6 ordinance, or state law, whichever is greater.
line 7 (III) The density that is consistent with the density specified in line 8 the housing element.
line 9 (ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), the greatest allo wable density line 10 shall be 35 units per acre more than the amount allowable pursuant line 11 to clause (i), if any portion of the site is located within any of the line 12 following:
line 13 (I) One-half mile of a major transit stop, as defined in Section line 14 21064.3 of the Public Resources Code.
line 15 (II) A very low vehicle travel area, as defined in subdi vision line 16 (b) of Section 65589.5.1.
line 17 (III) A high or highest resource census tract, as identified by line 18 the latest edition of the “CTCA C/HCD Opportunity Map” line 19 published by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and line 20 the Department of Housing and Community Development. line 21 (D) (i) On sites that have a minimum density requirement and line 22 are located within one-half mile of a commuter rail station or a line 23 heavy rail station, the density of the project shall not be less than line 24 the minimum density required on the site.
line 25 (I) For purposes of this subparagraph, “commuter rail” means line 26 a railway that is not a light rail, streetcar, trolley, or tramway and line 27 that is for urban passenger train service consisting of local short line 28 distance travel operating between a central city and adjacent suburb line 29 with service operated on a regular basis by or under contract with line 30 a transit operator for the purpose of transporting passengers within line 31 urbanized areas, or between urbanized areas and outlying areas, line 32 using either locomotive-hauled or self-propelled railroad passenger line 33 cars, with multitrip tickets and specific station-to-station fares. line 34 (II) For purposes of this subparagraph, “hea vy rail” means an line 35 electric railway with the capacity for a hea vy volume of traffic line 36 using high speed and rapid acceleration passenger rail cars line 37 operating singly or in multicar trains on fix ed rails, separate line 38 rights-of-way from which all other v ehicular and foot traffic are line 39 excluded, and high platform loading.
98 — 22 — AB 1621
line 1 (ii) On all other sites with a minimum density requirement, the line 2 density of the project shall not be less than the local agenc y’s line 3 minimum density or one-half of the minimum density deemed line 4 appropriate to accommodate housing for that jurisdiction as line 5 specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) line 6 of Section 65583.2, whichever is lower.
line 7 (E) The project site does not ab ut a site where more than line 8 one-third of the square footage on the site has been used, within line 9 the past three years, by a hea vy industrial use, or a Title V line 10 industrial use, as those terms are defined in Section 65913.16. line 11 (12) “Condition approval” includes imposing on the housing line 12 development project, or attempting to subject it to, de velopment line 13 standards, conditions, or policies.
line 14 (13) “Unit type” means the form of ownership and the kind of line 15 residential unit, including, b ut not limited to, single-f amily line 16 detached, single-f amily attached, for -sale, rental, multif amily, line 17 townhouse, condominium, apartment, manuf actured homes and line 18 mobilehomes, factory-built housing, and residential hotel. line 19 (14) “Proposed by the applicant” means the plans and designs line 20 as submitted by the applicant, including, but not limited to, density, line 21 unit size, unit type, site plan, b uilding massing, floor area ratio, line 22 amenity areas, open space, parking, and ancillary commercial uses. line 23 (i) If any city, county, or city and county denies appro val or line 24 imposes conditions, including design changes, lo wer density, or line 25 a reduction of the percentage of a lot that may be occupied by a line 26 building or structure under the applicable planning and zoning in line 27 force at the time the housing development project’s application is line 28 complete, that have a substantial adverse effect on the viability or line 29 affordability of a housing de velopment for v ery lo w, lo w-, or line 30 moderate-income households, and the denial of the de velopment line 31 or the imposition of conditions on the development is the subject line 32 of a court action which challenges the denial or the imposition of line 33 conditions, then the burden of proof shall be on the local legislative line 34 body to sho w that its decision is consistent with the findings as line 35 described in subdivision (d), and that the findings are supported line 36 by a preponderance of the e vidence in the record, and with the line 37 requirements of subdivision (o).
line 38 (j) (1) When a proposed housing development project complies line 39 with applicable, objecti ve general plan, zoning, and subdi vision line 40 standards and criteria, including design review standards, in effect 98 AB 1621 — 23 —
line 1 at the time that the application was deemed complete, but the local line 2 agency proposes to disapprove the project or to impose a condition line 3 that the project be developed at a lower density, the local agency line 4 shall base its decision regarding the proposed housing development line 5 project upon written findings supported by a preponderance of the line 6 evidence on the record that both of the following conditions exist:
line 7 (A) The housing de velopment project w ould have a specific, line 8 adverse impact upon the public health or safety unless the project line 9 is disapproved or approved upon the condition that the project be line 10 developed at a lower density. As used in this paragraph, a “specific, line 11 adverse impact” means a significant, quantifiable, direct, and line 12 unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified written public line 13 health or safety standards, policies, or conditions as the y existed line 14 on the date the application was deemed complete. line 15 (B) There is no feasible method to satisf actorily mitig ate or line 16 avoid the adverse impact identified pursuant to paragraph (1), other line 17 than the disappro val of the housing de velopment project or the line 18 approval of the project upon the condition that it be de veloped at line 19 a lower density.
line 20 (2) (A) If the local agenc y considers a proposed housing line 21 development project to be inconsistent, not in compliance, or not line 22 in conformity with an applicable plan, program, policy, ordinance, line 23 standard, requirement, or other similar pro vision as specified in line 24 this subdi vision, it shall pro vide the applicant with written line 25 documentation identifying the pro vision or pro visions, and an line 26 explanation of the reason or reasons it considers the housing line 27 development to be inconsistent, not in compliance, or not in line 28 conformity as follows:
line 29 (i) Within 30 days of the date that the application for the housing line 30 development project is determined to be complete, if the housing line 31 development project contains 150 or fewer housing units. line 32 (ii) Within 60 days of the date that the application for the line 33 housing development project is determined to be complete, if the line 34 housing development project contains more than 150 units. line 35 (B) If the local agenc y f ails to pro vide the required line 36 documentation pursuant to subparagraph (A), the housing line 37 development project shall be deemed consistent, compliant, and line 38 in conformity with the applicable plan, program, policy, ordinance, line 39 standard, requirement, or other similar provision. 98 — 24 — AB 1621
line 1 (3) For purposes of this section, the receipt of a density bonus, line 2 incentive, concession, w aiver, or reduction of de velopment line 3 standards pursuant to Section 65915 shall not constitute a v alid line 4 basis on which to find a proposed housing development project is line 5 inconsistent, not in compliance, or not in conformity , with an line 6 applicable plan, program, policy, ordinance, standard, requirement, line 7 or other similar provision specified in this subdivision. line 8 (4) For purposes of this section, a proposed housing development line 9 project is not inconsistent with the applicable zoning standards line 10 and criteria, and shall not require a rezoning, if the housing line 11 development project is consistent with the objective general plan line 12 standards and criteria b ut the zoning for the project site is line 13 inconsistent with the general plan. If the local agency has complied line 14 with paragraph (2), the local agenc y may require the proposed line 15 housing de velopment project to comply with the objecti ve line 16 standards and criteria of the zoning which is consistent with the line 17 general plan, however, the standards and criteria shall be applied line 18 to facilitate and accommodate development at the density allowed line 19 on the site by the general plan and proposed by the proposed line 20 housing development project.
line 21 (k) (1) (A) (i) The applicant, a person who would be eligible line 22 to apply for residenc y in the housing de velopment project or line 23 emergency shelter, or a housing organization may bring an action line 24 to enforce this section. If, in an y action brought to enforce this line 25 section, a court finds that any of the following are met, the court line 26 shall issue an order pursuant to clause (ii):
line 27 (I) The local agency, in violation of subdivision (d), disapproved line 28 a housing de velopment project or conditioned its appro val in a line 29 manner rendering it infeasible for the development of an emergency line 30 shelter, or housing for v ery lo w, lo w-, or moderate-income line 31 households, including f armworker housing, without making the line 32 findings required by this section.
line 33 (II) The local agency, in violation of subdivision (j), disapproved line 34 a housing de velopment project complying with applicable, line 35 objective general plan and zoning standards and criteria, or imposed line 36 a condition that the project be developed at a lower density, without line 37 making the findings required by this section.
line 38 (III) The local agency, in violation of subdivision (o), required line 39 or attempted to require a housing development project to comply 98 AB 1621 — 25 —
line 1 with an ordinance, polic y, or standard not adopted and in ef fect line 2 when a preliminary application was submitted.
line 3 (IV) The local agenc y violated a pro vision of this section line 4 applicable to a builder’s remedy project.
line 5 (ii) If the court finds that one of the conditions in clause (i) is line 6 met, the court shall issue an order or judgment compelling line 7 compliance with this section within a time period not to e xceed line 8 60 days, including, but not limited to, an order that the local agency line 9 take action on the housing de velopment project or emer gency line 10 shelter. The court may issue an order or judgment directing the line 11 local agenc y to appro ve the housing de velopment project or line 12 emergency shelter if the court finds that the local agency acted in line 13 bad f aith when it disappro ved or conditionally appro ved the line 14 housing de velopment or emer gency shelter in violation of this line 15 section. The court shall retain jurisdiction to ensure that its order line 16 or judgment is carried out and shall a ward reasonable attorney’s line 17 fees and costs of suit to the plaintif f or petitioner , pro vided, line 18 however, that the court shall not award attorney’s fees in either of line 19 the following instances:
line 20 (I) The court finds, under e xtraordinary circumstances, that line 21 awarding fees would not further the purposes of this section. line 22 (II) (ia) In a case concerning a disapproval within the meaning line 23 of subparagraph (J) or (K) of paragraph (6) of subdivision (h), the line 24 court finds that the local agenc y acted in good f aith and had line 25 reasonable cause to disapprove the housing development project line 26 due to the e xistence of a controlling question of la w about the line 27 application of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division line 28 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources line 29 Code) or implementing guidelines as to which there w as a line 30 substantial ground for dif ference of opinion at the time of the line 31 disapproval.
line 32 (ib) This subclause shall become inoperative on January 1, 2031. line 33 (B) Upon a determination that the local agenc y has f ailed to line 34 comply with the order or judgment compelling compliance with line 35 this section within the time period prescribed by the court, the line 36 court shall impose fines on a local agenc y that has violated this line 37 section and require the local agenc y to deposit an y fine le vied line 38 pursuant to this subdi vision into a local housing trust fund. The line 39 local agency may elect to instead deposit the fine into the Building line 40 Homes and Jobs Trust Fund. The fine shall be in a minimum 98 — 26 — AB 1621
line 1 amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per housing unit in the line 2 housing de velopment project on the date the application w as line 3 deemed complete pursuant to Section 65943. In determining the line 4 amount of the fine to impose, the court shall consider the local line 5 agency’s progress in attaining its target allocation of the regional line 6 housing need pursuant to Section 65584 and an y prior violations line 7 of this section. Fines shall not be paid out of funds already line 8 dedicated to affordable housing, including, but not limited to, Low line 9 and Moderate Income Housing Asset Funds, funds dedicated to line 10 housing for very low, low-, and moderate-income households, and line 11 federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program and Community line 12 Development Block Grant Program funds. The local agency shall line 13 commit and e xpend the mone y in the local housing trust fund line 14 within fiv e years for the sole purpose of financing ne wly line 15 constructed housing units affordable to extremely low, very low, line 16 or low-income households. After five years, if the funds have not line 17 been expended, the money shall revert to the state and be deposited line 18 in the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund for the sole purpose line 19 of financing ne wly constructed housing units af fordable to line 20 extremely low, very low, or low-income households. line 21 (C) If the court determines that its order or judgment has not line 22 been carried out within 60 days, the court may issue further orders line 23 as provided by law to ensure that the purposes and policies of this line 24 section are fulfilled, including, but not limited to, an order to vacate line 25 the decision of the local agenc y and to appro ve the housing line 26 development project, in which case the application for the housing line 27 development project, as proposed by the applicant at the time the line 28 local agency took the initial action determined to be in violation line 29 of this section, along with any standard conditions determined by line 30 the court to be generally imposed by the local agenc y on similar line 31 projects, shall be deemed to be appro ved unless the applicant line 32 consents to a different decision or action by the local agency. line 33 (D) Nothing in this section shall limit the court’ s inherent line 34 authority to mak e an y other orders to compel the immediate line 35 enforcement of any writ brought under this section, including the line 36 imposition of fees and other sanctions set forth under Section 1097 line 37 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
line 38 (2) For purposes of this subdi vision, “housing or ganization” line 39 means a trade or industry group whose local members are primarily line 40 engaged in the construction or management of housing units or a 98 AB 1621 — 27 —
line 1 nonprofit or ganization whose mission includes pro viding or line 2 advocating for increased access to housing for lo w-income line 3 households and have filed written or oral comments with the local line 4 agency prior to action on the housing de velopment project. A line 5 housing or ganization may only file an action pursuant to this line 6 section to challenge the disapproval of a housing development by line 7 a local agenc y. A housing or ganization shall be entitled to line 8 reasonable attorney’s fees and costs if it is the prevailing party in line 9 an action to enforce this section.
line 10 (l) If the court finds that the local agency (1) acted in bad faith line 11 when it violated this section and (2) failed to carry out the court’s line 12 order or judgment within the time period prescribed by the court, line 13 the court, in addition to an y other remedies pro vided by this line 14 section, shall multiply the fine determined pursuant to subparagraph line 15 (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (k) by a factor of five. If a court line 16 has previously found that the local agenc y violated this section line 17 within the same planning period, the court shall multiply the fines line 18 by an additional factor for each previous violation. For purposes line 19 of this section, “bad faith” includes, but is not limited to, an action line 20 or inaction that is fri volous, prete xtual, intended to cause line 21 unnecessary delay, or entirely without merit.
line 22 (m) (1) Any action brought to enforce the pro visions of this line 23 section shall be brought pursuant to Section 1094.5 of the Code line 24 of Civil Procedure, and the local agency shall prepare and certify line 25 the record of proceedings in accordance with subdi vision (c) of line 26 Section 1094.6 of the Code of Ci vil Procedure no later than 30 line 27 days after the petition is serv ed, pro vided that the cost of line 28 preparation of the record shall be borne by the local agency, unless line 29 the petitioner elects to prepare the record as provided in subdivision line 30 (n) of this section. A petition to enforce the pro visions of this line 31 section shall be filed and serv ed no later than 90 days from the line 32 later of (1) the ef fective date of a decision of the local agenc y line 33 imposing conditions on, disapproving, or any other final action on line 34 a housing de velopment project or (2) the e xpiration of the time line 35 periods specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (6) of line 36 subdivision (h). Upon entry of the trial court’s order, a party may, line 37 in order to obtain appellate re view of the order , file a petition line 38 within 20 days after service upon it of a written notice of the entry line 39 of the order, or within such further time not exceeding an additional line 40 20 days as the trial court may for good cause allow, or may appeal 98 — 28 — AB 1621
line 1 the judgment or order of the trial court under Section 904.1 of the line 2 Code of Civil Procedure. If the local agency appeals the judgment line 3 of the trial court, the local agency shall post a bond, in an amount line 4 to be determined by the court, to the benefit of the plaintiff if the line 5 plaintiff is the project applicant.
line 6 (2) (A) A disapproval within the meaning of subparagraph (J) line 7 of paragraph (6) of subdi vision (h) shall be final for purposes of line 8 this subdi vision, if the local agenc y did not mak e a la wful line 9 determination within the time period set forth in paragraph (5) of line 10 subdivision (a) of Section 65589.5.1 after the applicant’ s timely line 11 written notice.
line 12 (B) This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2031. line 13 (3) (A) A disapproval within the meaning of subparagraph (K) line 14 of paragraph (6) of subdi vision (h) shall be final for purposes of line 15 this subdi vision, if the local agenc y did not mak e a la wful line 16 determination within 90 days of the applicant’ s timely written line 17 notice.
line 18 (B) This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2031. line 19 (n) In any action, the record of the proceedings before the local line 20 agency shall be filed as e xpeditiously as possible and, line 21 notwithstanding Section 1094.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure or line 22 subdivision (m), all or part of the record may be prepared (1) by line 23 the petitioner with the petition or petitioner’s points and authorities, line 24 (2) by the respondent with respondent’s points and authorities, (3) line 25 after payment of costs by the petitioner, or (4) as otherwise directed line 26 by the court. If the expense of preparing the record has been borne line 27 by the petitioner and the petitioner is the pre vailing party, the line 28 expense shall be taxable as costs.
line 29 (o) (1) Subject to paragraphs (2), (6), and (7), and subdivision line 30 (d) of Section 65941.1, a housing de velopment project shall be line 31 subject only to the ordinances, policies, and standards adopted and line 32 in ef fect when a preliminary application including all of the line 33 information required by subdi vision (a) of Section 65941.1 w as line 34 submitted.
line 35 (2) Paragraph (1) shall not prohibit a housing de velopment line 36 project from being subject to ordinances, policies, and standards line 37 adopted after the preliminary application was submitted pursuant line 38 to Section 65941.1 in the following circumstances:
line 39 (A) In the case of a fee, charge, or other monetary exaction, to line 40 an increase resulting from an automatic annual adjustment based 98 AB 1621 — 29 —
line 1 on an independently published cost index that is referenced in the line 2 ordinance or resolution establishing the fee or other monetary line 3 exaction.
line 4 (B) A preponderance of the evidence in the record establishes line 5 that subjecting the housing development project to an ordinance, line 6 policy, or standard be yond those in ef fect when a preliminary line 7 application w as submitted is necessary to mitig ate or a void a line 8 specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, as defined line 9 in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (j), and there line 10 is no feasible alternative method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid line 11 the adverse impact.
line 12 (C) Subjecting the housing development project to an ordinance, line 13 policy, standard, or any other measure, beyond those in effect when line 14 a preliminary application was submitted is necessary to a void or line 15 substantially lessen an impact of the project under the California line 16 Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section line 17 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
line 18 (D) The housing de velopment project has not commenced line 19 construction within two and one-half years, or three and one-half line 20 years for an affordable housing project, following the date that the line 21 project received final approval. For purposes of this subparagraph:
line 22 (i) “Affordable housing project” means a housing development line 23 that satisfies both of the following requirements:
line 24 (I) Units within the de velopment are subject to a recorded line 25 affordability restriction for at least 55 years for rental housing and line 26 45 years for owner-occupied housing, or the first purchaser of each line 27 unit participates in an equity sharing agreement as described in line 28 subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdi vision (c) of Section line 29 65915.
line 30 (II) All of the units within the development, excluding managers’ line 31 units, are dedicated to lo wer income households, as defined by line 32 Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 33 (ii) “Final approval” means that the housing development project line 34 has received all necessary appro vals to be eligible to apply for , line 35 and obtain, a building permit or permits and either of the following line 36 is met:
line 37 (I) The e xpiration of all applicable appeal periods, petition line 38 periods, reconsideration periods, or statute of limitations for line 39 challenging that final approval without an appeal, petition, request line 40 for reconsideration, or legal challenge having been filed. 98 — 30 — AB 1621
line 1 (II) If a challenge is filed, that challenge is fully resolv ed or line 2 settled in favor of the housing development project. line 3 (E) The housing de velopment project is re vised follo wing line 4 submittal of a preliminary application pursuant to Section 65941.1 line 5 such that the number of residential units or square footage of line 6 construction changes by 20 percent or more, e xclusive of an y line 7 increase resulting from the receipt of a density bonus, incenti ve, line 8 concession, waiver, or similar provision, including any other locally line 9 authorized program that of fers additional density or other line 10 development bonuses when af fordable housing is pro vided. For line 11 purposes of this subdi vision, “square footage of construction” line 12 means the b uilding area, as defined by the California Building line 13 Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations). line 14 (3) This subdi vision does not pre vent a local agenc y from line 15 subjecting the additional units or square footage of construction line 16 that result from project re visions occurring after a preliminary line 17 application is submitted pursuant to Section 65941.1 to the line 18 ordinances, policies, and standards adopted and in effect when the line 19 preliminary application was submitted.
line 20 (4) For purposes of this subdivision, “ordinances, policies, and line 21 standards” includes general plan, community plan, specific plan, line 22 zoning, design review standards and criteria, subdivision standards line 23 and criteria, and an y other rules, re gulations, requirements, and line 24 policies of a local agency, as defined in Section 66000, including line 25 those relating to development impact fees, capacity or connection line 26 fees or charges, permit or processing fees, and other exactions. line 27 (5) This subdivision shall not be construed in a manner that line 28 would lessen the restrictions imposed on a local agency, or lessen line 29 the protections afforded to a housing development project, that are line 30 established by an y other la w, including an y other part of this line 31 section.
line 32 (6) This subdivision shall not restrict the authority of a public line 33 agency or local agenc y to require mitig ation measures to lessen line 34 the impacts of a housing development project under the California line 35 Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section line 36 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
line 37 (7) With respect to completed residential units for which the line 38 project approval process is complete and a certificate of occupancy line 39 has been issued, nothing in this subdi vision shall limit the line 40 application of later enacted ordinances, policies, and standards 98 AB 1621 — 31 —
line 1 that regulate the use and occupancy of those residential units, such line 2 as ordinances relating to rental housing inspection, rent line 3 stabilization, restrictions on short-term renting, and b usiness line 4 licensing requirements for owners of rental housing. line 5 (p) (1) Upon an y motion for an a ward of attorne y’s fees line 6 pursuant to Section 1021.5 of the Code of Ci vil Procedure, in a line 7 case challenging a local agenc y’s appro val of a housing line 8 development project, a court, in weighing whether a significant line 9 benefit has been conferred on the general public or a lar ge class line 10 of persons and whether the necessity of private enforcement makes line 11 the award appropriate, shall give due weight to the degree to which line 12 the local agenc y’s appro val furthers policies of this section, line 13 including, but not limited to, subdi visions (a), (b), and (c), the line 14 suitability of the site for a housing de velopment, and the line 15 reasonableness of the decision of the local agency. It is the intent line 16 of the Legislature that attorney’s fees and costs shall rarely, if ever, line 17 be awarded if a local agenc y, acting in good f aith, approved a line 18 housing development project that satisfies conditions established line 19 in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 65589.5.1 line 20 or paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 65589.5.2. line 21 (2) This subdi vision shall become inoperati ve on January 1, line 22 2031.
line 23 (q) This section shall be kno wn, and may be cited, as the line 24 Housing Accountability Act.
line 25 (r) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision line 26 of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall line 27 not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect line 28 without the invalid provision or application.
line 29 SEC. 2. Section 65913.3 of the Government Code is amended line 30 to read:
line 31 65913.3. (a) (1) A local agency or state agency shall compile line 32 one or more lists that shall specify in detail the information that line 33 will be required from an y applicant for a postentitlement phase line 34 permit. The local agenc y or state agenc y may re vise the lists of line 35 information required from an applicant. Any revised list shall not line 36 apply to any permit pending review.
line 37 (2) A local agency or state agenc y shall post an e xample of a line 38 complete, approved application and an example of a complete set line 39 of postentitlement phase permits. A local agenc y shall post line 40 examples for at least fiv e types of housing development projects 98 — 32 — AB 1621
line 1 in the jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, accessory dwelling line 2 unit, duplex, multifamily, mixed use, and townhome. line 3 (3) (A) A local agenc y shall mak e the items required by line 4 paragraphs (1) and (2) available on the agency’s internet website line 5 no later than January 1, 2024.
line 6 (B) A state agency shall make the items required by paragraphs line 7 (1) and (2) available on the agency’s internet website no later than line 8 January 1, 2026.
line 9 (b) (1) (A) A local agenc y or state agenc y shall determine line 10 whether an application for a postentitlement phase permit is line 11 complete and provide written notice of this determination to the line 12 applicant not later than 15 business days after the local agency or line 13 state agency received the application.
line 14 (B) If the local agency or state agency determines an application line 15 is incomplete, the local agenc y or state agenc y shall provide the line 16 applicant with a list of incomplete items and a description of how line 17 the application can be made complete. The list shall be limited to line 18 incomplete items that are included on the lists required by line 19 paragraph (1) of subdivision (a). The list and description shall be line 20 provided with the written notice required by subparagraph (A). line 21 (2) (A) After recei ving a notice that the application w as line 22 incomplete, an applicant may cure and address the items that are line 23 deemed to be incomplete by the local agency or state agency. line 24 (B) In the re view of an application submitted pursuant to line 25 subparagraph (A), the local agency or state agency shall not require line 26 the application to include an item that was not included in the list line 27 required by subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1).
line 28 (C) If an applicant submits an application pursuant to line 29 subparagraph (A), the local agency or state agency shall determine line 30 whether the additional application has remedied all incomplete line 31 items listed in the determination issued pursuant to subparagraph line 32 (B) of paragraph (1). This additional application is subject to the line 33 timelines and requirements specified in subparagraph (A) of line 34 paragraph (1).
line 35 (3) If a local agenc y or state agenc y does not mak e a timely line 36 determination as required by paragraph (1) or (2) and the line 37 application or resubmitted application states that it is for a line 38 postentitlement phase permit, the application or resubmitted line 39 application shall be deemed to be complete for the purposes of line 40 this chapter.
98 AB 1621 — 33 —
line 1 (c) (1) (A) For housing development projects with 25 units or line 2 fewer, a local agenc y or state agenc y shall complete the re view line 3 and do either of the following:
line 4 (i) If the local agenc y or state agenc y determines that the line 5 complete application is not compliant with the permit standards, line 6 return in writing a full set of comments to the applicant with a line 7 comprehensive request for revisions.
line 8 (ii) If the local agenc y or state agenc y determines that the line 9 complete application is compliant with the permit standards, return line 10 the appro ved permit application on each postentitlement phase line 11 permit requested.
line 12 (B) The local agency or state agency shall immediately transmit line 13 that determination to the applicant by electronic mail and, if line 14 applicable, by posting the response on its internet website in the line 15 manner prescribed in subdivision (b) of Section 65913.3.5 not later line 16 than 30 b usiness days after the local agenc y or state agenc y line 17 determines that an application for a postentitlement phase permit line 18 is complete pursuant to subdivision (b).
line 19 (C) (i) As part of its re view, the local agenc y or state agenc y line 20 shall not require or request more than tw o plan check and line 21 specification re views in connection with an application for a line 22 building permit, unless the local agenc y’s or state agenc y’s line 23 requirement or request for additional re view is accompanied by line 24 written findings based on substantial e vidence in the record that line 25 the additional re view is necessary to address a specific, adv erse line 26 impact on public health or safety.
line 27 (ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), a local agenc y or state agenc y line 28 may den y an application that is not compliant with the permit line 29 standards following two plan check and specification reviews. line 30 (iii) An applicant may request additional submittals of line 31 applications that are not compliant with the permit standards. line 32 (iv) This subparagraph shall not be construed to af fect the line 33 number of submittals that a local agenc y or state agenc y may line 34 require or request for any postentitlement phase permit other than line 35 a building permit.
line 36 (2) (A) For housing development projects with 26 units or more, line 37 a local agency or state agenc y shall complete the re view and do line 38 either of the following:
line 39 (i) If the local agenc y or state agenc y determines that the line 40 complete application is not compliant with the permit standards, 98 — 34 — AB 1621
line 1 return in writing a full set of comments to the applicant with a line 2 comprehensive request for revisions.
line 3 (ii) If the local agenc y or state agenc y determines that the line 4 complete application is compliant with the permit standards, return line 5 the appro ved permit application on each postentitlement phase line 6 permit requested.
line 7 (B) The local agency or state agency shall immediately transmit line 8 that determination to the applicant by electronic mail and, if line 9 applicable, by posting the response on its internet website in the line 10 manner prescribed in subdivision (b) of Section 65913.3.5 not later line 11 than 60 b usiness days after the local agenc y or state agenc y line 12 determines that an application for a postentitlement phase permit line 13 is complete pursuant to subdivision (b).
line 14 (C) (i) As part of its re view, the local agenc y or state agenc y line 15 shall not require or request more than tw o plan check and line 16 specification re views in connection with an application for a line 17 building permit, unless the local agenc y’s or state agenc y’s line 18 requirement or request for additional re view is accompanied by line 19 written findings based on substantial e vidence in the record that line 20 the additional re view is necessary to address a specific, adv erse line 21 impact on public health or safety.
line 22 (ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), a local agenc y or state agenc y line 23 may den y an application that is not compliant with the permit line 24 standards following two plan check and specification reviews. line 25 (iii) An applicant may request additional submittals of line 26 applications that are not compliant with the permit standards. line 27 (iv) This subparagraph shall not be construed to af fect the line 28 number of submittals that a local agenc y or state agenc y may line 29 require or request for any postentitlement phase permit other than line 30 a building permit.
line 31 (3) Once a local agenc y or state agenc y determines that a line 32 postentitlement phase permit is compliant with applicable permit line 33 standards pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2), the local agency or state line 34 agency shall not subject the postentitlement phase permit to an y line 35 appeals or additional hearing requirements.
line 36 (4) The time limits in this subdivision shall not apply if the local line 37 agency or state agenc y mak es written findings within the time line 38 limits specified in paragraph (1) or (2) based on substantial line 39 evidence in the record that the proposed postentitlement phase line 40 permit might have a specific, adverse impact on public health or 98 AB 1621 — 35 —
line 1 safety and that additional time is necessary to process the line 2 application.
line 3 (5) (A) If federal or state law requires review of the application line 4 by another public agency that is independent of the local agenc y line 5 or state agency before the local agency or state agency is authorized line 6 to act on the application, the time limits in this subdi vision shall line 7 be tolled for the application until the public agency completes the line 8 review and returns the application to the local agenc y or state line 9 agency.
line 10 (B) After the public agency returns the application to the local line 11 agency or state agenc y, the local agenc y or state agenc y shall line 12 complete the re view within the time remaining under the time line 13 limit, subject to subparagraph (C).
line 14 (C) Within three b usiness days of the start of the tolling and line 15 within three business days of the resumption of the time limit, the line 16 local agency or state agency shall notify the applicant of the tolling line 17 and the resumption of the time limit, respecti vely, by electronic line 18 mail and, if applicable, by posting the notification on its internet line 19 website in the manner prescribed in subdi vision (b) of Section line 20 65913.3.5.
line 21 (d) (1) If a local agency or state agency finds that a complete line 22 application is noncompliant, the local agency or state agency shall line 23 provide the applicant with a list of items that are noncompliant line 24 and a description of ho w the application can be remedied by the line 25 applicant within the time limits specified in subdivision (c). line 26 (2) The local agency or state agency shall provide the list and line 27 description authorized by paragraph (1) when it transmits its line 28 determination to the applicant as required by subdivision (c). line 29 (3) If a local agenc y or state agenc y denies a postentitlement line 30 phase permit application based on a determination that the line 31 application is noncompliant, the applicant may attempt to remedy line 32 the application.
line 33 (4) If an applicant submits an application pursuant to paragraph line 34 (3), the additional application is subject to the timelines of a new line 35 application as specified in subdivision (c).
line 36 (5) The local agency or state agency shall not request or require line 37 any action or inaction as a result of a b uilding inspection line 38 undertaken to assess compliance with the applicable b uilding line 39 permit standards that would represent a deviation from a previously line 40 approved building plan or similar approval for the building permit, 98 — 36 — AB 1621
line 1 unless the local agency’s or state agency’s requirement or request line 2 is accompanied by written findings based on substantial evidence line 3 in the record that both of the following apply:
line 4 (A) A reasonable person could not interpret the b uilding plan line 5 or similar approval that was approved by the local agency or state line 6 agency as being compliant with the applicable standards for the line 7 building permit.
line 8 (B) The deviation is necessary to address a specific, adv erse line 9 impact on public health or safety.
line 10 (e) (1) If a postentitlement phase permit is determined to be line 11 incomplete under subdi vision (b) or denied or determined to be line 12 noncompliant under subdivision (c) or (d), the local agency or state line 13 agency shall pro vide a process for the applicant to appeal that line 14 decision in writing to the governing body of the agency. line 15 (2) (A) With respect to a postentitlement phase permit line 16 concerning housing development projects with 25 units or fewer, line 17 a local agency or state agency on the appeal shall provide a final line 18 written determination by not later than 30 b usiness days after line 19 receipt of the applicant’s written appeal.
line 20 (B) With respect to a postentitlement phase permit concerning line 21 housing development projects with 26 units or more, a local agency line 22 or state agenc y on the appeal shall pro vide a final written line 23 determination by not later than 45 b usiness days after receipt of line 24 the applicant’s written appeal.
line 25 (3) If the applicant’ s appeal pursuant to this subdi vision is line 26 denied, or a decision on the appeal is not made within the timelines line 27 provided, or an appeals process is not pro vided as required, the line 28 applicant may seek a writ of mandate to compel appro val of the line 29 application.
line 30 (f) If a local agency violates subdivisions (b) to (e), inclusive, line 31 it shall be in violation of Section 65589.5.
line 32 (g) If a state agency violates subdivisions (b) to (e), inclusive, line 33 the permit shall be deemed approved and any related reviews shall line 34 be deemed complete.
line 35 (h) Except as provided in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of, line 36 and subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of, subdi vision (c), this line 37 section does not place limitations on the amount of feedback that line 38 a local agency or state agency may provide or revisions that a local line 39 agency or state agency may request of an applicant. 98 AB 1621 — 37 —
line 1 (i) For residential or residential mix ed-use developments that line 2 are subject to the requirements set forth in Section 65913.4, the line 3 provisions of paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 65913.4 line 4 shall apply. Permits for these de velopments that are subject to line 5 paragraph (2) of subdi vision (h) of Section 65913.4 shall not be line 6 in conflict with the requirements of this section. The local agency line 7 or state agency shall comply with both sets of standards. line 8 (j) This section does not preclude an applicant and a local agency line 9 or state agency from mutually agreeing to an extension of any time line 10 limit provided by this section. Ho wever, a local agenc y or state line 11 agency shall not require an agreement as a condition of accepting line 12 the application for, or processing of, a postentitlement phase permit, line 13 unless the agreement is obtained for the purpose of permitting line 14 concurrent processing of related appro vals or an en vironmental line 15 review on the same housing development project. line 16 (k) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
line 17 (1) “Housing development project” has the same meaning as in line 18 paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 65905.5. line 19 (2) “Local agency” means any county, city, or city and county. line 20 (3) (A) “Postentitlement phase permit” includes all of the line 21 following:
line 22 (i) All nondiscretionary permits and re views that are required line 23 or issued by the local agency after the entitlement process has been line 24 completed to begin construction of a development that is intended line 25 to be at least tw o-thirds residential, e xcluding discretionary and line 26 ministerial planning permits, entitlements, and other permits and line 27 reviews that are co vered under Chapter 4.5 (commencing with line 28 Section 65920). A postentitlement phase permit includes, b ut is line 29 not limited to, all of the following:
line 30 (I) Building permits, and all interdepartmental reviews required line 31 for the issuance of a building permit, including plan checking and line 32 building inspection.
line 33 (II) Permits for minor or standard offsite improvements. line 34 (III) Permits for demolition.
line 35 (IV) Permits for minor or standard excavation and grading. line 36 (ii) All b uilding permits and other permits issued under the line 37 California Building Standards Code (T itle 24 of the California line 38 Code of Regulations) or any applicable local building code for the line 39 construction, demolition, or alteration of b uildings, whether line 40 discretionary or nondiscretionary.
98 — 38 — AB 1621
line 1 (iii) (I) Except as provided in subclause (II), any postentitlement line 2 review by a state agency that is necessary to begin construction of line 3 a development that is intended to be at least two-thirds residential, line 4 excluding discretionary and ministerial planning permits, line 5 entitlements, and other permits and reviews that are covered under line 6 Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 65920).
line 7 (II) Notwithstanding subclause (I), a postentitlement phase line 8 permit does not include either of the following:
line 9 (ia) A permit issued by a state agenc y acting pursuant to line 10 delegated federal permitting or enforcement authority under the line 11 federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq.) or the federal line 12 Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 300f et seq.). line 13 (ib) A permit authorizing discharges of waste to waters of the line 14 state.
line 15 (B) A local agency or state agency may identify a threshold for line 16 determining whether a permit constitutes a “minor” or “standard” line 17 permit for the purposes of this paragraph, which shall be supported line 18 by written findings. A local agenc y that identifies a threshold line 19 pursuant to this subparagraph shall adopt the threshold by line 20 ordinance.
line 21 (C) A postentitlement phase permit does not include a permit line 22 required and issued by the California Coastal Commission, a line 23 special district, or a utility that is not o wned and operated by a line 24 local agency.
line 25 (4) “Specific, adverse impact” means a significant, quantifiable, line 26 direct, and unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified, and line 27 written public health or safety standards, policies, or conditions line 28 as they existed on the date the application was deemed complete. line 29 (5) “State agency” has the same meaning as that term is defined line 30 in Section 11000.
line 31 SEC. 3. The amendments of subclause (I) of clause (i) of line 32 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (j) (k) of Section line 33 65913.3 of the Government Code made by this act do not constitute line 34 a change in, but are declaratory of, existing law. line 35 SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 2 of line 36 this act amending Section 65913.3 of the Go vernment Code line 37 addresses a matter of state wide concern rather than a municipal line 38 affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the line 39 California Constitution. Therefore, Section 2 of this act applies to line 40 all cities, including charter cities.
98 AB 1621 — 39 —
line 1 SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 2 Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because line 3 a local agency or school district has the authority to le vy service line 4 charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or line 5 level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section line 6 17556 of the Government Code.
O
98 — 40 — AB 1621