BILL NUMBER: SB 581 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Cannella
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Section 65583 of the Government Code, relating to
land use.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 581, as introduced, Cannella. Land use: housing element.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires each city, county, and city
and county to prepare and adopt a general plan that contains certain
mandatory elements, including a housing element. The law requires the
housing element to contain specified information.
This bill would revise references to redevelopment agencies within
those housing element provisions to instead refer to successor
housing agencies and would make other nonsubstantive changes to the
housing element requirement.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 65583 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
65583. The housing element shall consist of an identification and
analysis of existing and projected housing needs and a statement of
goals, policies, quantified objectives, financial resources, and
scheduled programs for the preservation, improvement, and development
of housing. The housing element shall identify adequate sites for
housing, including rental housing, factory-built housing,
mobilehomes, and emergency shelters, and shall make adequate
provision for the existing and projected needs of all economic
segments of the community. The element shall contain all of the
following:
(a) An assessment of housing needs and an inventory of the
resources and constraints relevant to the
meeting of these needs. The assessment and
inventory shall include all of the following:
(1) An analysis of population and employment trends and
documentation of projections and a quantification of the locality's
existing and projected housing needs for all income levels, including
extremely low income households, as defined in subdivision (b) of
Section 50105 and Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code. These
existing and projected needs shall include the locality's share of
the regional housing need in accordance with Section 65584. Local
agencies shall calculate the subset of very low income households
allotted under Section 65584 that qualify as extremely low income
households. The local agency may either use available census data to
calculate the percentage of very low income households that qualify
as extremely low income households or presume that 50 percent of the
very low income households qualify as extremely low income
households. The number of extremely low income households and very
low income households shall equal the jurisdiction's allocation of
very low income households pursuant to Section 65584.
(2) An analysis and documentation of household characteristics,
including level of payment compared to ability to pay, housing
characteristics, including overcrowding, and housing stock condition.
(3) An inventory of land suitable for residential development,
including vacant sites and sites having potential for redevelopment,
and an analysis of the relationship of zoning and public facilities
and services to these sites.
(4) (A) The An
identification of a zone or zones where emergency shelters are
allowed as a permitted use without a conditional use or other
discretionary permit. The identified zone or zones shall include
sufficient capacity to accommodate the need for emergency shelter
identified in paragraph (7), except that each local government shall
identify a zone or zones that can accommodate at least one year-round
emergency shelter. If the local government cannot identify a zone or
zones with sufficient capacity, the local government shall include a
program to amend its zoning ordinance to meet the requirements of
this paragraph within one year of the adoption of the housing
element. The local government may identify additional zones where
emergency shelters are permitted with a conditional use permit. The
local government shall also demonstrate that existing or proposed
permit processing, development, and management standards are
objective and encourage and facilitate the development of, or
conversion to, emergency shelters. Emergency shelters may only be
subject to those development and management standards that apply to
residential or commercial development within the same zone except
that a local government may apply written, objective standards that
include all of the following:
(i) The maximum number of beds or persons permitted to be served
nightly by the facility.
(ii) Off-street parking based upon demonstrated need, provided
that the standards do not require more parking for emergency shelters
than for other residential or commercial uses within the same zone.
(iii) The size and location of exterior and interior onsite
waiting and client intake areas.
(iv) The provision of onsite management.
(v) The proximity to other emergency shelters, provided that
emergency shelters are not required to be more than 300 feet apart.
(vi) The length of stay.
(vii) Lighting.
(viii) Security during hours that the emergency shelter is in
operation.
(B) The permit processing, development, and management standards
applied under this paragraph shall not be deemed to be discretionary
acts within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources
Code).
(C) A local government that can demonstrate to the satisfaction of
the department the existence of one or more emergency shelters
either within its jurisdiction or pursuant to a multijurisdictional
agreement that can accommodate that jurisdiction's need for emergency
shelter identified in paragraph (7) may comply with the zoning
requirements of subparagraph (A) by identifying a zone or zones where
new emergency shelters are allowed with a conditional use permit.
(D) A local government with an existing ordinance or ordinances
that comply with this paragraph shall not be required to take
additional action to identify zones for emergency shelters. The
housing element must only describe how existing ordinances, policies,
and standards are consistent with the requirements of
this paragraph.
(5) An analysis of potential and actual governmental constraints
upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of housing for all
income levels, including the types of housing identified in paragraph
(1) of subdivision (c), and for persons with disabilities as
identified in the analysis pursuant to paragraph (7), including land
use controls, building codes and their enforcement, site
improvements, fees and other exactions required of developers, and
local processing and permit procedures. The analysis shall also
demonstrate local efforts to remove governmental constraints that
hinder the locality from meeting its share of the regional housing
need in accordance with Section 65584 and from meeting the need for
housing for persons with disabilities, supportive housing,
transitional housing, and emergency shelters identified pursuant to
paragraph (7). Transitional housing and supportive housing shall be
considered a residential use of property, and shall be subject only
to those restrictions that apply to other residential dwellings of
the same type in the same zone.
(6) An analysis of potential and actual nongovernmental
constraints upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of
housing for all income levels, including the availability of
financing, the price of land, and the cost of construction.
(7) An analysis of any special housing needs, such as those of the
elderly; persons with disabilities, including a developmental
disability, as defined in Section 4512 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code; large families; farmworkers; families with female
heads of households; and families and persons in need of emergency
shelter. The need for emergency shelter shall be assessed based on
annual and seasonal need. The need for emergency shelter may be
reduced by the number of supportive housing units that are identified
in an adopted 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness and that are
either vacant or for which funding has been identified to allow
construction during the planning period.
(8) An analysis of opportunities for energy conservation with
respect to residential development. Cities and counties are
encouraged to include weatherization and energy efficiency
improvements as part of publicly subsidized housing rehabilitation
projects. This may include energy efficiency measures that encompass
the building envelope, its heating and cooling systems, and its
electrical system.
(9) An analysis of existing assisted housing developments that are
eligible to change from low-income housing uses during the next 10
years due to termination of subsidy contracts, mortgage prepayment,
or expiration of restrictions on use. "Assisted housing
developments," for the purpose For purposes of
this section, shall mean "assisted housing
developments," means multifamily rental housing that receives
governmental assistance under federal programs listed in subdivision
(a) of Section 65863.10, state and local multifamily revenue bond
programs, local redevelopment or housing successor agency
programs, the federal Community Development Block Grant Program, or
local in-lieu fees. "Assisted housing developments" shall
also include also includes multifamily rental
units that were developed pursuant to a local inclusionary housing
program or used to qualify for a density bonus pursuant to Section
65916. The analysis shall do all of the following:
(A) The analysis shall include Include
a listing of each development by project name and address, the
type of governmental assistance received, the earliest possible date
of change from low-income use, and the total number of elderly and
nonelderly units that could be lost from the locality's low-income
housing stock in each year during the 10-year period. For purposes of
state and federally funded projects, the analysis required by this
subparagraph need only only needs to
contain information available on a statewide basis.
(B) The analysis shall estimate Estimate
the total cost of producing new rental housing that is
comparable in size and rent levels, to replace the units that could
change from low-income use, and an estimated
estimate the cost of preserving the assisted housing
developments. This cost analysis for replacement housing may be done
aggregately for each five-year period and does not have to contain a
project-by-project cost estimate.
(C) The analysis shall identify Identify
public and private nonprofit corporations known to the local
government which that have legal and
managerial capacity to acquire and manage these housing developments.
(D) The analysis shall identify Identify
and consider the use of all federal, state, and local financing
and subsidy programs which that can be
used to preserve, for lower income households, the assisted housing
developments, identified in this paragraph, including, but not
limited to, federal Community Development Block Grant Program funds,
tax increment funds received by a redevelopment agency of the
community, funding available to a housing successor agency,
and administrative fees received by a housing authority
operating within the community. In considering the use of these
financing and subsidy programs, the analysis shall identify the
amounts of funds under each available program which
that have not been legally obligated for other
purposes and which that could be
available for use in preserving assisted housing developments.
(b) (1) A statement of the community's goals, quantified
objectives, and policies relative to the maintenance, preservation,
improvement, and development of housing.
(2) It is recognized that the total housing needs identified
pursuant to subdivision (a) may exceed available resources and the
community's ability to satisfy this need within the content of the
general plan requirements outlined in Article 5 (commencing with
Section 65300). Under these circumstances, the quantified objectives
need not be identical to the total housing needs. The quantified
objectives shall establish the maximum number of housing units by
income category, including extremely low income, that can be
constructed, rehabilitated, and conserved over a five-year time
period.
(c) A program which that sets forth
a schedule of actions during the planning period, each with a
timeline for implementation, which may recognize that certain
programs are ongoing, such that there will be beneficial impacts of
the programs within the planning period, that the local government is
undertaking or intends to undertake to implement the policies and
achieve the goals and objectives of the housing element through the
administration of land use and development controls, the provision of
regulatory concessions and incentives, the utilization of
appropriate federal and state financing and subsidy programs when
available, and the utilization of moneys in a low- and
moderate-income housing fund of an agency if the locality has
established a redevelopment project area pursuant to the Community
Redevelopment Law (Division 24 (commencing with Section
33000) (Part 1 (commencing with Section 33000) of
Divis ion 24 of the Health and Safety
Code). Code) or a housing successor agency. In
order to make adequate provision for the housing needs of all
economic segments of the community, the program shall do all of the
following:
(1) Identify actions that will be taken to make sites available
during the planning period with appropriate zoning and development
standards and with services and facilities to accommodate that
portion of the city's or county's share of the regional housing need
for each income level that could not be accommodated on sites
identified in the inventory completed pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) without rezoning, and to comply with the
requirements of Section 65584.09. Sites shall be identified
as needed to facilitate and encourage the development of a variety
of types of housing for all income levels, including multifamily
rental housing, factory-built housing, mobilehomes, housing for
agricultural employees, supportive housing, single-room occupancy
units, emergency shelters, and transitional housing.
(A) Where If the
inventory of sites, pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a),
does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the need for groups
of all household income levels pursuant to Section 65584, rezoning of
those sites, including adoption of minimum density and development
standards, for jurisdictions with an eight-year housing element
planning period pursuant to Section 65588, shall be completed no
later than three years after either the date the housing element is
adopted pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 65585 or the date that
is 90 days after receipt of comments from the department pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 65585, whichever is earlier, unless the
deadline is extended pursuant to subdivision (f). Notwithstanding the
foregoing, for a local government that fails to adopt a housing
element within 120 days of the statutory deadline in Section 65588
for adoption of the housing element, rezoning of those sites,
including adoption of minimum density and development standards,
shall be completed no later than three years and 120 days from the
statutory deadline in Section 65588 for adoption of the housing
element.
(B) Where If the inventory of sites,
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), does not identify
adequate sites to accommodate the need for groups of all household
income levels pursuant to Section 65584, the program shall identify
sites that can be developed for housing within the planning period
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 65583.2. The identification of
sites shall include all components specified in subdivision (b) of
Section 65583.2.
(C) Where If the
inventory of sites sites, pursuant to
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) (a),
does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the need for
farmworker housing, the program shall provide for sufficient sites to
meet the need with zoning that permits farmworker housing use by
right, including density and development standards that could
accommodate and facilitate the feasibility of the development of
farmworker housing for low- and very low income households.
(2) Assist in the development of adequate housing to meet the
needs of extremely low, very low, low-, and moderate-income
households.
(3) Address and, where appropriate and legally possible, remove
governmental constraints to the maintenance, improvement, and
development of housing, including housing for all income levels and
housing for persons with disabilities. The program shall remove
constraints to, and provide reasonable accommodations for housing
designed for, intended for occupancy by, or with supportive services
for, persons with disabilities.
(4) Conserve and improve the condition of the existing affordable
housing stock, which may include addressing ways to mitigate the loss
of dwelling units demolished by public or private action.
(5) Promote housing opportunities for all persons regardless of
race, religion, sex, marital status, ancestry, national origin,
color, familial status, or disability.
(6) Preserve for lower income households the assisted housing
developments identified pursuant to paragraph (9) of subdivision (a).
The program for preservation of the assisted housing developments
shall utilize, to the extent necessary, all available federal, state,
and local financing and subsidy programs identified in paragraph (9)
of subdivision (a), except where a community has other urgent needs
for which alternative funding sources are not available. The program
may include strategies that involve local regulation and technical
assistance.
(7) Include an identification of the agencies and officials
responsible for the implementation of the various actions and the
means by which consistency will be achieved with other general plan
elements and community goals.
(8) Include a diligent effort by the local government to achieve
public participation of all economic segments of the community in the
development of the housing element, and the program shall describe
this effort.
(d) (1) A local government may satisfy all or part of its
requirement to identify a zone or zones suitable for the development
of emergency shelters pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) by
adopting and implementing a multijurisdictional agreement, with a
maximum of two other adjacent communities, that requires the
participating jurisdictions to develop at least one year-round
emergency shelter within two years of the beginning of the planning
period.
(2) The agreement shall allocate a portion of the new shelter
capacity to each jurisdiction as credit towards its emergency shelter
need, and each jurisdiction shall describe how the capacity was
allocated as part of its housing element.
(3) Each member jurisdiction of a multijurisdictional agreement
shall describe in its housing element all of the following:
(A) How the joint facility will meet the jurisdiction's emergency
shelter need.
(B) The jurisdiction's contribution to the facility for both the
development and ongoing operation and management of the facility.
(C) The amount and source of the funding that the jurisdiction
contributes to the facility.
(4) The aggregate capacity claimed by the participating
jurisdictions in their housing elements shall not exceed the actual
capacity of the shelter.
(e) Except as otherwise provided in this article, amendments to
this article that alter the required content of a housing element
shall apply to both of the following:
(1) A housing element or housing element amendment prepared
pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 65588 or Section 65584.02,
when a city, county, or city and county submits a draft to the
department for review pursuant to Section 65585 more than 90 days
after the effective date of the amendment to this section.
(2) Any housing element or housing element amendment prepared
pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 65588 or Section 65584.02,
when the city, county, or city and county fails to submit the first
draft to the department before the due date specified in Section
65588 or 65584.02.
(f) The deadline for completing required rezoning pursuant to
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) shall be
extended by one year if the local government has completed the
rezoning at densities sufficient to accommodate at least 75 percent
of the units for low- and very low income households and if the
legislative body at the conclusion of a public hearing determines,
based upon substantial evidence, that any of the following
circumstances exist:
(1) The local government has been unable to complete the rezoning
because of the action or inaction beyond the control of the local
government of any other state, federal, or local agency.
(2) The local government is unable to complete the rezoning
because of infrastructure deficiencies due to fiscal or regulatory
constraints.
(3) The local government must undertake a major revision to its
general plan in order to accommodate the housing-related policies of
a sustainable communities strategy or an alternative planning
strategy adopted pursuant to Section 65080.
The resolution and the findings shall be transmitted to the
department together with a detailed budget and schedule for
preparation and adoption of the required rezonings, including plans
for citizen participation and expected interim action. The schedule
shall provide for adoption of the required rezoning within one year
of the adoption of the resolution.
(g) (1) If a local government fails to complete the rezoning by
the deadline provided in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (c), as it may be extended pursuant to subdivision (f),
except as provided in paragraph (2), a the
local government may not disapprove a housing development
project, nor require a conditional use permit, planned unit
development permit, or other locally imposed discretionary permit, or
impose a condition that would render the project infeasible, if the
housing development project (A) is proposed to be located on a site
required to be rezoned pursuant to the program action required by
that subparagraph and (B) complies with applicable, objective general
plan and zoning standards and criteria, including design review
standards, described in the program action required by that
subparagraph. Any subdivision of sites shall be subject to the
Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410)).
Design review shall not constitute a "project" for purposes of
Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources
Code.
(2) A local government may disapprove a housing development
described in paragraph (1) if it makes written findings supported by
substantial evidence on the record that both of the following
conditions exist:
(A) The housing development project would have a specific, adverse
impact upon the public health or safety unless the project is
disapproved or approved upon the condition that the project be
developed at a lower density. As used in this paragraph, a "specific,
adverse impact" means a significant, quantifiable, direct, and
unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified written public
health or safety standards, policies, or conditions as they existed
on the date the application was deemed complete.
(B) There is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or
avoid the adverse impact identified pursuant to paragraph (1), other
than the disapproval of the housing development project or the
approval of the project upon the condition that it be developed at a
lower density.
(3) The applicant or any interested person may bring an action to
enforce this subdivision. If a court finds that the local agency
disapproved a project or conditioned its approval in violation of
this subdivision, the court shall issue an order or judgment
compelling compliance within 60 days. The court shall retain
jurisdiction to ensure that its order or judgment is carried out. If
the court determines that its order or judgment has not been carried
out within 60 days, the court may issue further orders to ensure that
the purposes and policies of this subdivision are fulfilled. In any
such action, the city, county, or city and county shall bear the
burden of proof.
(4) For purposes of this subdivision, "housing development project"
means a project to construct residential units for which the project
developer provides sufficient legal commitments to the appropriate
local agency to ensure the continued availability and use of at least
49 percent of the housing units for very low, low-, and
moderate-income households with an affordable housing cost or
affordable rent, as defined in Section 50052.5 or 50053 of the Health
and Safety Code, respectively, for the period required by the
applicable financing.
(h) An action to enforce the program actions of the housing
element shall be brought pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of
Civil Procedure.