Land use: high-speed rail: local master plan.

(1) The California High-Speed Rail Act establishes the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement an intercity high-speed rail system in the state, exclusively grants to the authority the responsibility for planning, construction, and operation of that system, and confers upon the authority specified powers and duties relating to that system. The Planning and Zoning Law requires each city and county to prepare and adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the city or county and any land outside its boundaries that bears relation to its planning. This bill would establish the High-Speed Rail Local Master Plan Pilot Program, applicable to specified cities and counties, and would authorize each of those jurisdictions to prepare and adopt, by ordinance, a master plan for development in the areas surrounding the high-speed rail system in each jurisdiction. The bill would authorize the high-speed rail master plan to include incentives for encouraging investment and coherent growth in the areas surrounding the high-speed rail system in each participating jurisdiction. The bill would also authorize the participating jurisdictions to collaborate with the State Air Resources Board to develop incentives to encourage development while concurrently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with or pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 or another specified provision of law requiring the board to provide greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the preparation of regional sustainable communities strategies. The bill would authorize the master plan to exceed the requirements of the jurisdiction's general plan or the applicable regional sustainable communities strategy with respect to fostering sustainable communities around the high-speed rail system. (2) Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to adopt an infrastructure financing plan for the purpose of financing certain infrastructure facilities, if specified procedural requirements are met, and requires the legislative body, if it adopts the plan, to submit the proposal to create an infrastructure financing district pursuant to the plan to qualified electors of the proposed district. Existing law authorizes the legislative body to implement the infrastructure financing plan and create an infrastructure financing district, by ordinance, if 23 of the qualified electors of the proposed district vote in favor of adoption of the plan and creation of the district, and also authorizes the legislative body to initiate proceedings to issue bonds to finance the infrastructure facilities if 23 of those electors vote in favor of the issuance. This bill would provide that, with respect to an infrastructure financing district proposed to implement a high-speed rail master plan, an election is not required to form the district, implement the infrastructure financing plan, or issue the infrastructure facilities bonds, and the geographic boundaries of this type of district are authorized to extend up to one mile from the station platform, but not farther than the limits of the area covered by the jurisdiction's high-speed rail master plan. The bill would prohibit the formation of this type of infrastructure financing district unless the city or county has prepared an environmental impact report that provides that the base population density within the area covered by the high-speed rail master plan has increased. (3) Existing law requires each metropolitan planning organization to prepare a sustainable communities strategy, as specified, for inclusion in the applicable regional transportation plan. Existing law requires the metropolitan transportation organization, in preparing the sustainable communities strategy, to consider spheres of influence that have been adopted by the local agency formation commissions within its region. This bill would instead authorize each metropolitan planning organization, in preparing the sustainable communities strategy, to consider spheres of influence that have been adopted by the local agency formation commissions within its region, and the high-speed rail system, any high-speed rail station established within the region, and any associated effects of either that bears relation to the sustainable communities strategy. (4) The Transit Village Development Planning Act of 1994 authorizes a city or county to prepare a transit village plan for a transit village development district, addressing specified characteristics. This bill would require a city or county, if it finances any portion of a transit village development district pursuant to provisions of law relating to infrastructure financing districts, to use at least 20% of property tax increment revenue it receives pursuant to those provisions of law to increase, improve, and preserve the supply of affordable housing, as defined, within the transit village development district. (5) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare or cause to be prepared, and to certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds the project will not have that effect. This bill would require a participating city or county to prepare an EIR for its high-speed rail master plan in accordance with CEQA, and would exempt any proposed development project within the area of that plan that is consistent with that plan from CEQA. (6) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the cities and counties described above.