Workforce Housing Opportunity Zone.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law provides for various reforms and incentives intended to facilitate and expedite the construction of affordable housing. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. This bill would authorize a local government, as defined, to establish a Workforce Housing Opportunity Zone by preparing an EIR pursuant to CEQA and adopting a specific plan that is required to include text and a diagram or diagrams containing specified information. The bill would require a local government that proposes to adopt a Workforce Housing Opportunity Zone to hold public hearings on the specific plan. The bill would authorize a local government, after a specific plan is adopted and the zone is formed, to impose a specific plan fee upon all persons seeking governmental approvals within the zone. The bill would require a local government to comply with certain requirements when amending the specific plan for the zone, including seeking a new EIR. The bill would authorize a local government to apply for a grant or no-interest loan, or both, from the Department of Housing and Community Development to support its efforts to develop a specific plan and accompanying EIR within the zone. The bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would authorize a transfer from the Treasurer to the Department of Housing and Community Development for purposes of issuing grants or loans, or both, pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require a local government, for a period of 5 years after the plan is adopted, to approve a development that satisfies certain criteria, unless the local government makes certain findings regarding the site. The bill would provide that, after the zone is adopted, a lead agency is not required to prepare an EIR or negative declaration for a housing development that occurs within the zone if specified criteria are met. The bill would require a local government to approve a housing development located within the zone that is consistent with the plan and meets specific criteria within 60 days after the application for that development is deemed complete. The Planning and Zoning Law requires a planning agency, after a legislative body has adopted all or part of a general plan, to provide an annual report to the legislative body, the Office of Planning and Research, and the Department of Housing and Community Development on the status of the general plan and progress in meeting the community's share of regional housing needs. This bill would require a local government that has formed a Workforce Housing Opportunity Zone to include within this report the number of housing units approved within a zone that complies with specified criteria. The bill would declare that ensuring access to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern and not a municipal affair.