Planning and zoning: housing element.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan that includes various mandatory elements, including a housing element. That law requires that the housing element, among other things, sets forth a schedule of actions during the planning period that the local government is undertaking or intends to undertake to implement the policies and achieve the goals of the housing element, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development to allow a city or county to substitute the provision of units for up to 25% of the community's obligation to identify adequate sites for any income category in its housing element pursuant to this schedule of actions if the community includes in its housing element a program committing the local government to provide units in that income category within the city or county that will be made available through the provision of committed assistance to low- and very low income households at affordable housing costs or affordable rents, as defined. This bill would additionally authorize the department to allow a city or county to substitute the provision of units for up to 25% of the community's obligation to identify adequate sites for any income category under the above-described schedule of actions if the governing body of the city or county has adopted both (1) an ordinance that implements requirements under state law, as well as any applicable requirements of the city or county, relating to accessory dwelling units and meets certain requirements and (2) an ordinance establishing a permitting process and appropriate standards to regulate short-term rentals of single-family dwellings in order to accomplish specified objectives. The bill would also make various nonsubstantive changes.