Planning and zoning: housing development: high-opportunity areas.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for its physical development, and the development of certain lands outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. That law allows a development proponent to submit an application for a development that is subject to a specified streamlined, ministerial approval process not subject to a conditional use permit if the development satisfies certain objective planning standards, including that the development is (1) located in a locality determined by the Department of Housing and Community Development to have not met its share of the regional housing needs for the reporting period, and (2) subject to a requirement mandating a minimum percentage of below-market rate housing, as provided. This bill would require the department to designate areas in this state as high-opportunity areas, as provided, by January 1, 2022, in accordance with specified requirements and to update those designations within 6 months of the adoption of new Opportunity Maps by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. The bill would authorize a city or county to appeal the designation of an area within its jurisdiction as a high-opportunity area, as provided. In any area designated as a high-opportunity area, the bill would require that a local government review, upon the request of a developer, a residential development project as a use by right if the project meets specified requirements, including specified affordability requirements. For certain residential development projects where the initial sales price or initial rent exceeds the affordable housing cost or affordable rent to households with incomes equal to or less than specified percentages of the area median income, the bill would require the applicant to agree to pay a fee in an amount that would vary based on the size of the project and whether the units are ownership or rental units, as provided. The bill would require the city or county to deposit the fee into a separate fund reserved for the construction or preservation of housing with an affordable housing cost or affordable rent to households with a household income less than 50% of the area median income. The bill would provide that approval as a use by right of certain residential development projects under these provisions would expire after 2 years, unless the project receives a one-time, one-year extension, as provided. This bill would require that the applicant agree to, and the city and county ensure, the continued affordability of rental units affordable to lower income and very low income households for 55 years and that the affordability of ownership units to the initial occupant of those units, as provided. The bill would provide that a residential development project is ineligible as a use by right under these provisions if, among other things, it is proposed to be located on a site that has rental housing that is currently occupied by tenants, or had rental housing occupied by tenants within the past 10 years, or is located in certain areas. The bill would require a local government to exercise due diligence in reviewing a proposed use by right and any related application pursuant to the bill's provisions. The bill would prohibit a local government from reviewing or approving a residential development project as a use by right, or reviewing or approving a project extension, pursuant to its provisions on and after January 1, 2031. The bill would include findings that the 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. 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 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 does not apply to the ministerial approval of projects. This bill, by requiring approval of certain residential development projects as a use by right, would expand the exemption for ministerial approval of projects under CEQA. By adding to the duties of local planning officials with respect to approving certain development projects, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.