Residential development agreements: very high fire risk areas.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires the legislative body of a city or county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan that includes various elements, including, among others, a housing element and a land use element. Existing law requires the land use element to designate the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of the land for, among other purposes, housing, business, and industry. Existing law requires county or city zoning ordinances to be consistent with the general plan of the county or city, as specified. Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to identify areas in the state as very high fire hazard severity zones based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas, as specified, and requires each local agency to designate, by ordinance, the very high fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction. Existing law additionally requires the director to classify lands within state responsibility areas into fire hazard severity zones. This bill, beginning on or after January 1, 2022, would prohibit the legislative body of a city or county from entering into a residential development agreement for property located in a very high fire risk area. The bill would define "very high fire risk area" for these purposes to mean a very high fire hazard severity zone designated by a local agency or a fire hazard severity zone classified by the director. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities and counties, including charter cities and charter counties.