Planning and zoning: housing development: very low and lower income households.

(1) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. Existing law requires that the housing element include, among other things, an inventory of land suitable and available for residential development. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, in consultation with each council of governments, to determine each region's existing and projected housing need, and requires each council of governments, or the department for cities and counties without a council of governments, to adopt a final regional housing need plan that allocates a share of the regional housing need to each city, county, or city and county, as provided. If the inventory of sites included in a housing element as described above does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the need for groups of all household income levels pursuant to the allocation of regional housing need, existing law requires that the local government rezone sites within specified deadlines, as provided. This bill, if specified local governments within the Counties of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura fail to complete this rezoning to accommodate 100% of the need for housing for very low and lower income households allocated as described above within one year of the statutory deadline for that rezoning, would require the department to complete that rezoning on behalf of the local government within one year after the local government becomes subject to these provisions. The bill would require the department to consider rezoning input from the applicable local government and would prohibit any rezoning by the department under these provisions from requiring or causing displacement of residential tenants or the demolition or alteration of any occupied residential property. The bill would require a local government for which the department completes a rezoning under the bill's provisions to amend its housing element and zoning ordinances as necessary to accommodate that rezoning. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura. (2) Existing law provides various reforms and incentives to facilitate and expedite the construction of affordable housing, as provided. Existing law, for award cycles commenced after July 1, 2021, awards a city, county, or city and county, that has adopted a housing element determined by the Department of Housing and Community Development to be in substantial compliance with specified provisions of the Planning and Zoning Law and that has been designated by the department as prohousing based upon their adoption of prohousing local policies, as specified, additional points in the scoring of program applications for housing and infrastructure programs pursuant to guidelines adopted by the department, as provided. This bill would state that local governments are encouraged to continue to use all necessary incentives and streamlining benefits made available under any other law to ensure that the local government meets its share of the regional housing need for extremely low, very low, and lower income households, allocated as described above. (3) This bill would include findings that changes proposed by the bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (4) By adding to the duties of local planning officials, 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.