AB 2498 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Exempt surplus land: surplus land subject to a valid legal restriction.

Summary

Existing law prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency. Existing law defines "surplus land" for these purposes to mean land owned in fee simple by any local agency for which the local agency's governing body takes formal action in a regular public meeting declaring that the land is surplus and is not necessary for the agency's use. Existing law provides that an agency is not required to follow certain requirements for the disposal of surplus land for "exempt surplus land," as defined. Under existing law, "exempt surplus land" includes surplus land that is subject to a valid legal restriction that is not imposed by the local agency and that makes housing prohibited, unless there is a feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the prohibition on the site, as specified. Existing law specifies that valid legal restrictions for these purposes include existing leases, or other contractual obligations or restrictions, if the terms were agreed to prior to September 30, 2019. This bill would specify that the requirements of an option agreement are among the contractual obligations or restrictions described above.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 20, 2026 Last action Apr 9, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

02/20/26 - Introduced → 03/19/26 - Amended Assembly · 5 edits · Mar 19, 2026

MODERATE

AB 2498 was dramatically expanded from a nonsubstantive cleanup of open meetings law (Ralph M. Brown Act) to include a new section amending Government Code Section 54221 on surplus land disposal. The key substantive change clarifies that the requirements of an option agreement count as a valid legal restriction that can make land 'exempt surplus land,' meaning a local agency does not have to follow the full surplus land disposal process (including competitive solicitation and affordable housing requirements) when it has a pre-existing option agreement dated before September 30, 2019. The open meetings changes remain purely stylistic.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a narrow nonsubstantive amendment to the Ralph M. Brown Act (open meetings) to also include substantive changes to surplus land law under Government Code Section 54221, affecting how local agencies can dispose of publicly owned land and what restrictions qualify for exemption from affordable housing requirements.

SCOPE

Added an entirely new section amending Government Code Section 54221 (surplus land definitions and disposal requirements), expanding the bill far beyond its original nonsubstantive open meetings cleanup.

DEFINITION

Added comprehensive definitions for 'local agency,' 'surplus land,' 'agency's use,' 'dispose,' 'open-space purposes,' and 'exempt surplus land' with numerous subparagraphs covering specific exemption categories (A through S).

ELIGIBILITY

In the definition of valid legal restrictions that make housing prohibited (subparagraph J), added the phrase 'including the requirements of an option agreement' to clarify that option agreements qualify as contractual obligations or restrictions if agreed to before September 30, 2019. This is the bill's core substantive change.

ENFORCEMENT

Added civil penalty provisions for violations of the sectional planning area exemption (subparagraph P), with penalties of 30 percent of sale price or fair market value for a first violation and 50 percent for subsequent violations, payable into a local housing trust fund.

TECHNICAL

Made stylistic changes to Section 54952.2 (open meetings), replacing phrases like 'shall not be construed as preventing' with 'does not prevent' and 'Nothing in this section shall' with 'This section does not.' These are nonsubstantive grammatical cleanups.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV.

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on L. GOV. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and H. & C.D.

lower

Feb 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors