CA AB 1893

Title: Housing Accountability Act: housing disapprovals: required local findings.
Author: Buffy Wicks

Summary
AB 1893, as amended, Wicks. Housing Accountability Act: housing disapprovals: required local findings. The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law, commonly referred to as the Housing Element Law, prescribes requirements for a city’s or county’s preparation of, and compliance with, its housing element, and requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to review and determine whether the housing element substantially complies with the Housing Element Law, as specified.Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, among other things, prohibits a local agency from disapproving, or conditioning approval in a manner that renders infeasible, a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderate-income households unless the local agency makes written findings as to one of certain sets of conditions, as specified.Existing law defines “housing for very low, low-, or moderate-income households” for purposes of the Housing Accountability Act to mean at least 20% of the total units shall be sold or rented to lower income households or 100% of the units are sold or rented to persons and families of moderate income.This bill would revise that definition to mean at least 10% of the units are dedicated to very low income households, 100% of the units are dedicated to lower income households at an affordable rent consistent with rent limits established by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, 100% of the units are sold or rented to persons and families of moderate income, or the housing development consists of 10 units or fewer that is on a project site that is smaller than one acre with a minimum density of 10 units per acre.A set of conditions under the Housing Accountability Act that is a basis for findings necessary to disapprove a housing development project is that (1) the jurisdiction has adopted a housing element that is in substantial compliance with the Housing Element Law, and (2) the housing development project is inconsistent with both the jurisdiction’s zoning ordinance and general plan land use designation as specified in any element of the general plan as it existed on the date the application was deemed complete.Existing law authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a development subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process if the development complies with certain objective planning standards, including, among others, that the development is compliant with the maximum density allowed within that land use designation. Existing law, the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, until January 1, 2033, authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a mixed-income housing development that meets specified objective standards and affordability and site criteria, including satisfying specified density thresholds. The act makes a development that meets those objective standards and affordability and site criteria a use by right and subject to a streamlined, ministerial review process.This bill would authorize a local agency that has failed to adopt a housing element that is in substantial compliance with the Housing Element Law to disapprove or conditionally approve a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderate-income households if it makes a finding that the housing development project fails to meet certain objective planning standards, including, among others, that the housing development (1) is located on a site that is designated for housing, retail, office, or parking uses, (2) is not on a site or adjoined to any site where more than 1/3 of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial use, (3) does not exceed certain density thresholds, and (4) complies with other objective planning standards imposed by the local agency that apply in the closest zone in the local agen

Status
Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

Bill Documents
CA AB 1893 - 04/30/24 - Amended Assembly
04/30/24 - CA AB 1893 (04/30/24 - Amended Assembly)