Bill Text: CA AB1490 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1490

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Affordable housing development projects: adaptive reuse.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 764, Statutes of 2023. [AB1490 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB1490-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 10, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1490

Introduced by Assembly Member Lee

February 17, 2023

An act to add ~~Section~~ Sections 65913.12 and 65960.1 to the Government Code, relating to housing.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1490, as amended, Lee. Affordable housing development projects: adaptive reuse.

Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to give priority with respect to funding under the Multifamily Housing Program to projects that prioritize adaptive reuse in existing developed areas served with public infrastructure, as specified. Existing law establishes various streamlined, ministerial review processes for housing development proposals meetings specified standards.

This bill would define adaptive reuse as the retrofitting and repurposing of an existing building to create new residential units. The bill would require a local government to ~~provide an affordable housing~~ approve a development proposal for a multifamily housing development project that is an adaptive reuse project and that ~~guarantees~~ meets specified affordability and site requirements, including that 100% of the units be made available for lower income households, 50% of which shall be made available to ~~extremely low income households or~~ very low income households, specified benefits and exemptions by local government agencies, including, among other things, approval of all entitlements and permits applicable to the project in 30 days or less, exemption from any minimum floor area ratio, and waiver of local building and permit fees, as specified. households, pursuant to a streamlined, ministerial review process. The bill would declare a project meeting these requirements to be a use by right. The bill would require a project approved by a local government pursuant to this ministerial review process to meet specified labor standards and would prohibit a local government from imposing certain requirements on the project, including a maximum density requirement or floor area ratio requirement. Because the bill would require local officials to provide a higher level of service, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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 also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA does not apply to the approval of ministerial projects.
This bill would define “use by right” for purposes of the above-described projects, in part, as a development project that is not a project for purposes of CEQA, and would deem the approval process established by the bill to be ministerial in nature, thereby exempting the approval of development projects subject to that approval process from CEQA.

This bill would require a local source of funding that can be used for the development of affordable housing to include adaptive reuse as an eligible project and prohibit an agency with control of a local source of funding from prohibiting or excluding a development proposal that uses an adaptive reuse model for an affordable housing project development solely on the basis that the proposal is for an adaptive reuse project.

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, including charter cities.

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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 65913.12 is added to the Government Code, immediately following Section 65913.11, to read:

65913.12.
(a) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of a local government’s general plan, specific plan, zoning ordinance, or regulation, a development proponent may submit an application for a project that shall be a use by right and that shall be subject to a streamlined, ministerial review pursuant to subdivision (b) if the proposed housing development satisfies all of the following objective planning standards:
(1) The development is a multifamily housing development project.
(2) The development is an adaptive reuse project.
(3) The development meets all of the following affordability criteria.
(A) One hundred percent of the units within the development project, excluding managers’ units, shall be dedicated to lower income households at an affordable housing cost, as defined by Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code, or an affordable rent set in an amount consistent with the rent limits established by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
(B) At least 50 percent of the units within the development project shall be dedicated to very low income households at an affordable housing cost, as defined by Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code, or an affordable rent set in an amount consistent with the rent limits established by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
(C) The units shall be subject to a recorded deed restriction for a period of 55 years for rental units and 45 years for owner-occupied units.
(4) The development is not proposed to be located on a site or adjoined to any site where more than one-third of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial use. For purposes of this paragraph, parcels only separated by a street or highway shall be considered adjoined.
(b) (1) If the local government determines that a development submitted pursuant to this section is consistent with the objective planning standards specified in to subdivision (a), it shall approve the development.
(2) If a local government determines that a development submitted pursuant to this section is in conflict with any of the objective planning standards specified in subdivision (a), it shall provide the development proponent written documentation of which standard or standards the development conflicts with, and an explanation for the reason or reasons the development conflicts with that standard or standards, within the following timeframes:
(A) Within 60 days of submittal of the completed proposal for the development project to the local government if the development contains 150 or fewer housing units.
(B) Within 90 days of submittal of the completed proposal for the development project to the local government if the development contains more than 150 housing units.
(3) The determination of whether a proposed project submitted pursuant to this section is or is not in conflict with the objective planning standards is not a “project” as defined in Section 21065 of the Public Resources Code.
(c) A local government shall not impose any of the following standards on a project approved pursuant to this section:
(1) Any maximum density requirements.
(2) Any maximum floor area ratio requirements.
(3) Any requirement to add additional parking.
(4) Any requirement to add additional open space.
(d) (1) A development project approved by a local government pursuant to this section shall meet the labor standards provided in Section 65912.130.
(2) A development project of 50 or more housing units approved by a local government pursuant to this section shall also meet the labor standards provided in Section 65912.131.
(e) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Adaptive reuse” means the retrofitting and repurposing of an existing building to create new residential units.
(2) “Dedicated to industrial use” means any of the following:
(A) The square footage is currently being used as an industrial use.
(B) The most recently permitted use of the square footage is an industrial use.
(C) The site was designated for industrial use in the latest version of a local government’s general plan adopted before January 1, 2022.
(3) “Development proponent” means a developer who submits a housing development project application to a local government under the streamlined, ministerial review process pursuant to this section.
(4) “Housing development project” has the same meaning as defined in Section 65589.5.
(5) “Industrial use” means utilities, manufacturing, transportation storage and maintenance facilities, and warehousing uses. “Industrial use” does not include power substations or utility conveyances such as power lines, broadband wires, and pipes.
(6) “Local government” means a city, including a charter city, a county, including a charter county, or a city and county, including a charter city and county.
(7) “Lower income households” has the same meaning as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(8) “Use by right” means a development project that satisfies both of the following conditions:
(A) The development project does not require a conditional use permit, planned unit development permit, or other discretionary local government review.
(B) The development project is not a “project” for purposes of Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.
(9) “Very low income households” has the same meaning as defined in Section 50105 of the Health and Safety Code.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

Section 65960.1 is added to the Government Code, to read:

65960.1.
(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a local government shall provide, to an affordable housing project that is an adaptive reuse project and that guarantees that 100 percent of the units shall be made available for lower income households, 50 percent of which shall be made available to extremely low income households or very low income households, all of the following:
(1)All entitlements and permits applicable to the project shall be approved within 30 days or less from the date of submission of the entitlement or permit application. This paragraph shall apply to any agency that governs provision of water or power for a local jurisdiction and that operates independently from the local jurisdiction.
~~(2)Local building and permit fees for the project shall be waived.~~
~~(3)Low-income utility rates that are available to low-income projects shall be available to adaptive reuse projects when utilities are not separately metered.~~
(4)The project shall be exempt from any minimum floor area ratio, provided that the size of a unit is no less than the size of the unit under its previous occupancy permit, and that the unit is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336; 42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.) and any other state or federal disability design requirements.
(5)The number of parking spaces required for the project shall be no more than the number of parking spaces required under the previous occupancy permit, without regard to any change in the zoning of the property that might result from the adaptive reuse of the property.
~~(b)~~

65960.1.

(a) Any local source of funding that can be used for the development of affordable housing shall include adaptive reuse as an eligible project. No agency with control of a local source of funding shall prohibit or exclude a project proposal that uses an adaptive reuse model for an affordable housing project development solely on the basis that the proposal is for an adaptive reuse project.

~~(c)As used in this section, all of the following definitions shall apply:~~
~~(1)“Adaptive~~

(b) For purposes of this section “adaptive reuse” means the retrofitting and repurposing of an existing building to create new residential units.

~~(2)“Lower income households” shall have the same meaning as in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.~~
~~(3)“Very low income households” shall have the same meaning as in Section 50105 of the Health and Safety Code.~~
~~(4)“Extremely low income households” shall have the same meaning as in Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code.~~

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this act adding Section 65913.12 to the Government Code and Section 2 of this act adding Section 65960.1 to the Government Code address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Section 1 of this act applies to all cities, including charter cities.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.