65585.4.
(a) There shall be within the department a Housing Accountability Committee consisting of five members to review multifamily housing projects that have been denied or subjected to unreasonable conditions that make the project financially infeasible.(1) The director of the department and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research shall be ex officio members, provided that they may designate an employee of their respective department or office to serve on the committee in their place.
(2) The remaining three members shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. One member shall be a member of a city council or board of
supervisors and one other member shall have extensive experience in the development of affordable housing. The appointed members shall serve for terms of two years each, at the pleasure of the Governor. The director of the department shall designate the chairperson.
(3) Members of the committee shall not receive compensation for their services, but shall be reimbursed by the department for all reasonable expenses actually or necessarily incurred in the performance of their official duties. The department shall provide the space and clerical and other assistance that the committee may require.
(4) The committee shall hear appeals pursuant to this section at least quarterly or more often as it deems necessary. The committee shall conduct the hearings in accordance with rules and regulations established by the department.
(b) An applicant who proposes to construct a housing development that meets the criteria of subdivision (c) or (d) and whose application is either denied, or approved with conditions that in the person’s judgment render the provision of housing economically infeasible, may appeal the decision of the city, county, or city and county to the committee.
(c) An applicant may file an appeal with the committee if the following criteria are met:
(1) The proposed housing development will meet or exceed any of the following affordability requirements:
(A) Five percent of the total of the housing development is available at affordable housing cost to extremely low income households whose household income is less than or equal to 30 percent of the area median income.
(B) Ten percent of the total housing of the development is available at affordable housing cost to very low income and low-income households, as defined in Section 50105 of the Health and Safety Code.
(C) Ten percent of the total housing of the development is available at affordable housing cost to moderate-income households, as defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) The city, county, or city and county has adopted a housing element that the department has determined pursuant to Section 65585 to be in substantial compliance with the requirements of this article.
(3) The proposed housing development, exclusive of any density bonus granted pursuant to Section 65915, is consistent with both the density allowed by the jurisdiction’s zoning
ordinance and the general plan land use designation as specified in any element of the general plan as of the date the application was deemed complete.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), if the city, county, or city and county has not adopted a housing element that the department has determined pursuant to Section 65585 to be in substantial compliance with the requirements of this article, and the proposed housing development is located on a site that is designated for residential or commercial uses in any element of the general plan, the application is appropriate for appeal.
(e) (1) An applicant may file an appeal with the committee within 45 days after the date of the decision by the local agency to deny the application or approve the application with conditions that render the provision of housing economically infeasible. The committee shall notify the
local agency of the filing of an appeal within 10 days, and the local agency shall, within 10 days of the receipt of that notice, transmit a copy of its decision and the reasons therefor to the committee. If the local agency does not meet the deadline, the committee shall vacate the decision of the local agency and direct the local agency to issue any necessary approval or permit for the development to the applicant within 30 days of the committee’s decision. In this instance, the case shall be considered closed. If the local agency responds within the deadline, the appeal shall be heard within 30 days after receipt of the request for an appeal by the applicant.
(2) The appeal hearing may be conducted by the committee, a subcommittee of two or more members of the committee, or a hearing officer appointed by the chairperson of the committee. A record of the proceedings shall be kept. The hearing shall be limited to the issue of whether, in the
case of the denial of an application, the decision of the local agency was reasonable and consistent with meeting local housing needs as determined pursuant to Section 65584 and, in the case of an approval of an application with conditions and requirements imposed, whether those conditions and requirements render the provision of housing economically infeasible and whether they are reasonable and consistent with meeting local housing needs as determined pursuant to Section 65584.
(3) At its next full meeting following the hearing, the committee shall render a written decision, based upon a majority vote, stating its findings of fact, its conclusions, and the support for them. If the committee finds, in the case of a denial, that the decision of the local agency was not reasonable or consistent with meeting local housing needs, it shall vacate the decision and shall direct the local agency to issue any necessary approval or permit for the
development to the applicant within 30 days of the committee’s decision. Decisions or conditions and requirements imposed by a local agency that are reasonable and consistent with meeting local housing needs shall not be vacated, modified, or removed by the committee notwithstanding that those decisions or conditions and requirements have the effect of rendering the provision of housing economically infeasible.
(f) In any appeal before the committee, the applicant shall have the initial burden of proof to show that it has met the requirements of subdivision (c) or (d). In a case of approval with conditions or requirements imposed, the applicant shall also have the burden of proof to show that the conditions and requirements render the provision of housing economically infeasible. If the applicant meets the initial burden of proof, then the local agency shall have the burden of proof to show that its action was reasonable in that denial of the
project, or the failure to implement the conditions and requirements, as proposed, would have a specific, adverse impact, as defined in Section 65589.5, upon the public health or safety, the physical environment, or on any real property that is listed in the California Register of Historical Resources, that there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific adverse impact without rendering the project economically infeasible, and that the mitigation or avoidance of such impacts outweigh local housing needs.
(g) The city or county shall carry out the order of the committee within 30 days of its entry. Upon failure to do so, the applicant may enforce the orders of the committee in court. The applicant shall be entitled to attorney’s fees and costs if the applicant prevails in an enforcement action.
(h) The department may charge a fee to the applicant that
shall not exceed the reasonable cost to the committee of providing the hearing or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750), whichever is less. If the committee orders approval of the proposed development or modifies or removes any conditions or requirements imposed upon the applicant, the city or county shall reimburse the applicant for the fee paid pursuant to this subdivision.
(i) For the purposes of this section the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Area median income” means area median income as periodically established by the department pursuant to Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) “Committee” means the Housing Accountability committee.
(3) “Housing development” means a development project consisting of 10 or more
residential dwelling units or an emergency shelter facility.
(j) The remedies provided in this section are in addition to any other remedy provided by law.
(k) The Legislature finds and declares that this section addresses 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, this section applies to all cities, including charter cities.