Planning and zoning: housing development: standardized application form.

(1) The Permit Streamlining Act, among other things, requires each public agency to provide a development project applicant with a list that specifies the information that will be required from any applicant for a development project. The act requires a public agency that has received an application for a development project to determine in writing whether the application is complete within 30 calendar days and to immediately transmit the determination to the applicant of the development project. This bill would require that an application for a housing entitlement, as defined, be deemed complete upon payment of the permit processing fees and upon completing specified requirements, when applicable, including, among other things, providing a description of the proposed housing development project and a list of the approvals requested by the applicant to the city, county, or city and county from which approval for the housing entitlement is being sought. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, the Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt a standardized application form that applicants for a housing entitlement may use for the purpose of satisfying these requirements and would require, on or after October 1, 2026, a city, county, or city and county to accept an application submitted on the standardized application form. The bill would prohibit the city, county, or city and county from requiring submission of any other forms, beside the standardized application form, except as specified. The bill would authorize the city, county, or city and county to develop its own application forms or templates for different housing entitlements, subject to the requirements of this bill. This bill would prohibit a city, county, or city and county from requiring certain information or approvals, including, among others, any approval or determination by any official, body, department, or subdepartment of the city, county, or city and county as a condition of determining that an application for a housing entitlement is complete. The bill would prohibit a city, county, or city and county from imposing a penalty or an additional fee, processing requirement, or submittal requirement as a consequence of an applicant using the standardized application form. (2) Existing law, known as the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedures for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law establishes procedures for the adoption of emergency regulations, including requiring that the state agency make a finding that the adoption of a regulation or order of repeal is necessary to address an emergency, as defined. Under existing law, a regulation, amendment, or repeal adopted as an emergency regulatory action may only remain in effect for up to 180 days, unless the adopting agency complies with specified requirements relating to notice of regulatory action and public comment. This bill would authorize the department to review, adopt, amend, and repeal standards, forms, and definitions to implement the above-described requirements. The bill would require the department to adopt emergency regulations to implement the above-described requirements. The bill would exempt these emergency regulations from being required to make a finding of emergency or necessity. The bill would make these emergency regulations valid for a period of 18 months, or until the date permanent regulations to implement the above-described requirements are adopted, whichever is sooner. (3) The Housing Accountability Act, among other things, requires a local agency that proposes to disapprove a housing development project that complies with applicable, objective general plan, zoning, and subdivision standards and criteria in effect at the time that the application was deemed complete to base its decision upon written findings supported by a preponderance of the evidence on the record that specified conditions exist. The act defines various terms for its purposes. The act defines "disapprove the housing development project" to mean various actions taken by a local agency, including any instance in which a local agency determines that an application for a housing development project is incomplete, as described above, and includes in the determination an item that is not required on the local agency's submittal requirement checklist. The act requires the local agency to bear the burden of proof that the required item is listed on the submittal requirement checklist. This bill would revise the above-described definition of "disapprove the housing development project" to also include any instance in which a local agency determines that an application for a housing development project is incomplete and includes in the determination an item that is prohibited from being required under the bill's provisions, as described above. The bill would require the local agency to bear the burden of proof that the required item is permitted to be required. (4) Existing law requires a city, county, or special district that has an internet website to make specified information available on its internet website, as applicable, including a current schedule of fees, exactions, and affordability requirements it has imposed that are applicable to a proposed housing development project. This bill would additionally require a city or county that has an internet website to make available on its internet website a copy of the standardized application form for a housing entitlement adopted by the department under the bill's provisions, as described above, and if the city or county develops its own application forms or templates under the bill's provisions, a copy of those forms or templates. (5) 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. (6) By adding to the duties of local planning officials with respect to the review and approval of housing development projects, 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, 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.