Land use: housing development approvals: timelines and processes.

(1) Existing law, 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, the Housing Accountability Act (act) , among other things, when a housing development project, as defined, that complies with applicable, objective general plan, zoning, and subdivision standards and criteria in effect at the time that the application was deemed complete, requires a local agency that proposes to disapprove that development, or to impose a condition that the project be developed at a lower density, to base its decision on written findings supported by a preponderance of the evidence that specified conditions exist. That act, however, sets forth certain limitations with respect to its requirements, including providing that the act does not prohibit a local agency from requiring the housing development project to comply with objective, quantifiable, written development standards, conditions, and policies appropriate to, and consistent with, meeting the jurisdiction's share of the regional housing need. The act provides for enforcement of its provisions by an enforcement action brought by the applicant, a person who would be eligible to apply for residency in the housing development, or a housing organization, as provided. This bill would, under the act, prohibit a plan, entitlement, or permit that has been approved by a previous local utility or agency from being overturned or revised by a subsequent utility or agency, unless the development proponent makes a material change to the project, as described. (2) Existing law awards additional points or preference in the scoring of program applications for specified programs, including, among others, the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, to jurisdictions that have adopted a substantially compliant housing element and that have been designated as prohousing, as described. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to designate jurisdictions as prohousing under these provisions, as specified. This bill would also award, for award cycles commenced after July 1, 2027, additional points or preference to jurisdictions that have adopted a substantially compliant housing element and that have been identified as a housing development expediter, as described. The bill would require the department to develop a housing development benchmark to determine whether a jurisdiction is a housing development expediter. (3) Existing law, the Permit Streamlining Act, sets forth various procedures for the review and approval of development project applications. Among other things, that act requires that an applicant for a housing development project, as defined, be deemed to have submitted a preliminary application upon providing specified information about the proposed project to the city, county, or city and county from which approval for the project is being sought and upon payment of the permit processing fee. This bill would require a city, county, or city and county with a population of 250,000 or more to assign a project development director to a project that is expected to cost more than $10,000,000 once it has received a development application for that project. The bill would require the project development director to oversee the project until completion and it has received a certificate of occupancy, and would set forth the director's duties. The bill would also require the city, county, or city and county to assign a lead inspector to coordinate each inspection required of those projects, as described. (4) 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 (EIR) 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. The Permit Streamlining Act requires a public agency that is the lead agency for a development project to approve or disapprove the project within a specified period of time, which varies depending on the project's phase in the CEQA process. This bill would reduce various of those approval or disapproval timelines under the Permit Streamlining Act, as specified. The bill would also require project approval or disapproval within 30 days from the date of certification by the lead agency of the EIR, if the EIR is prepared pursuant to specified provisions of CEQA and certain other conditions are met. (5) Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development, which is administered by the Director of Housing and Community Development. Among other things, existing law requires the department to review adopted housing elements or amendments, make a finding as to whether the adopted element or amendment is in substantial compliance with specified law, and report its findings to the planning agency. This bill would require the director, in consultation with the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, to establish a working group, as specified, for purposes of exploring, considering, and recommending guidance to local jurisdictions on the most effective ways in which to expedite development of housing, as described. (6) This bill would make related findings and declarations and make conforming changes. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, the 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.