Today's Law As Amended


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AB-2778 Polanco agrihousing.(2019-2020)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 17008 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

17008.
 (a) “Employee housing,” as used in this part, means any portion of any housing accommodation, or property upon which a housing accommodation is located, if all of the following factors exist:
(1) The accommodations consist of any living quarters, dwelling, boardinghouse, tent, bunkhouse, maintenance-of-way car, mobilehome, manufactured home, recreational vehicle, travel trailer, or other housing accommodations, maintained in one or more buildings or one or more sites, and the premises upon which they are situated or the area set aside and provided for parking of mobilehomes or camping of five or more employees by the employer.
(2) The accommodations are maintained in connection with any work or place where work is being performed, whether or not rent is involved.
(b)  (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), “employee housing,” as used in this part, also includes any portion of any housing accommodation or property upon which housing accommodations are located, if all of the following factors exist:
(A) The housing accommodations or property are located in any rural area, as defined by Section 50101.
(B) The housing accommodations or property are not maintained in connection with any work or workplace.
(C) The housing accommodations or property are provided by someone other than an agricultural employer, as defined in Section 1140.4 of the Labor Code.
(D) The housing accommodations or property are used by five or more agricultural employees of any agricultural employer or employers for any of the following:
(i) Temporary or seasonal residency.
(ii) Permanent residency, if the housing accommodation is a mobilehome, manufactured home, travel trailer, or recreational vehicle.
(iii) Permanent residency, if the housing accommodation is subject to the State Housing Law and is more than 30 years old and at least 51 percent of the structures in the housing accommodation, or 51 percent of the accommodation if not separated into units, are occupied by agricultural employees.
(2) “Employee housing” does not include a hotel, motel, inn, tourist hotel, multifamily dwelling, or single-family house if all of the following factors exist:
(A) The housing is offered and rented to nonagricultural employees on the same terms that it is offered and rented to agricultural employees.
(B) None of the occupants of the housing are employed by the owner or property manager of the housing or any party with an interest in the housing.
(C) None of the occupants of the housing have rent deducted from their wages.
(D) The owner or property manager of the housing is not an agricultural employer as defined in Section 1140.4 of the Labor Code, or an agent, as it relates to the housing in question, of an agricultural employer.
(E) Negotiation of the terms of occupancy of the housing is conducted between each occupant and the owner of the housing or between each occupant and a manager of the property who is employed by the owner of the housing.
(F) The occupants are not required to live in the housing as a condition of employment or of securing employment and the occupants are not referred to live in the housing by the employer of the occupants, the agent of the employer of the occupants, or an agricultural employer as defined in Section 1140.4 of the Labor Code.
(G) The housing accommodation was not at any time before January 1, 1984, employee housing as defined in subdivision (a).
(3) “Employee housing,” as defined by this subdivision, does not include a hotel, motel, inn, tourist hotel, or permanent housing as defined by subdivision (d) of Section 17010, that has not been maintained, before January 1, 1984, or is not maintained on or after that date, as employee housing, as defined in subdivision (a).
(c) If at any time before January 1, 1984, a housing accommodation was employee housing, as defined in subdivision (a), and on or after January 1, 1984, was employee housing, as defined in subdivision (b), the owner and operator shall comply with all requirements of this part. The owner and operator of any other housing accommodation which is employee housing pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be subject to the licensing and inspection provisions of this part and shall comply with all other provisions of this part, except that if any portion of the housing accommodation is held out for rent or lease to the general public, the construction and physical maintenance standards of the housing accommodation shall be consistent with the applicable provisions of the State Housing Law, Part 1.5 (commencing with Section 17910), the Manufactured Housing Act, Part 2 (commencing with Section 18000); or the Mobilehome Parks Act, Part 2.1 (commencing with Section 18200). The owner or operator of the employee housing shall designate all units or spaces which are employee housing, as defined in this subdivision, for the purpose of inspection and licensing by the enforcement agency, subject to confirmation by the enforcement agency, based on all relevant evidence.
(d) “Employee housing” does not include employee community housing, as defined by Section 17005.5, that has been granted an exemption pursuant to Section 17031.3; housing, and the premises upon which it is situated, owned by a public entity; or privately owned housing, including ownership by a nonprofit entity, and the premises upon which it is situated, financed with public funds equaling 50 percent or more of the original development or purchase cost.
(e) “Employee housing” means the same as “labor camp,” as that term may be used in this or other codes and, notwithstanding any local ordinance to the contrary in a general law or charter city, county, or city and county, shall be deemed a residential use if it exists in structures that are single-family houses or apartment houses as those terms are used in the State Housing Law (Part 1.5 (commencing with Section 17910)).
(f) “Polanco agrihousing” means employee housing that meets all of the following requirements:
(1) The housing is owned by a nonprofit entity and, subject to the requirements of Section 50205, is financed with public funds equaling 50 percent or more of the original development or purchase cost.
(2) The housing does not contain dormitory-style housing.
(3) The development consists of no more than 50 units or spaces designed for use by a single family or household.

SEC. 2.

 Section 17021.6 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

17021.6.
 (a) The owner of any employee housing who has qualified or intends to qualify for a permit to operate pursuant to this part may invoke this section.
(b) Any employee housing consisting of no more than 36 beds in a group quarters or 12 units or spaces designed for use by a single family or household, or that is approved pursuant to Section 17021.8, shall be deemed an agricultural land use for the purposes of this section. Except as provided in Section 17021.8, for the purpose of all local ordinances, employee housing shall not be deemed a use that implies that the employee housing is an activity that differs in any other way from an agricultural use. No conditional use permit, zoning variance, or other discretionary zoning clearance shall be required of this employee housing that is not required of any other agricultural activity in the same zone. The permitted occupancy in employee housing in a zone allowing agricultural uses shall include agricultural employees who do not work on the property where the employee housing is located.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in this part, employee housing consisting of no more than 36 beds in a group quarters or 12 units or spaces designed for use by a single family or household shall not be subject to any business taxes, local registration fees, use permit fees, or other fees to which other agricultural activities in the same zone are not likewise subject. This subdivision does not forbid the imposition of local property taxes, fees for water services and garbage collection, fees for normal inspections, local bond assessments, and other fees, charges, and assessments to which other agricultural activities in the same zone are likewise subject. Neither the State Fire Marshal nor any local public entity shall charge any fee to the owner, operator, or any resident for enforcing fire inspection regulation pursuant to state law or regulations or local ordinance, with respect to employee housing consisting of no more than 36 beds in a group quarters or 12 units or spaces designed for use by a single family or household.
(d) For the purposes of any contract, deed, or covenant for the transfer of real property, employee housing consisting of no more than 36 beds in a group quarters or 12 units or spaces designed for use by a single family or household, or that is approved pursuant to Section 17021.8, shall be considered an agricultural use of property, notwithstanding any disclaimers to the contrary. For purposes of this section, “employee housing” includes employee housing defined in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 17008, even if the housing accommodations or property are not located in a rural area, as defined by Section 50101.
(e) The Legislature hereby declares that it is the policy of this state that each county and city shall permit and encourage the development and use of sufficient numbers and types of employee housing facilities as are commensurate with local need. This section shall apply equally to any charter city, general law city, county, city and county, district, and any other local public entity.
(f) If any owner who invokes the provisions of this section or Section 17021.8 fails to maintain a permit to operate pursuant to this part throughout the first 10 consecutive years following the issuance of the original certificate of occupancy, both of the following shall occur:
(1) The enforcement agency shall notify the appropriate local government entity.
(2) The public agency that has waived any taxes, fees, assessments, or charges for employee housing pursuant to this section may recover the amount of those taxes, fees, assessments, or charges from the landowner, less 10 percent of that amount for each year that a valid permit has been maintained.
(g) Subdivision (f) shall not apply to an owner of any prospective, planned, or unfinished employee housing facility who has applied to the appropriate state and local public entities for a permit to construct or operate pursuant to this part prior to January 1, 1996.
(h) Notwithstanding any other law, Polanco agrihousing shall be deemed an agricultural land use for the purposes of this section.
SEC. 3.
 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act or because costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.