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AB-1484 Mitigation Fee Act: housing developments.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 09/06/2019 05:07 PM
AB1484:v94#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  September 06, 2019
Amended  IN  Senate  August 13, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 10, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 04, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 26, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1484

Introduced by Assembly Member Grayson

February 22, 2019

An act to amend Section 65940 of, and to add Section 66004.1 to, 66000.1 to the Government Code, relating to land use.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1484, as amended, Grayson. Mitigation Fee Act: housing developments.
The Mitigation Fee Act requires a local agency that establishes, increases, or imposes a fee as a condition of approval of a development project to, among other things, determine a reasonable relationship between the fee’s use and the type of development project on which the fee is imposed. Existing law, the Quimby Act, which is within the Subdivision Map Act, authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to require the dedication of land or to impose fees for park or recreational purposes as a condition to the approval of a tentative map or parcel subdivision map if specified requirements are met. The Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982, after a community facilities district has been created and authorized to levy specified special taxes, authorizes the legislative body, by ordinance, to levy the special taxes at the rate and apportion them in the manner specified in the resolution forming the community facilities district.

This bill would require each city, county, or city and county to post on its internet website each fee imposed by the city or county and any dependent special districts of the city or county that is applicable to a housing development project, as defined.

Existing law, the Permit Streamlining Act, 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. Existing law prohibits a local agency from requiring additional information from an applicant that was not specified in that list.

This bill would require each city, county, or city and county to include the location on its internet website of all fees imposed upon a housing development project in the list of information provided to a development project applicant that was developed pursuant to the provisions described above.

This bill would prohibit a local agency from imposing a housing impact requirement adopted by the local agency on a housing development project, as defined, unless specified requirements are satisfied by the local agency, including that the housing impact requirement be roughly proportional in both nature and extent to the impact created by the housing development project. The bill, for purposes of these provisions, defines “housing impact requirement” as a fee imposed under the Mitigation Fee Act, dedications of parkland or in-lieu fees imposed under the Quimby Act, a construction excise tax, or landowner-approved taxes imposed under the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982.
This bill would prohibit a housing impact requirement from curing deficiencies in a public facility serving existing development, unless the amount of the housing impact requirement is roughly proportional both in nature and extent to the housing development project’s impact on the public facility. The bill would prohibit a housing impact requirement from being based on providing a level of service, as defined, that exceeds the existing community’s current level of service.
This bill would require a local agency to adopt a nexus study that is used to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of these provisions, subject to specified public participation requirements. The bill would require a local agency to make an individualized determination that a housing development project will have the same type and amount of impact projected for a type of development analyzed in the nexus study.
Existing law requires fees charged by a local agency for specified purposes, including zoning variances, use permits, building inspections, and the processing of maps, to not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service for which the fee is charged, unless a question regarding the amount of the fee charged in excess of this cost is submitted to, and approved by, 2/3 of the electors. Existing law provides that these fees may be challenged within 120 days of the effective date of the ordinance or resolution establishing the fee.
This bill would additionally provide that those fees are subject to specified protest procedures upon the payment of the fees.
This bill would make findings that ensuring access to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, applies to all cities, including a charter city and a charter city and county.
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.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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


SECTION 1.Section 65940 of the Government Code is amended to read:
65940.

(a)(1)Each state agency and each local agency shall compile one or more lists that shall specify in detail the information that will be required from any applicant for a development project. Each local agency shall revise the list of information required from an applicant to include a certification of compliance with Section 65962.5, and the statement of application required by Section 65943. Copies of the information, including the statement of application required by Section 65943, shall be made available to all applicants for development projects and to any person who requests the information.

(2)For housing development projects, as defined by paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 65589.5, each city, county, or city and county shall include the location on its internet website of the information required by Section 66004.1, in the list required under paragraph (1).

(b)(1)The list of information required from any applicant shall include, where applicable, identification of whether the proposed project is located within 1,000 feet of a military installation, beneath a low-level flight path or within special use airspace as defined in Section 21098 of the Public Resources Code, and within an urbanized area as defined in Section 65944.

(2)The information described in paragraph (1) shall be based on information provided by the Office of Planning and Research pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) as of the date of the application. Cities, counties, and cities and counties shall comply with paragraph (1) within 30 days of receiving this notice from the office.

(c)(1)A city, county, or city and county that is not beneath a low-level flight path or not within special use airspace and does not contain a military installation is not required to change its list of information required from applicants to comply with subdivision (b).

(2)A city, county, or city and county that is entirely urbanized, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 65944, with the exception of a jurisdiction that contains a military installation, is not required to change its list of information required from applicants to comply with subdivision (b).

(d)(1)Subdivision (b) as it relates to the identification of special use airspace, low-level flight paths, military installations, and urbanized areas shall not be operative until the United States Department of Defense provides electronic maps of low-level flight paths, special use airspace, and military installations, at a scale and in an electronic format that is acceptable to the Office of Planning and Research.

(2)Within 30 days of a determination by the Office of Planning and Research that the information provided by the Department of Defense is sufficient and in an acceptable scale and format, the office shall notify cities, counties, and cities and counties of the availability of the information on the internet.

SEC. 2.Section 66004.1 is added to the Government Code, to read:
66004.1.

Notwithstanding any other law, a city, county, or city and county shall post each fee imposed by the city or county and any dependent special districts of the city or county that is applicable to a housing development project, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 65589.5, on the city or county’s internet website.

SECTION 1.

 Section 66000.1 is added to the Government Code, to read:

66000.1.
 (a) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Housing development project” means a use consisting of any of the following:
(A) Residential units only.
(B) Mixed-use developments consisting of residential and nonresidential uses with at least two-thirds of the square footage designated for residential use.
(C) Transitional or supportive housing.
(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), “housing impact requirement” means a fee, charge, dedication, or other requirement established, levied, or imposed, in whole or in part to mitigate the impact of a housing development project, including, but not limited to, a fee or charge that is any of the following:
(i) A fee described in the Mitigation Fee Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 66000), Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 66010), Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 66012), Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 66016), and Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 66020)).
(ii) A dedication of parkland or an in-lieu fee imposed pursuant to Section 66477.
(iii) A construction excise tax.
(iv) A tax levied pursuant to the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 53311) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5) if approved by landowner vote.
(B) “Housing impact requirement” does not include a fee described in Section 66014, except for purposes of subdivision (d).
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a housing development project shall not be subject to a housing impact requirement adopted by a local agency unless, in addition to any other applicable requirements, all of the following requirements are satisfied:
(1) The housing impact requirement shall be roughly proportional in both nature and extent to the impact created by the housing development project.
(2) (A) The local agency shall make an individualized determination that a housing development project subject to a housing impact requirement will have the same type and amount of impact projected for a type of development analyzed in the nexus study required by subdivision (c).
(B) As part of this determination, the local agency shall provide notice to the project applicant that it may submit information regarding features or attributes of the project to demonstrate a lack of rough proportionality to the type or amount of the development impact identified in the nexus study.
(C) This paragraph shall not apply to a housing impact requirement imposed by the local agency on an ad hoc basis.
(3) A housing impact requirement shall not cure deficiencies in a public facility serving existing development unless the amount of the housing impact requirement is roughly proportional both in nature and extent to the housing development project’s impact on the public facility.
(4) A housing impact requirement shall not be based on providing a level of service that exceeds the existing community’s current level of service. For purposes of this paragraph, “level of service” means a physically measurable quantity or quality of public facilities relative to a certain number of persons or other appropriate measure.
(5) A housing impact requirement shall not be based on a capital cost level of service or similar standard in which a local agency estimates the monetary value of its existing public facilities and bases a housing impact requirement on what is asserted to be the same level of capital cost investment incurred by existing residents.
(6) A public facility funded or provided by a housing impact requirement shall be specifically identified in a capital improvement plan, adopted pursuant to Section 66002.
(c) (1) Before subjecting a housing development project to a housing impact requirement, a local agency shall prepare and adopt a nexus study, which shall be used to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this section.
(2) The nexus study shall be adopted by resolution at a public hearing and shall not be adopted until it is in its final form, which shall include land use assumptions and any public facilities assessment.
(3) The local agency shall provide notice of the commencement of preparation of a nexus study to any person who made a request with the local agency.
(4) A local agency shall post the nexus study in its final form on its internet website and make it available to the public for a period of at least 30 days before adopting the nexus study.
(5) Before the adoption of the nexus study, the local agency shall provide the public with the opportunity to review and comment on the nexus study and respond to written comments that are filed with the local agency.
(6) This subdivision shall not apply to housing impact requirements imposed on an ad hoc basis.
(d) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the requirements of this section apply to housing impact requirements whether established by legislation or imposed on an ad hoc basis.
(2) The requirements of this section apply to housing impact requirements whether levied or imposed on a legislative or adjudicative land use approval or application.
(e) A housing impact requirement may be challenged in an action brought pursuant to Section 66020 and the local agency shall have the burden of demonstrating, by a preponderance of the evidence, compliance with this section.
(f) This section shall be construed broadly to effectuate the Legislature’s intent to establish effective constraints on local agency housing impact requirements.

SEC. 3.SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares that ensuring access to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern, and not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, the changes made by this act apply to all cities, including a charter city or a charter city and county.

SEC. 4.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, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.