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AB-3147 Fee mitigation act: housing developments. (2017-2018)

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Date Published: 04/30/2018 09:00 PM
AB3147:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 30, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 3147

Introduced by Assembly Member Caballero

February 16, 2018

An act to add Section 66004.1 to the Government Code, relating to land use.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 3147, as amended, Caballero. Fee mitigation act: housing developments.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, deems, except as provided in a development agreement, the rules, regulations, and official policies governing permitted uses of the land, governing density, and governing design, improvement, and construction standards and specifications, applicable to property subject to a development agreement to be the rules, regulations, and official policies in force at the time of execution of the agreement.
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 how there is a reasonable relationship between the fee’s use and the type of development project on which the fee is imposed.
This bill would prohibit a housing development project, as defined, from being subject to a fee, charge, dedication, reservation, or other exaction that is more than that in effect at the time that the application for the housing development project is determined to be complete. The bill would prohibit the fact that a land use approval for a housing development project is considered legislative in nature from being construed to limit or narrow the applicability or scope of the this bill’s provisions. require, at the time that an application for a housing development project is deemed complete, a city, county, and city and county to provide a good faith statement disclosing the amount of impact and development fees applicable to the housing development. The bill would also prohibit these disclosed impact and development fees from being increased for 2 years following issuance of the good faith statement. The bill would make related findings and declarations. By increasing the duties of local officials, 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 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 66004.1 is added to the Government Code, to read:

66004.1.
 (a) The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(1) Providing certainty in the housing approval and development process is essential for achieving the state’s housing policies.
(2) Although the Legislature has attempted to provide certainty through the enactment of Sections 65589.5, 65866, 65961, and 66474.2, and 66498.1, among other statutes, these efforts have not been adequate. Applicants for housing projects continue to be subjected to demands by local agencies to comply with new or increased requirements after an application is determined to be complete, including through the imposition of conditions of approval that require the project to comply with whatever fee, charge, community benefit, public benefit or other requirement is in effect when a building permit or similar subsequent approval is issued. unaware of the specific fees that are applicable to their project and are not provided certainty that those fees will remain in effect for any specific period of time.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to provide effective and meaningful transparency and certainty for applicants for housing projects by prohibiting them from being subjected to new or increased requirements not in effect when an application is complete, and it is the policy of this state that this section should be interpreted and implemented broadly to effectuate that intent. requiring cities and counties to provide a statement of fees applicable to the project at the time that the application is deemed complete and provide a reasonable time for fees to be locked from that time.

(b)A housing development project, as defined in Section 65589.5, shall not be subject to a fee, charge, including a fee or charge described in Section 66013, dedication, reservation, or other exaction that is more than the fee, charge, dedication, reservation, or other exaction in effect at the time that the application for the housing development project is determined to be complete pursuant to Section 65943.

(c)The fact that a housing development project may require a land use approval that is considered legislative in nature shall not be construed to limit or narrow the applicability or scope of the protections provided for in subdivision (b).

(b) At the time that an application for approval of a housing development project is deemed complete, the city, county, or city and county shall provide the applicant a good faith statement disclosing the amount of impact and development fees applicable to the housing development. The impact and development fees applicable to the housing development disclosed pursuant to this subdivision shall not be increased for two years following issuance of the good faith statement.
(c) The prohibition against fee increases provided in subdivision (b) shall not apply to a fee or charge imposed pursuant to Section 66013, fees within a community benefit agreement, fees charged by both water and utility entities, both public and private, or to any fee increase resulting from an automatic annual adjustment based on an independently published cost index that is referenced in the ordinance or resolution establishing the fee in effect at the time the housing development application is deemed complete.
(d) The fact that a housing development project may require a land use approval that is considered legislative in nature shall not be construed to limit or narrow the applicability or scope of the prohibition against fee increases provided in subdivision (b).
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent additional units or square footage that result from project revisions occurring after the application is determined by the local agency to be complete from being subject to a fee, charge, or other exaction that was in effect at the time that the housing development application is deemed complete.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of a city, county, or city and county to impose a fee or other exaction necessary to mitigate a housing development project’s impact to a less than significant level pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
(g) For purposes of this section, “impact and development fees that are applicable to housing developments” means fees imposed under the Mitigation Fee Act, other fees based on the impact of a project, parkland dedication fees imposed under the Quimby Act, affordable housing fees, and utility connection fees and capacity charges that are established by the city, county, or city and county.

SEC. 2.

 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.