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AB-770 Residential care facilities for the elderly.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 04/27/2023 09:00 PM
AB770:v96#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 27, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 29, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 23, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 770

Introduced by Assembly Member Kalra
(Coauthors: Senators Blakespear and Dodd)

February 13, 2023

An act to amend Section 1569.85 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 770, as amended, Kalra. Residential care facilities for the elderly.
Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act (act), requires the State Department of Social Services to license, inspect, and regulate residential care facilities for the elderly and imposes criminal penalties on a person who violates the act or who willfully or repeatedly violates any rule or regulation adopted under the act. Under existing law, whether or not unrelated persons are living together, a residential care facility for the elderly that serves 6 or fewer persons is considered a residential use of property, as specified. Existing law makes certain violations of the act a crime.
This bill would revise those provisions by deleting the restriction to facilities that serve 6 or fewer and instead referring to residential care facilities for the elderly that are licensed by the State Department of Social Services and provide onsite services. The bill would also require that such a facility that has greater than 6 beds reserve a minimum of 30% of the additional beds for low-income individuals or recipients of specified benefits. By expanding the number of facilities subject to the provisions of the act, thereby expanding the crimes associated with the act, and by creating a new crime this bill would establish 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 1569.85 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1569.85.
 (a) Whether or not unrelated persons are living together, a residential care facility for the elderly that is licensed by the State Department of Social Services and provides onsite services, shall be considered a residential use of property for the purposes of this article. In addition, the residents and operators of the facility shall be considered a family for the purposes of any law or zoning ordinance that relates to the residential use of property pursuant to this article.
(b) For the purpose of all local ordinances, a residential care facility for the elderly that is licensed by the State Department of Social Services and provides onsite services, shall not be included within the definition of a boarding house, rooming house, institution or home for the care of the aged, guest home, rest home, community residence, or differs in any other way from a family dwelling.
(c) This section shall not be construed to forbid a city, county, or other local public entity from placing restrictions on building heights, setback, lot dimensions, or placement of signs of a residential care facility for the elderly that is licensed by the State Department of Social Services and provides onsite services, as long as the restrictions are identical to those applied to other family dwellings of the same type in the same zone.
(d) This section shall not be construed to forbid the application to a residential care facility for the elderly of any local ordinance that deals with health and safety, building standards, environmental impact standards, or any other matter within the jurisdiction of a local public entity if the ordinance does not distinguish residential care facilities for the elderly that are licensed by the State Department of Social Services and provide onsite services from other family dwellings of the same type in the same zone and if the ordinance does not distinguish residents of the residential care facilities for the elderly from persons who reside in other family dwellings of the same type in the same zone.
(e) A conditional use permit, zoning variance, or other zoning clearance shall not be required of a residential care facility for the elderly that is licensed by the State Department of Social Services and provides onsite services, and that is not required of a family dwelling of the same type in the same zone.
(f) Use of a family dwelling for purposes of a residential care facility for the elderly that is licensed by the State Department of Social Services and provides onsite services, shall not constitute a change of occupancy for purposes of Part 1.5 (commencing with Section 17910) of Division 13 or local building codes. However, this section does not supersede Section 13143 or 13143.6, to the extent these sections are applicable to residential care facilities for the elderly that are licensed by the State Department of Social Services and provide onsite services.
(g) A residential care facility for the elderly that is licensed by the State Department of Social Services and provides onsite services located in a family dwelling with greater than six beds, shall reserve, at a minimum, 30 percent of all beds, after the first six, for low-income individuals or recipients of Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment Program benefits described in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(g)

(h) For the purposes of this section, “family dwelling,” includes, but is not limited to, single-family dwellings, units in multifamily dwellings, including units in duplexes and units in apartment dwellings, mobilehomes, including mobilehomes located in mobilehome parks, units in cooperatives, units in condominiums, units in townhouses, and units in planned unit developments.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only 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.