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AB-1630 Planning and zoning: housing development approvals: student housing projects.(2023-2024)



Current Version: 03/21/23 - Amended Assembly

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AB1630:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1630

Introduced by Assembly Member Garcia

February 17, 2023

An act to add Section 65914.8 to the Government Code, relating to land use.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1630, as amended, Garcia. Planning and zoning: housing development approvals: student housing projects.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, authorizes the legislative body of any county or city, pursuant to specified procedures, to adopt ordinances that, among other things, regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land as between industry, business, residences, open space, and other purposes. Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, until January 1, 2026, authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a multifamily housing development that is subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process, as provided, and not subject to a conditional use permit, if the development satisfies specified objective planning standards, including, among other things, that the development and the site on which it is located satisfy specified location, urbanization, and zoning requirements.
This bill would prohibit a city, county, or city and county from prohibiting a dormitory on any real property located within 12 mile of a university campus, as defined. enact The Student Housing Crisis Act of 2023. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county to classify student and faculty and staff housing as a permitted use on all real property within 12 mile 1,000 feet of a university campus campus, as defined, for zoning purposes. The bill would require a proposed student or faculty and staff housing project, as defined, to be considered ministerially, without discretionary review or a hearing, if specified requirements are met, including that at least 50% a minimum of 20% of the unites units in the project be occupied rented by students of the local university campus to which the project site is proximate. or faculty and staff of the university. The bill would prohibit a local agency from imposing or enforcing on a student or faculty and staff housing project subject to ministerial consideration certain restrictions, including a minimum automobile parking requirement. The bill would require student or faculty and staff housing to have certain recorded deed restrictions, except as provided, that ensure for at least 55 years that, among other things, at least 20% of the units are affordable to lower income households, as defined, except as provided. In connection with an application submitted pursuant to these provisions, the bill would require a city, county, or city and county to take specified actions, including, upon the request of the applicant, provide a list of permits and fees that are required by the city, county, or city and county. By imposing new duties on local jurisdictions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a proponent of a student or faculty and staff housing project subject to ministerial consideration to require in contracts with construction contracts and certify to the local government that certain standards will be met in project construction, including that a student or faculty and staff housing project that is not in its entirety a public work, as defined, shall be subject to certain requirements, including to pay all construction workers employed in the executing of the student or faculty and staff housing project at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for the type of work and geographic area, as specified.
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 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. CEQA does not apply to the approval of ministerial projects.
By establishing a streamlined, ministerial approval process for certain housing developments, this bill would expand the exemption for the ministerial approval of projects under CEQA.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
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 65914.8 is added to the Government Code, to read:

65914.8.
 (a) A city, county, or city and county shall not prohibit a dormitory on any real property located within one-half mile of a university campus. This section shall be known, and may be cited, as “The Student Housing Crisis Act of 2023.”
(b) A city, county, or city and county shall classify student and faculty and staff housing as a permitted use on all real property within one-half mile 1,000 feet of a university campus for zoning purposes.
(c) A proposed student or faculty and staff housing project shall be considered ministerially, without discretionary review or a hearing, if the proposed student housing project meets all of the following requirements:

(1)At least 50 percent of the units of the student housing project is occupied by students of the local university campus to which the project site is proximate.

(2)The residential density for a student housing project, as measured on the development footprint, is the greater of the following:

(A)The residential density allowed on the parcel by the city, county, or city and county, as applicable.

(B)The applicable density deemed appropriate to accommodate housing for lower income households in that jurisdiction, as specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 65583.2.

(3)The height limit for the housing development is the greater of the following:

(A)The height limit allowed on the parcel by the city, county, or city and county, as applicable.

(B)Thirty-five feet.

(1) The student or faculty and staff housing is located on property within 1,000 feet of a university campus.
(2) A minimum of 20 percent of the units of the housing development are rented by students and university faculty or staff, and the remaining units are rented pursuant to the following procedures:
(A) A developer or developer proponent shall first offer the units to the university’s student, faculty, and staff population for a period of two weeks.
(B) If the developer or developer proponent receives an insufficient number of students, faculty, and staff to apply for and occupy the units, the developer or developer proponent may offer the unoccupied units to the general members of the public.
(C) When a unit in the housing development becomes unoccupied and available for rent, a developer or developer proponent shall first offer the unit to the university’s students, faculty, and staff and then to general members of the public.
(3) The student or faculty and staff housing development is not any of the following:
(A) Either prime farmland or farmland of statewide importance, as defined pursuant to United States Department of Agriculture land inventory and monitoring criteria, as modified for California, and designated on the maps prepared by the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program of the Department of Conservation, or land zoned or designated for agricultural protection or preservation by a local ballot measure that was approved by the voters of that jurisdiction.
(B) Wetlands, as defined in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Manual, Part 660 FW 2 (June 21, 1993).
(C) Within a very high fire hazard severity zone, as determined by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51178, or within a high or very high fire hazard severity zone as indicated on maps adopted by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 4202 of the Public Resources Code. This subparagraph does not apply to sites excluded from the specified fire hazard severity zones by a local agency, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 51179, or sites that have adopted fire hazard mitigation measures pursuant to existing building standards or state fire mitigation measures applicable to the project.
(D) Either a hazardous waste site listed pursuant to Section 65962.5 or a hazardous substances release site designated by the Department of Toxic Substances Control pursuant to Section 25356 of the Health and Safety Code, unless the State Department of Public Health, State Water Resources Control Board, or Department of Toxic Substances Control has cleared the site for residential use or residential mixed uses.
(E) Within a delineated earthquake fault zone as determined by the State Geologist in any official maps published by the State Geologist, unless the project complies with applicable seismic protection building code standards adopted by the California Building Standards Commission under the California Building Standards Law (Part 2.5 (commencing with Section 18901) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code), and by any local building department under Chapter 12.2 (commencing with Section 8875) of Division 1 of Title 2.
(F) Within a special flood hazard area subject to inundation by a 1-percent annual chance flood (100-year flood) as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in any official maps published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If a student or faculty and staff housing project is able to satisfy all applicable federal qualifying criteria in order to demonstrate that the site satisfies this subparagraph and is otherwise eligible to be exempt from this division pursuant to this section, a local government shall not deny an application on the basis that the student or faculty and staff housing project did not comply with any additional permit requirement, standard, or action adopted by that local government that is applicable to that site. A project may be located on a site described in this subparagraph if either of the following are met:
(i) The site has been subject to a Letter of Map Revision prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and issued to the local government.
(ii) The site meets Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements necessary to meet minimum flood plain management criteria of the National Flood Insurance Program pursuant to Part 59 (commencing with Section 59.1) and Part 60 (commencing with Section 60.1) of Subchapter B of Chapter I of Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(iii) Habitat for protected species identified as candidate, sensitive, or species of special status by a state or federal agency, fully protected species, or species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), or the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code).
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a local agency shall not impose or enforce any on a student or faculty and staff housing project subject to ministerial consideration pursuant to subdivision (c) any of the following:
(1) A minimum automobile parking requirement as a requirement of approval for a permit to construct a student housing project. requirement.
(2) A floor-to-area ratio requirement.

(e)A local agency may require a setback of up to

(3) A setback requirement greater than four feet from the side and rear lot lines of the student housing project subject to this section. lines.
(4) A density requirement.
(5) A height limit less than the lower of the following:
(A) The height limit allowed on the parcel by the city, county, or city and county, as applicable.
(B) Forty feet, excluding roof-mounted amenities and utilities.

(f)The

(e) Unless a local ordinance or the terms of a federal, state, or local grant, tax credit, or other project financing requires, as a condition of the development of residential units, that the student or faculty and staff housing project include a certain percentage of units that are affordable to, and occupied by, low-income, lower income, very low income, or extremely low income households for a term that exceeds 55 years for rental housing units, a student or faculty and staff housing project subject to ministerial consideration pursuant to subdivision (c) shall have a recorded deed restriction that ensures, for a period of at least 55 years, both all of the following:

(1)At least one-third of the units are set at an affordable rent to lower income or moderate-income households.

(2)

(1) At least 15 20 percent of the units are affordable to lower income households. For purposes of this paragraph, “lower income households” means either of the following:
(A) Students who have a household income and asset level that does not exceed the level for Cal Grant A or Cal Grant B award recipients as set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (k) of Section 69432.7 of the Education Code. The eligibility of a student under this paragraph shall be verified by an affidavit, award letter, or letter of eligibility provided by the institution of higher education in which the student is enrolled or by the Student Aid Commission that the student receives or is eligible for financial aid, including an institutional grant or fee waiver, from the college or university, the Student Aid Commission, or the federal government shall be sufficient to satisfy this paragraph.
(B) “Lower income households” as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) The rent charged in the applicable units of the student or faculty and staff housing project for lower income students, faculty, and staff shall be calculated at 30 percent of 65 percent of the area median income for a single-room occupancy type.
(3) The student or faculty and staff housing project will prioritize the applicable affordable units for lower income students experiencing homelessness. A homeless services provider, as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 103577 of the Health and Safety Code, or institution of higher education that has knowledge of a person’s homeless status may verify a person’s status as homeless for purposes of this paragraph.

(g)

(f) In connection with an application submitted pursuant to subdivision (c), a city, county, or city and county shall do all of the following:
(1) Upon the request of the applicant, provide a list of the permits and fees that are required by the city, county, or city and county, including, but not limited to, information about other permits that may be required by other departments in the city, county, or city and county, or by other public agencies.
(2) Upon the request of the applicant, provide information about the anticipated length of time for reviewing and processing the permit application.
(3) Upon the request of the applicant, provide information on the breakdown of any individual fees charged in connection with the issuance of the permit.
(4) If a deposit is required to cover the cost of the permit, provide information to the applicant about the estimated final cost to the applicant of the permit and the procedures for receiving a refund of the portion of the deposit not used.
(g) Except as provided in subdivision (h), a developer or developer proponent of a student or faculty and staff housing project subject to ministerial consideration pursuant to subdivision (c) shall require in contracts with construction contractors and shall certify to the local government that the following standards specified in this subdivision will be met in project construction, as applicable:
(1) A student or faculty and staff housing project that is not in its entirety a public work for purposes of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1720) of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code and is approved by a local government pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be subject to all of the following:
(A) All construction workers employed in the execution of the student or faculty and staff housing project shall be paid at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for the type of work and geographic area, as determined by the Director of Industrial Relations pursuant to Sections 1773 and 1773.9 of the Labor Code, except that apprentices registered in programs approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards may be paid at least the applicable apprentice prevailing rate.
(B) The student or faculty and staff housing project developer or developer proponent shall ensure that the prevailing wage requirement is included in all contracts for the performance of the work for those portions of the student or faculty and staff housing project that are not a public work.
(C) All contractors and subcontractors for those portions of the student or faculty and staff housing project that are not a public work shall comply with both of the following:
(i) Pay to all construction workers employed in the execution of the work at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, except that apprentices registered in programs approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards may be paid at least the applicable apprentice prevailing rate.
(ii) Maintain and verify payroll records pursuant to Section 1776 of the Labor Code and make those records available for inspection and copying as provided in that section. This clause does not apply if all contractors and subcontractors performing work on the student or faculty and staff housing project are subject to a project labor agreement that requires the payment of prevailing wages to all construction workers employed in the execution of the student or faculty and staff housing project and provides for enforcement of that obligation through an arbitration procedure. For purposes of this clause, “project labor agreement” has the same meaning as set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code.
(2) (A) The obligation of the contractors and subcontractors to pay prevailing wages pursuant to this paragraph may be enforced by any of the following:
(i) The Labor Commissioner through the issuance of a civil wage and penalty assessment pursuant to Section 1741 of the Labor Code, which may be reviewed pursuant to Section 1742 of the Labor Code, within 18 months after the completion of the student or faculty and staff housing project.
(ii) An underpaid worker through an administrative complaint or civil action.
(iii) A joint labor-management committee through a civil action under Section 1771.2 of the Labor Code.
(B) If a civil wage and penalty assessment is issued pursuant to this paragraph, the contractor, subcontractor, and surety on a bond or bonds issued to secure the payment of wages covered by the assessment shall be liable for liquidated damages pursuant to Section 1742.1 of the Labor Code.
(C) This subdivision does not apply if all contractors and subcontractors performing work on the student or faculty and staff housing project are subject to a project labor agreement that requires the payment of prevailing wages to all construction workers employed in the execution of the student or faculty and staff housing project and provides for enforcement of that obligation through an arbitration procedure. For purposes of this subparagraph, “project labor agreement” has the same meaning as set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code.
(3) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 1773.1 of the Labor Code, the requirement that employer payments not reduce the obligation to pay the hourly straight time or overtime wages found to be prevailing does not apply to those portions of student or faculty and staff housing projects that are not a public work if otherwise provided in a bona fide collective bargaining agreement covering the worker.
(4) The requirement of this subdivision to pay at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages does not preclude use of an alternative workweek schedule adopted pursuant to Section 511 or 514 of the Labor Code.
(5) A student or faculty and staff housing project of 50 or more housing units approved by a local government pursuant to this section shall meet all of the following labor standards:
(A) The developer or developer proponent shall require in contracts with construction contractors and shall certify to the local government that each contractor of any tier who will employ construction craft employees or will let subcontracts for at least 1,000 hours shall satisfy the requirements in subparagraphs (B) and (C). A construction contractor is deemed in compliance with subparagraphs (B) and (C) if it is signatory to a valid collective bargaining agreement that requires utilization of registered apprentices and expenditures on health care for employees and dependents.
(B) A contractor with construction craft employees shall either participate in an apprenticeship program approved by the Division of Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to Section 3075 of the Labor Code, or request the dispatch of apprentices from a state-approved apprenticeship program under the terms and conditions set forth in Section 1777.5 of the Labor Code. A contractor without construction craft employees shall show a contractual obligation that its subcontractors comply with this subparagraph.
(C) Each contractor with construction craft employees shall make health care expenditures for each employee in an amount per hour worked on the student or faculty and staff housing project equivalent to at least the hourly pro rata cost of a Covered California Platinum-level plan for two adults 40 years of age or older and two dependents 0 to 14 years of age for the Covered California rating area in which the student or faculty and staff housing project is located. A contractor without construction craft employees shall show a contractual obligation that its subcontractors comply with this clause. Qualifying expenditures shall be credited toward compliance with prevailing wage payment requirements set forth in this subdivision.
(D) (i) Each contractor with construction craft employees shall make health care expenditures for each employee in an amount per hour worked on the student or faculty and staff housing project equivalent to at least the hourly pro rata cost of a Covered California Platinum-level plan for two adults 40 years of age or older and two dependents 0 to 14 years of age for the Covered California rating area in which the student or faculty and staff housing project is located. A contractor without construction craft employees shall show a contractual obligation that its subcontractors comply with this clause. Qualifying expenditures shall be credited toward compliance with prevailing wage payment requirements set forth in this subdivision.
(ii) A developer or developer proponent that fails to provide the monthly report shall be subject to a civil penalty for each month for which the report has not been provided, in the amount of 10 percent of the dollar value of construction work performed by that contractor on the student or faculty and staff housing project in the month in question, up to a maximum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Any contractor or subcontractor that fails to comply with subparagraphs (B) and (C) shall be subject to a civil penalty of two hundred dollars ($200) per day for each worker employed in contravention of subparagraphs (B) and (C).
(iii) Penalties may be assessed by the Labor Commissioner within 18 months of completion of the student or faculty and staff housing project using the procedures for issuance of civil wage and penalty assessments specified in Section 1741 of the Labor Code, and may be reviewed pursuant to Section 1742 of the Labor Code. Penalties shall be deposited in the State Public Works Enforcement Fund established pursuant to Section 1771.3 of the Labor Code.
(E) Each construction contractor shall maintain and verify payroll records pursuant to Section 1776 of the Labor Code. Each construction contractor shall submit payroll records directly to the Labor Commissioner at least monthly in a format prescribed by the Labor Commissioner in accordance with subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1771.4 of the Labor Code. The records shall include a statement of fringe benefits. Upon request by a joint labor-management cooperation committee established pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 175a), the records shall be provided pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 1776 of the Labor Code.
(F) All construction contractors shall report any change in apprenticeship program participation or health care expenditures to the local government within 10 business days, and shall reflect those changes on the monthly report. The reports shall be considered public records pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1) and shall be open to public inspection.
(G) A joint labor-management cooperation committee established pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 175a) shall have standing to sue a construction contractor for failure to make health care expenditures pursuant to clause (iii) of subparagraph (D) in accordance with Section 218.7 or 218.8 of the Labor Code.
(h) Notwithstanding subdivision (g), a student or faculty and staff housing project subject to ministerial consideration pursuant to subdivision (c) is exempt from any requirement to pay prevailing wages, use a workforce participating in an apprenticeship, or provide health care expenditures if it satisfies both of the following:
(1) The student or faculty and staff housing project consists of 10 or fewer units.
(2) The student or faculty and staff housing project is not a public work for purposes of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1720) of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.

(h)

(i) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Faculty and staff housing project” means one or more housing facilities to be occupied by faculty or staff of one or more campuses and owned by a public university, including dining, academic, and faculty support service spaces and other necessary and usual attendant and related facilities and equipment.
(2) “Student” means a person who is currently, or has been within the previous two years, a part-time or full-time student of the University of California, California State University, California Community Colleges, or nonprofit private university accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges or the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

(1)

(3) “Student housing project” means one or more housing facilities to be occupied by students of one or more campuses proximate to a university campus, including, but not limited to, dining spaces, academic spaces, student support service spaces, and other necessary and usual attendant and related facilities and equipment.

(2)

(4) “University campus” has the same meaning as “main campus,” as defined in Section 94849 of the Education Code. means the institution’s sole or primary teaching location.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this act adding Section 65914.8 to the Government Code addresses a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Section 1 of this act applies to all cities, including charter cities.

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.