BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE
Senator Lois Wolk, Chair
BILL NO: AB 116 HEARING: 6/5/13
AUTHOR: Bocanegra FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 5/16/13 TAX LEVY: No
CONSULTANT: Lui
SUBDIVISION APPROVALS (URGENCY)
Provides an automatic 24-month extension for subdivision
maps, approved after January 1, 2000, that have not yet
expired.
Background and Existing Law
Under the Subdivision Map Act, cities and counties approve
tentative maps that must be consistent with their general
plans, attaching scores of conditions. Once subdividers
comply with those conditions, local officials must issue
final maps. For smaller subdivisions (lot splits) local
officials usually use parcel maps, but they can require
tentative parcel maps followed by final parcel maps.
In good economic times, an experienced subdivider can
comply with a tentative map's conditions in a few years.
Scarce financing, complex settings, and inexperience can
drag out the time between a tentative map's approval and
the filing of a final map. If a tentative map expires, the
subdivider must start over, complying with any new required
conditions.
The Permit Streamlining Act sets forth time limits and
procedures for some types of land use decisions, including
tentative maps. It also prohibits a local agency, after it
approves or conditionally approves a tentative map for a
residential unit, from requiring conformance with any
condition the local agency could have imposed as a
condition to the issuance of any building permit,
five-years after the recordation of that subdivision's
final map or parcel map. A city or county also can't
refuse to issue a building permit for failing to confirm
with or perform any conditions that the city or county
could have imposed as a condition to the previously
approved tentative or parcel map.
AB 116 -- 5/16/13 -- Page 2
Tentative maps can be valid for up to 16 years:
The initial life of a tentative map is two years.
At the option of the city or county, a map's initial
life can be three years.
Local officials can grant extensions for up to six
years.
If the subdivider spends substantial funds and
files phased final maps, the remaining tentative map
is automatically extended by three years, up to a
maximum of ten years.
These deadlines don't apply during development moratoria
(up to five years) or during pending litigation (up to five
years).
During periods of economic recession, both in the mid-1990s
and in the last five years, the Legislature has extended
the life of unexpired subdivision approvals, without local
review or approval. Unexpired subdivision maps that were
valid on:
September 13, 1993, gained two more years (SB 428,
Thompson, 1993).
May 14, 1996, gained one more year (AB 771, Aguiar,
1996).
July 15, 2008, gained one more year (SB 1185,
Lowenthal, 2008).
July 15, 2009, gained two more years (AB 333,
Fuentes, 2009).
July 15, 2011, gained two more years (AB 208,
2011).
When the Legislature granted the one-year extension in
2008, it also let local officials grant an additional year,
at their discretion (SB 1185, Lowenthal, 2008). For a
tentative map or parcel map that is extended pursuant to
state law, a city or county may levy a fee or impose a
condition that requires the payment of a fee.
Because of the continued poor housing construction market,
builders want legislators to extend the life of unexpired
tentative maps.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 116 extends the expiration date by 24 months
AB 116 -- 5/16/13 -- Page 3
for any tentative map, vesting tentative map, or parcel map
for which a tentative map or tentative vesting map was
approved on or after January 1, 2000, and its expiration
date has not expired when this urgency bill takes effect,.
When determining if a tentative map or parcel map expires
before January 1, 2014, AB 116 allows counting only
discretionary extensions approved before the bill's
effective date, but not extensions because of litigation or
moratoria.
For maps approved before January 1, 2000, AB 116 allows a
subdivider's to file an application for an extension at
least 90 days prior to the expiration of the approved or
conditionally approved tentative map, vesting tentative
map, or parcel map.
AB 116 requires a legislative body to extend the time at
which the map expires for a period of 24 months, upon a
determination that the map is consistent with the
applicable zoning and general plan requirement in effect
when the application is filed.
If the map is determined to be inconsistent with applicable
zoning and general plan requirements in effect when the
application is filed, AB 116 authorizes the legislative
body or advisory agency to deny or conditionally approve an
extension for a period of 24 months.
Prior to the expiration of an approved or conditionally
approved tentative map, upon a subdivider's application to
extend that map, AB 116 automatically extends the map for
60 days or until the application for the extension is
approved, conditionally approved, or denied, whichever
occurs last.
If the advisory agency denies a subdivider's application
for an extension, the bill authorizes a subdivider to
appeal to the legislative body within 15 days after the
advisory agency denied the extension.
An extension provided pursuant to AB 116 is in addition to
six other statutory extensions.
For any legislative, administrative, or other approval by a
state agency relating to a development project in a
subdivision affected by AB 116 that has not expired when
AB 116 -- 5/16/13 -- Page 4
the bill takes effect, AB 116 extends the expiration date
by 24 months. This extension is in addition to four other
statutory extensions.
AB 116 reduces, from five years to three years, the period
of time after the approval or conditional approval of a
tentative map, or recordation of a parcel map, during which
a city or county is prohibited, with exceptions, from
imposing specified conditions on a building permit or
equivalent permit.
The bill also provides that the local agency is not
prohibited from levying a fee, or imposing a condition that
requires the payment of a fee upon the issuance of a
building permit.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . Subdividers will build fewer
houses and apartments in 2011 than before the construction
industry collapsed. Until the demand for new housing
resumes, subdividers aren't likely to complete the required
conditions of their tentative maps and qualify for final
maps. With statutory time limits looming, some builders
risk losing their earlier approvals and having to start
over again. Similar to the Legislature's earlier responses
during other market slumps, AB 116 preserves subdividers'
ability to complete their conditions for two more years,
waiting for California's economy to pick up again.
Proponents estimate that hundreds of thousands of
undeveloped housing units are at risk. According to the
author, "Without AB 116, the construction projects
associated with active maps could be lost, stalling the
significant economic investments made to date and forcing
the project proponent to begin the costly entitlement
process anew."
2. Consistency . State law requires each city and county
to adopt a general plan, which is used as a basis for
decisions regarding a city or county's physical
AB 116 -- 5/16/13 -- Page 5
development. Subdivisions, capital improvements,
development agreements, and other land use actions must be
consistent with the adopted general plan. The Legislature
expanded the contents of local general plans to include
military operating areas (SB 1486, Knight, 2002; SB 926,
Knight, 2004), Native American places (SB 18, Burton,
2004), fire hazards (AB 3065, Kehoe, 2004), and flood
hazards (AB 162, Wolk, 2007). Further, the Legislature
imposed tougher development standards: a sufficient water
supply must be available for larger subdivisions (SB 221,
Kuehl, 2001), and local officials must deny subdivisions
threatened by flooding in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley
(SB 5, Machado, 2007). Public officials also wants to
address how land use decisions affect greenhouse gas
emissions (AB 32, Nuņez, 2006; SB 375, Steinberg, 2008).
For maps approved prior to January 1, 2000, AB 116
authorizes city councils and county supervisors to extend
the life of maps that don't meet current land use
standards, potentially putting houses in harm's way. The
Committee may wish to consider whether a local agency
should be authorized to conditionally approve the extension
of a map for another 24 months, if that map is inconsistent
with current zoning laws and the city or county's general
plan.
3. Urgency . Regular statutes take effect on the January 1
following their enactment; bills passed in 2013 take effect
on January 1, 2014. The California Constitution allows
bills with urgency clauses to take effect immediately if
they're needed for the public peace, health, and safety.
AB 116 contains an urgency clause declaring the need for
the bill to take effect immediately.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government: 9-0
Assembly Housing and Community Development: 7-0
Assembly Appropriations: 17-0
Assembly Floor: 75-0
Support and Opposition (5/30/13)
Support : California Building Industry Association;
American Planning Association, California Chapter;
AB 116 -- 5/16/13 -- Page 6
Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles; American
Council of Engineering Companies California; Associated
Builders and Contractors of California; California
Apartment Association; California Association of Realtors;
California Building Officials; California Business
Properties Association; California Chamber of Commerce;
California Chapter of American Fence Association;
California Fence Contractors Association; California State
Association of Counties; Engineering Contractors
Association; Flasher Barricade Association; Golden State
Builders Exchange; League of California Cities; Marin
Builders Association; Orange County Business Council; San
Diego County Apartment Association; Santa Barbara Rental
Property Association; Sunshine Design; Urban Contractors.
Opposition : Unknown.