Amended in Senate June 24, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 504

Introduced by Assembly Member Gonzalez

February 23, 2015

An act to add Section 65108 to the Government Code, relating to land use.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 504, as amended, Gonzalez. Local planning.

The Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, establishes in each city or county a planning agency and requires each city or county to, by ordinance, assign the functions of the planning agency to a planning department, one or more planning commissions, administrative bodies or hearing officers, the legislative body itself, or any combination thereof, as it deems appropriate and necessary. The law requires, if a city or county does not make an assignment, as specified, the legislative body of the city or county to carry out all the functions of the planning agency. The law specifies the functions of a planning agency and the minimum membership of a planning commission to be at least 5 members who act in the public interest.

This bill would, notwithstanding any other law, authorize a city to delegate to, or authorize pursuant to a contract with, a nonprofit public benefit corporation the performance of begin delete administrative or end delete ministerial planning functions begin delete and powers end delete begin insert , as defined, end insert and require that the city retain all begin delete nonadministrative or end delete nonministerial planning functions. The bill would require a nonprofit public benefit corporation performing begin delete administrative or end delete ministerial planning functions begin delete and powers end delete to comply with city laws and plans and state laws, including, but not limited to, laws relating to the requirements for open meetings and the disclosure of public records, as specified. The bill would require any planning action taken by a nonprofit public benefit corporation to be able to be appealed to the legislative body of the city. The bill would require a nonprofit public benefit corporation, beginning on or before July 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, to report to the legislative body of the city on the planning functions it has undertaken in the previous calendar year, and require the legislative body of the city to review and approve each report at a noticed public hearing. The bill would also state that this is an issue of statewide concern.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 65108 is added to the Government Code,
to read:

65108.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a city may delegate
to, or authorize pursuant to a contract with, a nonprofit public
benefit corporation organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit
Corporation Law (Part 2 (commencing with Section 5110) of
Division 2 of Title 2 of the Corporations Code) the performance
of begin delete administrative or end delete ministerial planning begin delete functions and powers. end delete
begin insert functions. end insert A city shall retain all begin delete nonadministrative or end delete nonministerial
planning functions.

(b) (1) A nonprofit public benefit corporation performing
begin delete administrative or end delete ministerial planning functions begin delete and powers end delete shall
comply with the city’s charter, contracting rules, municipal code,
ordinances, and any other applicable parts of a general plan,
community plan, specific plan or other plan, and all applicable
local and state laws, including, but not limited to, the California
Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250)
of Division 7 of Title begin delete 1, end delete begin insert 1), end insert and the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter
9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of
Title 5).

(2) Any planning action taken by a nonprofit public benefit
corporation shall be able to be appealed to the legislative body of
the city.

(c) (1) On or before July 1, 2016, and annually thereafter for
as long as the planning functions begin delete and powers end delete continue to be
delegated or an authorizing contract is in effect pursuant to
subdivision (a), a nonprofit public benefit corporation shall report
to the legislative body of the city on the planning functions it has
undertaken in the previous calendar year that includes, but is not
limited to, a detailed description of each planning function and an
explanation of how it is consistent with the city’s charter, municipal
code, ordinances, and any applicable parts of a general plan,
community plan, specific plan or other plan, and all applicable
local and state laws.

(2) Each report shall be reviewed and approved by the legislative
body of the city at a noticed public hearing.

begin insert

(d) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:

end insert begin insert

(1) “Ministerial” means a plain and mandatory duty involving
the execution of a set task that is to be performed without the
exercise of discretion.

end insert begin insert

(2) “Planning functions” include, but are not limited to,
enactment of a zoning regulation, amendment of a general plan,
specific plan, and all other planning documents, issuance of a
tentative map, development permit, planned development permit,
site development permit, use permit, conditional use permit, coastal
development permit, and a variance or any other land use permit,
design review approval, determination of consistency with a
general plan, specific plan, and all other applicable planning
documents, imposition of conditions of approval and mitigation
measures, adoption of findings pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)(Division 13 (commencing
with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), certification
of an environmental impact report pursuant to CEQA, approval
of a negative declaration or mitigated negative declaration
pursuant to CEQA, determination that a project is not subject to
CEQA, adoption of a statement of overriding considerations
pursuant to CEQA, adoption of a mitigation monitoring and
reporting program pursuant to CEQA, and any other actions or
determinations made pursuant to CEQA.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that
maintaining uniformity in the planning responsibilities of cities
within this state, including charter cities, has a direct impact on
the well-being of all residents of this state. Therefore, the
Legislature finds and declares that authorizing a city to delegate
to, or authorize pursuant to a contract with, a nonprofit public
benefit corporation the performance of begin delete administrative or ministerial end delete
planning begin delete functions and powers end delete begin insert responsibilities end insert within the State of
California, is an issue of statewide concern and not a municipal
affair, as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the
California Constitution. Therefore, this act shall apply to every
city in this state, including a charter city and charter city and
county.