Amended in Senate August 17, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 31, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2180

Introduced by Assembly Member Ting

February 18, 2016

An act to amend Sections 65950 and 65952 of the Government Code, relating to land use.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2180, as amended, Ting. Land use: development project review.

The Permit Streamlining Act within the Planning and Zoning Law requires the lead agency that has the principal responsibility for approving a development project, as defined, to approve or disapprove the project within 180 days from the date of certification of an environmental impact report. Existing law requires approval or disapproval within 90 days from the date of certification if at least 49% of the units within the development project are affordable to very low or low-income households. Existing law also requires approval or disapproval within 60 days from the date of the adoption of a negative declaration, or the determination by the lead agency that the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.

This bill would require approval or disapproval within 120 days from the date of certification of an environmental impact report when the development project consists of either residential units only or mixed use development in which the nonresidential uses are less than 50% of the total square footage of the development, among other conditions.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires any public agency that is a responsible agency for a development project to approve or disapprove a development project that has been approved by the lead agency within the longer of 180 days from the date on which the lead agency has approved the project or within 180 days of the date on which the completed application for the development project has been accepted as complete by that responsible agency.

This bill begin delete would end delete begin insert would, for a public agency other than the California Coastal Commission, end insert reduce each time period to within 90 days when the development project consists of either residential units only or mixed use development in which the nonresidential uses are less than 50% of the total square footage of the development and other conditions are met.

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. State-mandated local program: yes.

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 65950 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

65950.  

(a)  begin delete Any end delete begin insert A end insert public agency that is the lead agency for a
development project shall approve or disapprove the project within
whichever of the following periods is applicable:

(1) One hundred eighty days from the date of certification by
the lead agency of the environmental impact report, if an
environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to Section 21100
or 21151 of the Public Resources Code for the development project.

(2) One hundred twenty days from the date of certification by
the lead agency of the environmental impact report, if an
environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to Section 21100
or 21151 of the Public Resources Code for a development project
defined in subdivision (c).

(3) Ninety days from the date of certification by the lead agency
of the environmental impact report, if an environmental impact
report is prepared pursuant to Section 21100 or 21151 of the Public
Resources Code for a development project defined in subdivision
(c) and all of the following conditions are met:

(A) At least 49 percent of the units in the development project
are affordable to very low or low-income households, as defined
by Sections 50105 and 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code,
respectively. Rents for the lower income units shall be set at an
affordable rent, as that term is defined in Section 50053 of the
Health and Safety Code, for at least 30 years. Owner-occupied
units shall be available at an affordable housing cost, as that term
is defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

(B) Prior to the application being deemed complete for the
development project pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with
Section 65940), the lead agency received written notice from the
project applicant that an application has been made or will be made
for an allocation or commitment of financing, tax credits, bond
authority, or other financial assistance from a public agency or
federal agency, and the notice specifies the financial assistance
that has been applied for or will be applied for and the deadline
for application for that assistance, the requirement that one of the
approvals of the development project by the lead agency is a
prerequisite to the application for or approval of the application
for financial assistance, and that the financial assistance is
necessary for the project to be affordable as required pursuant to
subparagraph (A).

(C) There is confirmation that the application has been made
to the public agency or federal agency prior to certification of the
environmental impact report.

(4) Sixty days from the date of adoption by the lead agency of
the negative declaration, if a negative declaration is completed and
adopted for the development project.

(5) Sixty days from the determination by the lead agency that
the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality
Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public
Resources Code), if the project is exempt from that act.

(b) This section does not preclude a project applicant and a
public agency from mutually agreeing in writing to an extension
of any time limit provided by this section pursuant to Section
65957.

(c) For purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (a)
and Section 65952, “development project” means a use consisting
of either of the following:

(1) Residential units only.

(2) Mixed-use developments consisting of residential and
nonresidential uses in which the nonresidential uses are less than
50 percent of the total square footage of the development and are
limited to neighborhood commercial uses and to the first floor of
buildings that are two or more stories. As used in this paragraph,
“neighborhood commercial” means small-scale general or specialty
stores that furnish goods and services primarily to residents of the
neighborhood.

(d) For purposes of this section, “lead agency” and “negative
declaration” have the same meaning as defined in Sections 21067
and 21064 of the Public Resources Code, respectively.

SEC. 2.  

Section 65952 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

65952.  

(a)  begin delete A end delete begin insert Except as provided in subdivision (b), a end insert public
agency that is a responsible agency for a development project that
has been approved by the lead agency shall approve or disapprove
the development project within whichever of the following periods
of time is longer:

(1) Within 180 days from the date on which the lead agency
has approved the project.

(2) Within 180 days of the date on which the completed
application for the development project has been received and
accepted as complete by that responsible agency.

(b) A public begin delete agency end delete begin insert agency other than the California Coastal
Commission end insert that is a responsible agency for a development project
described in paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) of Section
65950 that has been approved by the lead agency shall approve or
disapprove the development project within whichever of the
following periods of time is longer:

(1) Within 90 days from the date on which the lead agency has
approved the project.

(2) Within 90 days of the date on which the completed
application for the development project has been received and
accepted as complete by that responsible agency.

(c) At the time a decision by a lead agency to disapprove a
development project becomes final, applications for that project
which are filed with responsible agencies shall be deemed
withdrawn.

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.