BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2180
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
AB 2180
(Ting) - As Amended March 31, 2016
SUBJECT: Land use: development project review.
SUMMARY: Expedites timelines for approval or disapproval by a
public agency for certain types of development projects.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Expedites, pursuant to the Permit Streamlining Act, the
timelines for review of a development project by a public
agency, as follows:
a) Requires a public agency that is a responsible agency
for a development project that has been approved by the
lead agency to approve or disapprove the development
project within whichever of the following periods of time
is longer:
i) Within 90 days from the date on which the lead
agency has approved the project; or,
ii) Within 90 days of the date on which the completed
application for the development project has been received
AB 2180
Page 2
and accepted as complete by that responsible agency.
b) Requires any public agency that is the lead agency for a
development project to approve or disapprove the project
within 120 days from the date of certification by the lead
agency of the environmental impact report (EIR), if an EIR
is prepared for a development project, and specified
conditions are met.
2)Makes other minor and technical changes.
3)Declares that no reimbursement is necessary because a local
agency has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or
assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of
service, as specified.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines, pursuant to the Permit Streamlining Act, the term
"development project" to mean a use consisting of either of
the following:
a) Residential units only; or,
b) Mixed-use developments consisting of residential and
nonresidential uses in which the nonresidential uses are
less than 50% 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 or services primarily to residents of
AB 2180
Page 3
the neighborhood.
2)Requires, pursuant to the Permit Streamlining Act, any public
agency that is the lead agency for a development project to
approve or disapprove the project within whichever of the
following periods is applicable:
a) 180 days from the date of certification by the lead
agency of the EIR, if an EIR is prepared, pursuant to
existing law for the development project;
b) 90 days from the date of certification by the lead
agency of the EIR, if an EIR is prepared, pursuant to
existing law for the development project, and all of the
following conditions are met:
i) At least 49% of the units in the development project
are affordable to very low- or low-income households, as
defined. Rents for the lower-income units shall be set
at an affordable rent, as specified, for at least 30
years. Owner-occupied units shall be available at an
affordable housing cost, as specified;
ii) Prior to the application being deemed complete for
the development project, as specified, 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
AB 2180
Page 4
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 i), above; and,
iii) There is confirmation that the application has been
made to the public agency or federal agency prior to
certification of the EIR.
c) 60 days from the date of the adoption by the lead agency
of the negative declaration if a negative declaration is
completed and adopted for the development project; or,
d) 60 days from the determination by the lead agency that
the project is exempt from the California Environmental
Quality act (CEQA) if the project is exempt from CEQA.
3)States that 2), above, does not preclude a project applicant
and a public agency from mutually agreeing in writing to an
extension of any time limited provided by existing law, as
specified.
4)Requires any public agency which is a responsible agency for a
development project that has been approved by the lead agency
to approve or disapprove the development project within
whichever of the following periods of time is longer:
a) Within 180 days from the date on which the lead agency
has approved the project; or,
b) Within 180 days of the date on which the completed
application for the development project has been received
AB 2180
Page 5
and accepted as complete by that responsible agency.
5)Provides that 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS:
1)Bill Summary. This bill expedites, for a public agency, the
review process for certain development projects, pursuant to
the Permit Streamlining Act, specifically those development
projects that are either: a) residential units only; or, b)
mixed-use developments consisting of residential and
nonresidential uses in which the nonresidential uses are less
than 50% 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.
The bill requires any public agency that is the lead agency
for a development project to approve or disapprove the project
within 120 days from the date of certification by the lead
agency of the EIR, if an EIR is prepared for that development
project. The bill also requires a public agency that is a
responsible agency for a development project that has been
approved by the lead agency to approve or disapprove the
development project within whichever of the following periods
of time is longer:
a) Within 90 days from the date on which the lead agency
has approved the project; or,
AB 2180
Page 6
b) 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.
This bill is sponsored by the California Apartment
Association.
2)Author's Statement. According to the author, "California is
in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis caused by a
severe lack of new housing construction, both market rate and
affordable. In its most recent report on housing, the
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) stressed that facilitating
more private housing development was needed to make housing
more affordable for low-income Californians.
"Unfortunately, the local and state approval processes for new
housing construction are frequently slow and cumbersome. In
its March 2015 report on "California's High Housing Costs:
Causes and Consequences", the LAO concluded:
Cities and counties often require housing projects to go
through multiple layers of review prior to approval. For
example, a project may require independent review by a
building department, health department, fire department,
planning commission, and city council. Each layer of review
can increase project approval time. Additional complexity in
review processes also creates avenues for concerned residents
to slow building or reduce its size and scope?
"AB 2180 seeks to expedite the housing construction permit
approval process by reducing the time for a lead agency to
approve a housing project from 180 to 120 days. The bill
AB 2180
Page 7
still ensures that purely affordable housing projects continue
to get the same 90 day approval process. In addition, AB 2180
reduces the approval process for any other responsible public
agencies from 180 days to 90 days for all types of housing
developments.
"AB 2180 will ensure that badly needed housing projects move
through the building approval process faster. It will not
only reduce the amount of time, but will also reduce costs and
other delays that can be associated with a lengthy approval
process. AB 2180 is a modest, yet important step towards
addressing California's severe housing shortage."
3)Background. The Permit Streamlining Act applies to all public
agencies, including charter cities, and was adopted to ensure
that permit applicants for projects are not subjected to
protracted and unjustified governmental delays in the
processing of the applications for development projects. The
Legislature, in enacting the Permit Streamlining Act, declared
that "there is a statewide need to ensure clear understanding
of the specific requirements which must be met in connection
with the approval of development projects and to expedite
decisions on such projects."
Submittal of a project application is the first step in the
streamlined permitting process. Within 30 calendar days of
receiving an application, a city is required to respond to the
applicant in writing with the determination of whether the
application is complete and accepted for filing. If the
application is deemed complete, the city proceeds with the
evaluation of the project, but if the application is
incomplete, the city is required to indicate in detail the
deficiencies in the application.
All deadlines under the Permit Streamlining Act begin from the
AB 2180
Page 8
day the application is accepted as complete or deemed
complete. The completion date also starts the clock running
on processing the application. If a city is acting as the
lead agency for a project for which an EIR is prepared, then
the city must approve or disapprove the project within 180
days from the date of the EIR's certification. The Act
specifies other time lines for approval or disapproval by the
public agency, in coordination with specific CEQA actions,
like whether a project is exempt from CEQA, the adoption of a
negative declaration, or the certification of an EIR. The Act
also contains timelines for approval of a development project
for a responsible agency, once the project has been approved
by the lead agency. "Development project" is defined as
either a) residential units only; or, b) mixed-use
developments consisting of residential and nonresidential uses
in which the nonresidential uses are less than 50% 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.
If approval or disapproval of a project does not occur within
these deadlines, the project shall be deemed approved provided
the prescribed public notice requirements have been met.
4)Arguments in Support. Supporters argue that the bill will
ensure that badly needed housing projects move through the
building approval process faster, thus reducing costs and
other delays that can be associated with a lengthy approval
process.
5)Arguments in Opposition. None on file.
AB 2180
Page 9
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
AB 2180
Page 10
California Apartment Association [SPONSOR]
California Association of Realtors
California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
California Chamber of Commerce
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958
AB 2180
Page 11