Amended in Senate April 28, 2015

Amended in Senate April 13, 2015

Senate Bill No. 511

Introduced by Senator Nguyen

February 26, 2015

An act to amend begin insert and repeal end insert Section 65584.6 of the Government Code, relating to land use.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 511, as amended, Nguyen. Housing element: affordable housing: County of Orange.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires each city, county, or city and county to prepare and adopt a general plan for its jurisdiction that contains certain mandatory elements, including a housing element. That law requires the housing element to, among other things, identify the existing and projected housing needs of all economic segments of the community and to include an assessment of housing needs and an inventory of resources and constraints relevant to the meeting of those needs.

Existing law authorizes the County of Napa to, until June 30, 2007, meet up to 15% of its existing share of the regional housing need for lower income households, as defined, by committing funds for the purpose of constructing affordable housing units in one or more cities within the county, if specified conditions are met.

This bill would recast these provisions and instead authorize the County of Orange to meet up to 15% of its existing share of the regional housing need for lower income households, as defined, by committing funds for the purpose of constructing affordable housing units in one or more cities within the county, if specified conditions are met. begin insert The bill would repeal these provisions as of October 31, 2021. end insert

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Orange.

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 65584.6 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

65584.6.  

(a) The County of Orange may, during its current
and subsequent housing element planning periods, identified in
Section 65588, meet up to 15 percent of its existing share of the
regional housing need for lower income households, as defined in
subdivision (e) of Section 65584, by committing funds for the
purpose of constructing affordable lower income housing units,
and constructing those units in one or more cities within the county,
only after all of the following conditions are met:

(1) An agreement has been executed between the county and
the receiving city or cities, following a public hearing held by the
county and the receiving city or cities to solicit public comments
on the draft agreement. The agreement shall contain information
sufficient to demonstrate that the county and city or cities have
complied with the requirements of this section and shall also
include the following:

(A) A plan and schedule for timely construction of dwelling
units.

(B) Site identification by street address for the units to be
developed.

(C) A statement either that the sites upon which the units will
be developed were identified in the receiving city’s housing
element as potential sites for the development of housing for lower
income households, or that the units will be developed on
previously unidentified sites.

(D) The number and percentage of the county’s lower income
housing needs previously transferred to the receiving city or cities,
for the appropriate planning period, pursuant to this section.

(E) The number and percentage of the county’s lower income
housing needs that will be transferred to the receiving city or cities,
for the appropriate planning period, pursuant to this section. The
number and percentage of the county’s lower income housing
needs that will be transferred to the receiving city or cities shall
be equal to the percentage of a project’s total development costs
that are financed with county funds.

(2) The council of governments that assigned the county’s share
receives and approves each proposed agreement to meet a portion
of the county’s fair share housing allocation within one or more
of the cities within the county after taking into consideration the
criteria of subdivision (a) of Section 65584. If the council of
governments fails to take action to approve the agreement between
the county and the receiving city or cities within 45 days following
the receipt of the agreement, the agreement shall be deemed
approved.

(3) The city or cities in which the units are developed agree not
to count the units towards their share of the region’s affordable
housing need.

(4) The county and the receiving city or cities, based on
substantial evidence on the record, make the following findings:

(A) Adequate sites with appropriate zoning exist in the receiving
city or cities to accommodate the units to be developed pursuant
to this section. The agreement shall demonstrate that the city or
cities have identified sufficient vacant or underutilized or vacant
and underutilized sites in their housing elements to meet their
existing share of regional housing need, as allocated by the council
of governments pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section begin delete 65584. end delete
begin insert 65584, in addition to the sites needed to construct the units
pursuant to this section. end insert

(B) If needed, additional subsidy or financing for the
construction of the units is available.

(C) The receiving city or cities have housing elements that have
been found by the Department of Housing and Community
Development to be in compliance with this article.

begin insert

(5) If the sites upon which units are to be developed pursuant
to this section were previously identified in the receiving city’s
housing element as potential sites for the development of housing
sufficient to accommodate the receiving city’s share of the lower
income household need identified in its housing element, then the
receiving city shall have amended its housing element to identify
replacement sites by street address for housing for lower income
households. Additionally, the Department of Housing and
Community Development shall have received and reviewed the
amendment and found that the city’s housing element continues
to comply with this article.

end insert begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (6) end insert  The county and receiving city or cities shall have completed,
and provided to the department, the annual report required by
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 65400.

begin delete

(6)

end delete

begin insert (7) end insert  For a period of five years after a transfer occurs, the report
required by paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 65400 shall
include information on the status of transferred units,
implementation of the terms and conditions of the transfer
agreement, and information on any dwelling units actually
constructed, including the number, type, location, and affordability
requirements.

begin insert

(8) The receiving city demonstrates that it has met, in the current
or previous housing element cycle, at least 20 percent of its share
of the regional need for housing for very low income households
allocated to the city pursuant to Section 65584.

end insert

(b)  begin insert The credit that the county receives pursuant to this section
shall not exceed 40 percent of the number of units that are
affordable to lower income households and constructed and
occupied during the same housing element cycle in unincorporated
areas of the county. end insert The county shall only receive the credit after
the units have been constructed and occupied. Within 60 days of
issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the units, the county shall
inform the council of governments and the department in writing
that a certificate of occupancy has been issued.

(c) Concurrent with the review by the council of governments
prescribed by this section, the Department of Housing and
Community Development shall evaluate the agreement to
determine whether the city or cities are in substantial compliance
with this section. The department shall report the results of its
evaluation to the county and city or cities for inclusion in their
record of compliance with this section.

(d) If at the end of the five-year period identified in subdivision
(c) of Section 65583, any percentage of the regional share
allocation has not been constructed as provided pursuant to
subdivision (a), or, after consultation with the department, the
council of governments determines that the requirements of
begin delete paragraph (6) end delete begin insert paragraphs (5) and (7) end insert of subdivision (a) have not
been substantially complied with, the council of governments shall
add the unbuilt units to the county’s regional share allocation for
the planning period of the next periodic update of the housing
element.

begin insert

(e) This section shall remain in effect only until October 31,
2021, and as of that date is repealed.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
Constitution because of the unique circumstances that exist with
respect to the County of Orange that justify the enactment of this
act, as recognized in existing law permitting the transfer of housing
funds to cities by the County of Orange in Section 33334.2a of the
Health and Safety Code. The County of Orange has a policy,
consistent with state law, of encouraging annexation and
incorporation of already developed areas so as to minimize the
role of the county as a provider of municipal services. This policy
has resulted in a shrinking unincorporated area within the County
of Orange that is available and suitable for development of lower
income housing. In addition, the county’s housing funds have
decreased by 80 percent since the elimination of redevelopment
and large decreases in federal affordable housing funds. This act
is necessary to support the continuation of the County of Orange’s
function as a regional lender while also leveraging limited
resources in cities and the county to maximize the number of
low-income housing units built in the County of Orange.