BILL NUMBER: SB 968 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Torlakson
FEBRUARY 22, 2005
An act to amend Section 65302 of the Government Code, relating to
general plans.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 968, as introduced, Torlakson. Land use planning: general
plans.
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 land use
element that sets forth a statement of the standards of population
density and building intensity recommended for districts and other
territory covered by the plan. The act also requires that the maximum
allowable residential density be consistent with the applicable
zoning ordinance and the adopted general plan.
This bill would require the land use element to identify
sufficient land for housing at appropriate densities to accommodate
the jurisdiction's housing needs through the end of the general plan'
s planning period. By increasing the duties of local public
officials, the 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, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
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. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:(1) Few issues facing California are as important as the
state's ability to meet its future housing needs. The lack of an
adequate supply of housing to support population growth and economic
expansion is a critical problem that, if not resolved, threatens the
economic prosperity and competitiveness of California.
(2) California's population growth demands that California must
plan for its housing needs in a more comprehensive and long-term
fashion. Not all communities are the same. California's local
governments face different economic, social, political, environmental
and historical conditions and, as a result, measures enacted by the
state to address land use and housing issues should encourage local
solutions that reflect local needs and circumstances and that allow
local governments to plan for their share of the economic and housing
growth of their region. Successful solutions will require a
cooperative and coordinated problem-solving approach involving local,
regional, and state government, and the identification of fiscal
solutions for cities and counties to support the costs of public
services and infrastructure necessary to maintain a quality of life
in the community.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Local land use plans should include a long-range,
comprehensive perspective on the communities' housing needs, and
encourage infill development. Sufficient funding must be indentified
to enable local governments to complete necessary planning and
environmental reviews.
(2) Local land use plans should provide mechanisms and solutions
to achieve the highest level of certainty regarding housing
development within a community.
(3) Once designated in the general plan for residential
development, the timeframe for obtaining site approvals should be
streamlined.
SEC. 2. It is therefore the intent of the Legislature that
California's land use planning framework comprehensively addresses
these issues on a long-term basis.
SEC. 3. Section 65302 of the Government Code is amended to read:
65302. The general plan shall consist of a statement of
development policies and shall include a diagram or diagrams and text
setting forth objectives, principles, standards, and plan proposals.
The plan shall include the following elements:(a) A land use element
that designates the proposed general distribution and general
location and extent of the uses of the land for housing, business,
industry, open space, including agriculture, natural resources,
recreation, and enjoyment of scenic beauty, education, public
buildings and grounds, solid and liquid waste disposal facilities,
and other categories of public and private uses of land. The land use
element shall include a statement of the standards of population
density and building intensity recommended for the various districts
and other territory covered by the plan. The land use element
shall identify sufficient land for housing at appropriate densities
to accommodate the jurisdiction's housing needs through the end of
the general plan's planning period. The land use element shall
identify areas covered by the plan which are subject to flooding and
shall be reviewed annually with respect to those areas. The land use
element shall also do both of the following:
(1) Designate in a land use category that provides for timber
production those parcels of real property zoned for timberland
production pursuant to the California Timberland Productivity Act of
1982, Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 51100) of Part 1 of
Division 1 of Title 5.
(2) Consider the impact of new growth on military readiness
activities carried out on military bases, installations, and
operating and training areas, when proposing zoning ordinances or
designating land uses covered by the general plan for land, or other
territory adjacent to military facilities, or underlying designated
military aviation routes and airspace.
(A) In determining the impact of new growth on military readiness
activities, information provided by military facilities shall be
considered. Cities and counties shall address military impacts based
on information from the military and other sources.
(B) The following definitions govern this paragraph:
(i) "Military readiness activities" mean all of the following:
(I) Training, support, and operations that prepare the men and
women of the military for combat.
(II) Operation, maintenance, and security of any military
installation.
(III) Testing of military equipment, vehicles, weapons, and
sensors for proper operation or suitability for combat use.
(ii) "Military installation" means a base, camp, post, station,
yard, center, homeport facility for any ship, or other activity under
the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Defense as
defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (e) of Section 2687 of Title
10 of the United States Code.
(b) A circulation element consisting of the general location and
extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation
routes, terminals, any military airports and ports, and other local
public utilities and facilities, all correlated with the land use
element of the plan.
(c) A housing element as provided in Article 10.6 (commencing with
Section 65580).
(d) A conservation element for the conservation, development, and
utilization of natural resources including water and its hydraulic
force, forests, soils, rivers and other waters, harbors, fisheries,
wildlife, minerals, and other natural resources. The conservation
element shall consider the effect of development within the
jurisdiction, as described in the land use element, on natural
resources located on public lands, including military installations.
That portion of the conservation element including waters shall be
developed in coordination with any countywide water agency and with
all district and city agencies that have developed, served,
controlled or conserved water for any purpose for the county or city
for which the plan is prepared. Coordination shall include the
discussion and evaluation of any water supply and demand information
described in Section 65352.5, if that information has been submitted
by the water agency to the city or county. The conservation element
may also cover the following:
(1) The reclamation of land and waters.
(2) Prevention and control of the pollution of streams and other
waters.
(3) Regulation of the use of land in stream channels and other
areas required for the accomplishment of the conservation plan.
(4) Prevention, control, and correction of the erosion of soils,
beaches, and shores.
(5) Protection of watersheds.
(6) The location, quantity and quality of the rock, sand and
gravel resources.
(7) Flood control.
The conservation element shall be prepared and adopted no later
than December 31, 1973.
(e) An open-space element as provided in Article 10.5 (commencing
with Section 65560).
(f) A noise element which shall identify and appraise noise
problems in the community. The noise element shall recognize the
guidelines established by the Office of Noise Control in the State
Department of Health Services and shall analyze and quantify, to the
extent practicable, as determined by the legislative body, current
and projected noise levels for all of the following sources:
(1) Highways and freeways.
(2) Primary arterials and major local streets.
(3) Passenger and freight on-line railroad operations and ground
rapid transit systems.
(4) Commercial, general aviation, heliport, helistop, and military
airport operations, aircraft overflights, jet engine test stands,
and all other ground facilities and maintenance functions related to
airport operation.
(5) Local industrial plants, including, but not limited to,
railroad classification yards.
(6) Other ground stationary noise sources, including, but not
limited to, military installations, identified by local agencies as
contributing to the community noise environment.
Noise contours shall be shown for all of these sources and stated
in terms of community noise equivalent level (CNEL) or day-night
average level (Ldn). The noise contours shall be prepared on the
basis of noise monitoring or following generally accepted noise
modeling techniques for the various sources identified in paragraphs
(1) to (6), inclusive.
The noise contours shall be used as a guide for establishing a
pattern of land uses in the land use element that minimizes the
exposure of community residents to excessive noise.
The noise element shall include implementation measures and
possible solutions that address existing and foreseeable noise
problems, if any. The adopted noise element shall serve as a
guideline for compliance with the state's noise insulation standards.
(g) A safety element for the protection of the community from any
unreasonable risks associated with the effects of seismically induced
surface rupture, ground shaking, ground failure, tsunami, seiche,
and dam failure; slope instability leading to mudslides and
landslides; subsidence, liquefaction and other seismic hazards
identified pursuant to Chapter 7.8 (commencing with Section 2690) of
the Public Resources Code, and other geologic hazards known to the
legislative body; flooding; and wild land and urban fires. The safety
element shall include mapping of known seismic and other geologic
hazards. It shall also address evacuation routes, military
installations, peakload water supply requirements, and minimum road
widths and clearances around structures, as those items relate to
identified fire and geologic hazards.
(1) Prior to the periodic review of its general plan and prior to
preparing or revising its safety element, each city and county shall
consult the Division of Mines and Geology of the Department of
Conservation and the Office of Emergency Services for the purpose of
including information known by and available to the department and
the office required by this subdivision.
(2) To the extent that a county's safety element is sufficiently
detailed and contains appropriate policies and programs for adoption
by a city, a city may adopt that portion of the county's safety
element that pertains to the city's planning area in satisfaction of
the requirement imposed by this subdivision.
SEC. 4.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act
contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies
and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part
7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.