BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 333
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  April 29, 2009

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
                             Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
                    AB 333 (Fuentes) - As Amended:  April 23, 2009
           
          SUBJECT  :  Land use: subdivision maps: expiration dates.

           SUMMARY  :  Extends the expiration date by 24 months for specified  
          subdivision maps that will expire before January 1, 2012, and  
          for any legislative, administrative or other approval by a state  
          agency relating to a development project in the subdivision.   
          Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Extends the expiration date by 24 months for any tentative  
            map, vesting tentative map, or parcel map for which a  
            tentative map or tentative vesting map has been approved, and  
            does not expire before January 1, 2012.

          2)Extends the expiration date by 24 months for any legislative,  
            administrative or other approval by a state agency relating to  
            a development project in a subdivision affected by this bill.

          3)Provides that determination for extension to subdivisions maps  
            take into account previous discretionary extensions, but not  
            include extensions because of litigation and moratoria.

          4)Reduces the time limits that a city, county, or city and  
            county cannot add additional requirements on a building permit  
            after a final map is recorded, from five years to three years  
            after the recordation, if the map is extended under using the  
            provisions of this measure. 

          5)Specifies that maps extended under the provisions of this  
            measure are not prohibited from having a city, county, or city  
            and county impose a condition that requires the payment of a  
            fee upon the issuance of a building permit or after the  
            issuance, including fees related to the Mitigation Fee Act. 

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes, pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act (Map Act), a  
            statewide regulatory framework for controlling the subdividing  
            of land, which generally requires a subdivider to submit, and  
            have approved by the city, county, or city and county in which  








                                                                  AB 333
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            the land is situated, a tentative map.

          2)Provides for the expiration of tentative maps after specified  
            periods of time.

          3)Authorizes cities and counties to grant discretionary map  
            extensions for up to six years.  

          4)Extends by 24 months the expiration date of any tentative map  
            or parcel map for which a tentative map has been approved that  
            had not expired on September 13, 1993.

          5)Extends by 12 months the expiration date of any tentative map  
            or parcel map for which a tentative map has been approved that  
            had not expired on May 14, 1996.

          6)Extends by 12 months the expiration date of any tentative map  
            or parcel map for which a tentative map has been approved that  
            had not expired on January 1, 2011.

          7)Prohibits, during the five year period following the  
            recordation of the final or parcel map for the subdivision of  
            single-or multiply family residential units, a city, county,  
            or city and county, from requiring as a condition to issuance  
            of any building permit or equivalent permit, conformance with  
            or the performance of any conditions that the city or county  
            could have lawfully imposed as a condition to the previously  
            approved tentative or parcel map. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :   

          1)"This measure is very critical to the economic recovery of  
            California.  The housing industry is mired in a deep  
            recessionary trough.  Because of the difficulty of securing  
            financing, many projects for which maps have already been  
            approved will soon expire in the next few years, thereby,  
            requiring developers to go through the entitlement process  
            again.  The housing industry wants to be in a position to take  
            full advantage of any economic resurgence.  This bill would  
            allow a one-time, 24-month extension of existing maps and not  
            future subdivision maps."

          2)The above paragraph is not a statement from the author and  








                                                                  AB 333
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            supporters of this bill.  It is taken from the Senate Floor  
            Analysis of SB 428 (Thompson), Chapter 407, Statutes of 1993.   
            At that time, the state was mired in economic misery, the  
            responses to which included, among other unpleasantness, the  
            creation of the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF).   
            SB 428, another of the responses to that crisis, granted a  
            one-time 24-month extension for tentative and parcel maps that  
            had not expired as of the enacting legislation's chaptering  
            date of September 13, 1993.  A further response to the  
            slowdown came with AB 771 (Aguiar), Chapter 46, Statutes of  
            1996, which created a 12-month extension for maps that had not  
            expired as of May 14, 1996.  Even though any map that might  
            have been affected by SB 428 or AB 771 passed into history  
            years ago, the bills' provisions have remained in the Map Act.  
             Then, just last year, the Legislature passed SB 1185  
            (Lowenthal), Chapter 1284, Statutes of 2008, which granted an  
            additional one-time 12-month extension for tentative and  
            parcel maps that had not expired as of the enacting  
            legislation's chaptering date of July 15, 2008.  In addition,  
            SB 1185 let local officials grant an additional year, at their  
            discretion.

          3)Even one year later, the housing industry continues to be  
            severely depressed.  Once again real estate developers face  
            the prospect of having their tentative and parcel maps expire  
            before they can obtain financing or have their projects make  
            any sort of economic sense to build.  Given the continuing  
            economic crisis that California and the nation are facing the  
            author believes that it is crucial that the Legislature  
            provide yet another extension in order to sustain the life of  
            a map, thereby allowing those projects to be kept alive during  
            these difficult times.  According to the California Building  
            Industry Association, one of the co-sponsors of this bill,  
            there are an estimated 1800 tentative tract maps representing  
            approximately 250,000 housing units that would be affected by  
            the provisions of AB 333.  This measure would allow all of  
            these maps to extend their life by 24 months.  

           4)AUTHOR'S AMENDMENT  :  Adding urgency clause.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          CA Building Industry Association [CO-SPONSOR]








                                                                  AB 333
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          CA Major Builders Council [CO-SPONSOR]
          American Council of Engineering Companies of CA
          American Design Coatings, Inc.
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
          American Subcontractors Association CA, Inc. (as amended)
          Art D's Concrete Co., Inc.
          Associated General Contractors of CA
          Bay Area Construction Framers, Inc.
          Bayside Concrete Construction Company
          Blackhawk Concrete Company, Inc.
          Browning Contractors, Inc.
          CA Association of REALTORS 
          CA Building Industry Association
          CA Business Properties Association
          CA Chamber of Commerce
          CA Major Building Industry Association
          CA Manufacturers & Technology Association 
          CA Professional Association of Specialty Contractors
          Can -Do Electric
          Coachella Valley Engineers
          Custom the Works
          Custom Tile Works
          DPW, Inc.
          Emerald Roofing, Inc.
          Fredrickson, Mazeika & Grant, LLP. 
          H&D Electric Inc.
          JDM Construction Co., Inc.
          Karsyn Construction
          Lancaster Burns Construction, Inc. 
          Magik Glass and Door
          Pacific Painting, Inc.
          Palm Desert Door & Hardware, Inc.
          Palm Springs Welding, Inc. 
          Porter Law Group
          Prot?g? Commercial Builders, Inc.
          RCR Plumbing & Mechanical, Inc.
          Seawright Custom Precast, Inc.
          Signal Heating & Air Conditioning Inc.
          Swanillon, Inc.
          Taylor Trim & Supply, Inc.
          Team Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.
          The Land Stewards 


           Support (continued)








                                                                 AB 333
                                                                  Page  5

           
          Tri-Co Floors
          Vic Ross's Masonry, Inc.
          Western Concrete Pumping, Inc.

           Opposition 
           
          City of Palm Desert
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)  
          319-3958