Bill number: SB 744, Amended
Red text is for emphasis and shows the impact of the legislation
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 3, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Senators Dunn and Ducheny
(Principal coauthor: Senator Hollingsworth)
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Steinberg)
(Coauthors: Senators Burton and Florez)
FEBRUARY 21, 2003
An act to add Section 65585.4 to the Government Code, relating to
planning.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 744, as amended, Dunn. Planning: housing.
Existing 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. One part of
the housing element is an assessment of housing needs and inventory
of resources and constraints relevant to meeting these needs. The
assessment includes the locality's share of regional housing needs
which is determined by the appropriate council of governments,
subject to revision by the Department of Housing and Community
Development.
This bill would establish within require
the department a Housing Accountability Committee
consisting of 5 members, appointed as specified, to hear
appeals of city, county, or city and county decisions on applications
for the construction of housing developments that meet specified
affordability requirements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 65585.4 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
65585.4. (a) There shall be within the department a Housing
Accountability Committee consisting of five members. The director of
the department and the Director of the Governor's Office of Planning
and Research shall be ex officio members, except that either may
designate an employee of his or her respective department or office
to serve on the committee. The remaining three members shall be
appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.
One member shall be a member of a city council or board of
supervisors, and one other member shall have extensive experience in
the development of affordable housing. The appointed members shall
serve for terms of two years each, and the director shall designate
the chairperson. A member of the committee shall receive no
compensation for his or her services, but shall be reimbursed by the
department for all reasonable expenses actually or necessarily
incurred in the performance of his or her official duties. The
committee shall hear
65585.4. (a) The department shall hear appeals pursuant to
this section at least quarterly or more often as necessary.
The committee . The department shall conduct
the hearings in accordance with rules and regulations established by
the department. The department shall provide the space and
clerical and other assistance that the committee may require.
department.
(b) Any applicant who proposes to construct a housing development
that meets the criteria of subdivision (c) and whose application is
either denied or approved with conditions that in his or her judgment
render the provision of housing infeasible, may appeal the decision
of the city, county, or city and county to the Housing
Accountability Committee department . However,
conditions or mitigation measures impose pursuant to a local coastal
permit or an environmental review required by the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000) of the Public Resources Code) may not be appealed.
(c) An applicant may file an appeal with the committee
department if both of the following criteria are
met:
(1) The proposed housing development will meet any of the
following affordability requirements:
(A) Five percent of the total housing of the housing development
is available at affordable housing cost to extremely low income
households whose household income is less than or equal to 30 percent
of the area median income.
(B) Ten percent of the total housing of the development is
available at affordable housing cost to very low income households,
as defined in Section 50105 of the Health and Safety Code.
(C) Twenty percent of the total housing of the development is
available at affordable housing cost to lower income households, as
defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(D) Fifty percent of the total housing of the development is
available at affordable housing cost to moderate-income households,
consistent with Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) Either of the following criteria is met as of the date on
which the application to the city, county, or city and county is
deemed complete:
(A) The city, county, or city and county has adopted a housing
element that the department has determined pursuant to Section 65585
to be in substantial compliance with the requirements of this
article, and the proposed housing development, exclusive of any
density bonus granted pursuant to Section 65915, is consistent with
both the density allowed by the jurisdiction's zoning ordinance and
the general plan land use designation as specified in any element of
the general plan as of the date the application was deemed complete,
provided that consistency shall not be required with the zoning
ordinance or land use designation if the jurisdiction has not amended
the ordinance or the designation to conform to the adopted housing
element.
(B) The city, county, or city and county has not adopted a housing
element that the department has determined pursuant to Section 65585
to be in substantial compliance with the requirements of this
article, and the proposed housing development , is
located on a site that is designated for residential or commercial
uses in any element of the general plan as of the date the
application was deemed complete.
(d) An applicant may file an appeal with the committee
department within 20 days after the date of the
decision by the local agency to deny the application or approve the
application with conditions that render the provision of housing
infeasible. The committee department
shall notify the local agency of the filing of such
an appeal within 10 days, and the local agency shall,
within 10 days of the receipt of the notice, transmit a copy of its
decision and the reasons therefor to the committee
department . The appeal shall be heard within 30 days
after receipt of the request for an appeal by the applicant. The
appeal hearing may be conducted by the board, a subcommittee
of one or more members of the board, or a hearing officer appointed
by the chair of the board appeal hearing may be
conducted by the department or a hearing officer appointed by the
director of the department . A stenographic record of the
proceedings shall be kept. At its next full meeting, the
committee Within 30 days of the appeals hearing, the
department shall render a written decision, based upon a
majority vote, stating its findings of fact, its conclusions and the
reasons therefor. The hearing by the Housing Accountability
Committee department shall be limited to the
issue of whether, in the case of the denial of an application, the
decision of the city, county, or city and county was reasonable and
consistent with meeting local housing needs as determined pursuant to
Section 65584 and, in the case of an approval of an application with
conditions and requirements imposed, whether those conditions and
requirements render the provision of housing infeasible and whether
they are reasonable and consistent with meeting local housing needs
as determined pursuant to Section 65584. If the committee
department finds, in the case of a denial, that
the decision of the local agency is not reasonable or consistent with
meeting local housing needs, it shall vacate the decision and shall
direct the local agency to issue any necessary approval or permit to
the applicant. If the committee department
finds, in the case of an approval with conditions and
requirements imposed, that the decision of the board renders the
provision of housing infeasible and is not reasonable or consistent
with meeting local housing needs, it shall order the local agency to
modify or remove any such condition or requirement so as to make the
project no longer infeasible and to issue any necessary permit or
approval. Decisions or conditions and requirements imposed by a
local agency that are consistent with meeting local housing needs
shall not be vacated, modified, or removed by the committee
department notwithstanding that those decisions
or conditions and requirements have the effect of rendering the
provision of housing infeasible.
(e) In any appeal before the committee
department , the applicant shall have the initial burden of
proof to show that it has met the requirements of subdivision (c).
In a case of approval with conditions or requirements imposed, the
applicant shall also have the burden of proof to show that the
conditions and requirements render the provision of housing
infeasible. If the applicant meets the initial burden of proof, then
the city, county, or city and county shall have the burden of proof
to show that its action was reasonable in that denial of the project
or the failure to implement the conditions and requirements, as
proposed, would have a specific, adverse impact, as defined in
Section 65589.5, upon the public health or safety, the physical
environment, or on any real property that is listed in the California
Register of Historical Resources, that there is no feasible method
to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific adverse impact
without rendering the project infeasible, and that the mitigation or
avoidance of such impacts outweigh local housing needs.
(f) The Housing Accountability Committee
department or the applicant shall have the power to enforce
the orders of the committee department
at law or in equity in the superior court. The city, county, or city
and county shall carry out the order of the Housing
Accountability Committee department within 30
days of its entry and, upon failure to do so, the order of the
committee department shall for all
purposes, be deemed to be the action of the local agency, unless the
applicant consents to a different decision or order by the local
agency.
(g) The department may charge a fee to cover actual costs directly
related to the activities of the Housing Accountability
Committee department in administering this section
. The fee shall initially be paid by the applicant. If the
committee department orders approval of
the proposed development or modifies or removes any conditions or
requirements imposed upon the applicant, the city, county, or city
and county shall reimburse the applicant for the fee paid pursuant to
this subdivision.
(h) (1) For the purposes of this section, "housing development"
means a development project consisting of one or more residential
dwelling units or an emergency shelter facility.
(2) For the purposes of this section, an adopted housing element
that has been self-certified pursuant to Section 65585.1 shall be
deemed to have been approved by the department, unless a court finds
that the jurisdiction's housing element does not substantially comply
with this article.
(i) The remedies provided in this section are in addition to any
other remedy provided by law.
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