AB 2553

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law authorizes a governing body of a political subdivision, as those terms are defined, to declare a shelter crisis if the governing body makes a specified finding. Upon declaration of a shelter crisis, existing law, among other things, suspends certain state and local laws, regulations, and ordinances, including those prescribing standards of housing, health, or safety, to the extent that strict compliance would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the shelter crisis and allows a city, county, or city and county, in lieu of compliance, to adopt by ordinance reasonable local standards and procedures for the design, site development, and operation of homeless shelters and the structures and facilities therein. Existing law, upon a declaration of a shelter crisis by specified local jurisdictions, specifies additional provisions applicable to a shelter crisis declared by one of those jurisdictions. Existing law, among other things, exempts from the California Environmental Quality Act specified actions by a state agency or a city, county, or city and county relating to land owned by a local government to be used for, or to provide financial assistance to, a homeless shelter constructed pursuant to these provisions, and provides that homeless shelters constructed or allowed pursuant to these shelter crisis declarations are not subject to specified laws, including the Special Occupancy Parks Act. Existing law also defines a "homeless shelter" as a facility with overnight sleeping accommodations, the primary purpose of which is to provide temporary shelter for the homeless that is not in existence after the declared shelter crisis. Existing law requires a city, county, or city and county that declares a shelter crisis pursuant to these provisions to develop a plan to address the shelter crisis on or before July 1, 2019, or July 1, 2020, as applicable, and to annually report particular information, as indicated, to specified committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2019, or on or before January 1 of the year following the declaration of the shelter crisis, as applicable, and annually thereafter until January 1, 2023. Existing law repeals these additional provisions as of January 1, 2023. This bill would apply those additional provisions to a shelter crisis declared by any county or city. By expanding the scope of these provisions to apply within any county or city that has declared a shelter crisis, the bill would expand the above-described exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act. This bill would require jurisdictions that adopt ordinances under the act, to, at a minimum, meet the standards provided in the 2019 California Residential Code Appendix X, the 2019 California Building Code Appendix O, and any future standards adopted by the Department of Housing and Community Development related to emergency housing or emergency housing facilities unless that jurisdiction provides, when filing their ordinance with the Department of Housing and Community Development, an explanation of why the standards cannot be met and how the standards in the ordinance protect health and safety. The bill requires jurisdictions to provide the same information in their annual report to the Legislature. The bill would additionally exempt homeless shelters that are constructed or allowed pursuant to the shelter crisis declarations from the Recreational Vehicle Park Occupancy Law, which governs occupancy and tenancy of recreational vehicle parks. The bill would also revise the definition of a "homeless shelter" to include a parking lot owned or leased by a city, county, or city and county specifically identified as one allowed for safe parking by homeless and unstably housed individuals. The bill would require the county or city to develop the above-described shelter plan on or before July 1, 2021, or on or before July 1 of the year following the declaration of the shelter crisis, as specified, and to include a plan to transition residents from homeless shelters to permanent housing. The bill would require the above-described annual report, for reports due by January 1, 2022, and thereafter, to include the bed capacity of new homeless shelters built, as specified. The bill would require a declaration of a shelter crisis by a city, county, or city and county and those additional provisions that are or may be utilized by a city, county, or city and county to apply to any land owned or leased by an agency or entity created pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, if the city, county, or city and county that declared a shelter crisis is one of the parties to the agreement creating the entity or agency and the real property owned or leased by the agency or entity is located within the jurisdiction of the city, county, or city and county that declared the shelter crisis. The bill would extend the repeal date of these provisions to January 1, 2026. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.