AB 3093

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law requires a city or county to provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to, among other entities, the Department of Housing and Community Development. The annual report is required to include, among other things, the city's or county's progress in meeting its share of regional housing needs, as specified. This bill would require a city or county to include in the report on the progress in meeting the city's or county's share of regional housing need the progress in meeting the need for the 6th and previous revisions of the housing element. (2) Existing law defines various terms for purposes of requirements applicable to the housing element. Under existing law, a housing element is required to include specified information, including an analysis of special housing needs, such as those of the elderly, and quantification of the locality's existing and projected housing needs for all income levels, including extremely low income households, calculated as provided. This bill would define all income levels or all household income levels, acutely low, extremely low, very low, lower, low, moderate, and above moderate income for purposes of requirements applicable to the housing element, and would make related changes. The bill would modify the specified information required to be included in the housing element, including by removing the calculation method for extremely low income households and by specifying acutely and extremely low income households as a special housing need for the 7th and subsequent revisions of the housing element. This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to publish, by December 31, 2026, advisory guidance, including, but not limited to, sample analyses and programs, pertaining to special housing needs for acutely low and extremely low income households and programs to assist in the development of adequate housing to meet the needs of acutely low income households, as specified. The bill would additionally require the Department of Housing and Community Development to publish advisory guidance to be used by each council of governments or delegate subregion, as applicable, to develop a proposed methodology for allocating the regional housing need for acutely low and extremely low income households. (3) Existing law requires the housing element to include an analysis of potential and actual governmental constraints upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of housing for all income levels, including certain policies and procedures that directly impact the cost and supply of residential development. This bill would require the housing element to include an analysis of historical preservation practices and policies and an assessment of how existing and proposed historic designations affect the locality's ability to meet its share of the housing need, as specified. (4) Existing law requires the housing element to include an inventory of land suitable and available for residential development, as specified. Existing law also requires the element to include a program that sets forth a schedule of actions during the planning period that the local government is undertaking or intends to undertake to implement the policies and achieve the goals and objectives of the housing element, as described, and requires the program to identify actions that will be taken to make sites available during the planning period to accommodate the city's or county's share of the regional housing need for each income level that could not be accommodated on sites on the inventory, as described. Existing law requires the program to assist in the development of adequate housing to meet the needs of extremely low, very low, low-, and moderate-income households. This bill would also require, for the 7th and subsequent revisions of the housing element, the program to assist in the development of adequate housing to meet the needs of acutely low income households. Existing law requires sites to be rezoned, among other things, if the inventory of sites does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the need for groups of all household income levels, as specified, in a manner that accommodates 100% of the need for housing for very low and low-income households, as described. This bill would instead require the inventory accommodate 100% of the need for lower income households. Existing law requires the housing element to identify adequate sites for housing, including rental housing, factory-built housing, mobilehomes, and emergency shelters, among other things. Existing law requires the housing element to contain an assessment of housing needs and an inventory of resources and constraints relevant to the meeting of these needs. This bill would, for a jurisdiction within the coastal zone that has not identified adequate sites to accommodate the locality's housing need for a designated income level, require completion of any necessary local coastal program amendments related to land use designations, changes in intensity of land use, zoning ordinances, or zoning district maps, as specified. (5) Existing law requires, for the 4th and subsequent revision of the housing element, the Department of Housing and Community Development to determine the existing and projected need for housing for each region in a specified manner. Existing law provides that household income levels are to be determined by the department pursuant to specified law relating to very low, low-, moderate-, and above moderate-income households. This bill would, for purposes of the above-described determination with respect to the 7th and subsequent revisions of the housing element, include acutely low and extremely low incomes, and direct the determination to be made in accordance with the definitions for those income levels as set forth in the bill. Existing law also requires, for the 4th and subsequent revision of the housing element, the department to meet and consult with the council of governments regarding the assumptions and methodologies to be used by the department in determining the region's housing needs and requires the council of governments to provide data assumptions from the council's projections, including, if available, specified data for the region. This bill would require the council to provide data regarding the housing needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness, as specified. (6) Existing law requires, at least 2 years before a scheduled revision, each council of governments, or delegate subregion as applicable, to develop a proposed methodology for distributing the existing and projected regional housing need to cities, counties, and cities and counties within the region or subregion, as specified. Existing law requires the final allocation plan to further specified objectives, including increasing the housing supply and the mix of housing types, tenure, and affordability in all cities and counties within the region in an equitable manner, which results in each jurisdiction receiving an allocation of units for low- and very low income households. Existing law requires the final allocation plan to ensure that the total regional housing need is maintained and that each jurisdiction in the region receives an allocation of units for low- and very low income households, consistent with the development pattern included in the sustainable communities strategy. This bill would require the final regional plan, as an objective, allocate units for extremely low- and acutely low income households in a manner that is roughly proportional to the regional housing need for very low income households, as specified. The bill would require, for the 7th and subsequent revisions of the housing element, the allocation to each region to also include an allocation of units for acutely low and extremely low income households, consistent with the development pattern included in the sustainable communities strategy. (7) Existing law, during a specified timeline, requires the entity that assigned the county's share of regional housing needs to reduce the share of the regional housing needs of a county if certain conditions are met. Existing law, however, reduces the county's share of low-income and very low income housing only in proportion to the amount by which the county's share of moderate- and above moderate-income housing is reduced. This bill would also include, for the 7th and subsequent revisions of the housing element, extremely low and acutely low income housing in this proportional reduction. (8) The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (9) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65400 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2580 and AB 2667 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65583 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2023 and AB 2667 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65583.2 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2023 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2023 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65584.01 of the Government Code proposed by SB 7 to be operative only if this bill and SB 7 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65584.04 of the Government Code proposed by SB 7 to be operative only if this bill and SB 7 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (10) By imposing additional requirements on local governments with regard to their housing element, this 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.