The Planning and Zoning Law requires each city, county, or city and county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for its physical development, and the development of certain lands outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. That law allows a development proponent to submit an application for a development that is subject to a specified streamlined, ministerial approval process not subject to a conditional use permit, if the development satisfies certain objective planning standards.

Existing law, the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act of 2023, until January 1, 2036, requires that a housing development project be a use by right, as defined, and does not require a conditional use permit, planned unit development permit, or other discretionary local government review, notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of a local government’s general plan, specific plan, zoning ordinance, or regulation, upon the request of an applicant who submits an application for streamlined approval, if, among other criteria, the development is located on land owned on or before January 1, 2024, by an independent institution of higher education or a religious institution, as specified.

This bill would enact the Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly on Faith-Based Lands Act of 2026. The bill would require, notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of a local government’s general plan, specific plan, zoning ordinance, or regulation, that a residential care facility development project located on land owned by a religious institution be an allowable use at certain densities, if the development project satisfies all of the prescribed criteria, as provided. The bill would define “residential care facility” to mean a facility licensed under a specified provision of law that provides 24-hour nonmedical care for persons who are elderly, adults, or children, including, but not limited to, a residential care facility for the elderly, as defined.

This bill would specify that a development for a residential care facility that is eligible for approval as an allowable use under the bill is also eligible for a density bonus, incentives, or concessions, or waivers or reductions of development and parking standards, except as specified. The bill would require a development subject to these provisions to provide off-street parking of up to one space per unit, unless a state law or local ordinance provides for a lower standard of parking, in which case the law or ordinance applies. The bill would prohibit a local government from imposing any parking requirement on a development subject to these provisions if the development is located within one-half mile walking distance of public transit, either a high-quality transit corridor or a major transit stop, as those terms are defined, or it is within one block of a car share vehicle.

This bill would repeal its provisions as of January 1, 2037.

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.