Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. The law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to determine whether the housing element is in substantial compliance with specified provisions of that law. Existing law requires HCD to designate jurisdictions as prohousing pursuant to emergency regulations adopted by HCD, as prescribed, and to report those designations to the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. Existing law specifies that these emergency regulations will remain in effect until HCD promulgates permanent prohousing regulations.

This bill would instead require HCD to designate jurisdictions as prohousing pursuant to permanent regulations adopted by HCD to implement these provisions, as specified. Beginning with the 7th housing element cycle, upon request by a small rural jurisdiction, to the extent feasible, the bill would require HCD to evaluate materials from the small rural jurisdiction’s housing element submission when determining whether the jurisdiction qualifies as prohousing, but only with respect to those small rural jurisdictions that have a compliant housing element. The bill would also prohibit HCD from requiring small rural jurisdictions to renew their prohousing designation for at least 4 years. The bill would define “small rural jurisdiction” for these purposes to mean either a city with a population of fewer than 25,000 persons or a county with a population of fewer than 200,000 persons.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65589.9 of the Government Code proposed by SB 262 to be operative only if this bill and SB 262 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.