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, commonly referred to as the Housing Element Law, prescribes requirements for a city’s or county’s preparation of, and compliance with, its housing element, and requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to review and determine whether the housing element substantially complies with the Housing Element Law, as specified.

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, among others, locally adopted ordinances that directly impact the cost and supply of residential development. Existing law also requires the analysis to demonstrate local efforts to remove governmental constraints that hinder the locality from meeting its share of the regional housing need.

This bill would make related findings and declarations.

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.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65583 of the Government Code proposed by SB 340 and AB 650, 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 provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.