(1) Under the Planning and Zoning Law, the legislative body of a city or county may adopt ordinances that, among other things, regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land, as provided. The Subdivision Map Act vests the authority to regulate and control the design and improvement of subdivisions in the legislative body of a local agency and sets forth procedures governing the local agency’s processing, approval, conditional approval or disapproval, and filing of tentative, final, and parcel maps.

Existing law authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a housing development project on a subdivided lot, as specified, that meets specified requirements, and requires a local agency to ministerially consider that application, as specified. Existing law prohibits a local agency from imposing on a housing development on a lot subdivided as specified an objective zoning standard, objective subdivision standard, or objective design standard that, among other things, physically precludes the development of a project built to specified densities. However, with respect to certain lots, existing law allows a local agency to impose a height limit of no less than the height allowed pursuant to the existing zoning designation applicable to the lot.

This bill would require the height limits under these provisions to apply exclusively to the physical height of a building rather than the number of floors. The bill would additionally prohibit a local agency from imposing specified front or internal setbacks or imposing a standard that has the effect of physically precluding the construction of up to the number of units allowed for by minimum lot sizes, as provided. The bill would require that the above-described provisions relating to ministerial approval of housing developments on certain subdivided lots be interpreted liberally in favor of producing the maximum number of total housing units.

(2) Existing law requires a local agency to ministerially consider, without discretionary review or a hearing, a parcel map or a tentative and final map for a housing development project that meets specified requirements. Among these requirements, existing law requires that the lot be substantially surrounded by qualified urban uses, as defined, and not exceed specified size limits that vary based on the zoning of the lot and whether it is vacant. Existing law also requires that newly created parcels under these provisions be no smaller than 600 square feet, or in the case of parcels zoned for single-family use, 1,200 square feet, except as specified, and that the average total area of floorspace for specified units not exceed 1,7500 net habitable square feet, defined to include stair space. Existing law authorizes a local agency to adopt an ordinance to implement these provisions, as provided.

This bill would, instead of requiring that specified lots are substantially surrounded by qualified urban uses, require those lots meet one of several other requirements under specified law. The bill would allow a newly created parcel on a plot zoned for multifamily housing to be as small as 480 square feet or 960 square feet, if specified conditions are met. The bill would provide that, where lot size averaging is used to create smaller parcels, no new parcel is more than 50% of the size of the original parcel, except as specified. The bill would also revise the definition of “net habitable square feet” for the above-described purposes to exclude stairs and enclosed bicycle parking.

This bill would also require a local agency that adopts an ordinance to implement the above-described provisions to submit a copy to the Department of Housing and Community Development, as provided. The bill would permit the department to submit written findings to the local agency as to whether the ordinance is compliant, as specified. The bill would provide that an ordinance is null and void if a local agency fails to submit a copy to the department or if a local agency does not amend a noncompliant ordinance in response to the department’s findings, as specified.

(3) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and each city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other specified mandatory elements, a housing element. That law requires the planning agency of a city or county to provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to, among other entities, the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the Department of Housing and Community Development that contains specified information, including the number of units of housing demolished and new units of housing that have been issued a completed entitlement, a building permit, or a certificate of occupancy, thus far in the housing element cycle, and the income category, by area median income category, that each unit of housing satisfies.

This bill would require a local agency to additionally include in its annual report specified information about housing development projects approved pursuant to the above-described provisions relating to subdivisions and ministerial approval.