Item 8 - Workshop Regarding New State Housing LawsDATE:
TO:
FROM:
AGENDA R EPORT CityofPoway
February 4, 2020
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
Alan Fenstermacher, City Attorney
CITY COUNCIL
CONTACT: Alan Fenstermacher, City Attorney
(858)668 -4508 or afenstermacher@poway.org
SUBJECT: Workshop Regarding New State Housing Laws
Summary:
The City Attorney's office will be providing a presentation summarizing recently enacted housing
legislation, focusing on the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB 330).
Recommended Action:
This presentation is for informational purposes only.
Discussion:
Following up on the fifteen bills enacted in late 2017 (effective January 1, 2018) aimed at promoting
the development of housing, largely through limiting local discretion to disapprove housing projects,
the state legislature enacted a number of additional bills that further limit the City's ability to (i)
disapprove or reduce the density of "housing development projects" (defined as projects proposing
residential or mixed use with 2/3 of the proposed square footage being residential), or (ii) rezone
property that currently permits residential uses. A number of the new provisions also require
expedited review of housing development projects, including strict time limits which will affect
Development Services staff. The City Attorney will make a brief presentation to the City Council
recapping selected measures enacted back in 2017, as well as the new bills.
The most relevant bill enacted last year was Senate Bill ("SB") 330, effective January 1, 2020 -known
as the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 -and requires the following (among other things):
•The City may not reduce the density or otherwise take action that would reduce the
number of units allowed on any property that currently permits residential uses (not just
sites identified in the City's Housing element), unless the number of residential units on
another piece of property in the City is increased accordingly (known as "no net loss"
requirements).
•The City may not approve a housing development project that demolishes more existing
housing than it develops.
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•All City regulations that exist at the time a "preliminary application" is submitted for a
housing development project are frozen (i.e., subsequent amendments do not apply to
the project). No completeness determination is required to "vest" these existing
regulations.
o The statutorily mandated list of information required for a preliminary application
must be posted on the City's website, which staff has done.
•A housing development project can only be denied (or reduced in density) if it is (i)
inconsistent with an "objective" General Plan or other zoning standard, or (ii) would result
in a specific adverse health and safety impact that cannot be mitigated.
o The term "objective" means "involving no personal or subjective judgment by a
public official and being uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and
uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the development
applicant or proponent and the public official."
o A determination that a project is not consistent with a General Plan or other zoning
standard must be made, in writing, within 30 days of the application being deemed
complete.
•Maximum of five public hearings for housing development projects that comply with
General Plan and zoning.
•For a housing development project, the City must make a number of decisions within 30
days of application submittal, including an exhaustive list of all information needed to
deem the application complete.
Other bills enacted in 2019 (and effective this year) have resulted in following:
•Increased ability for affordable housing projects to take advantage of density bonus law,
with an emphasis on affordable projects near major transit stops.
•Further restrictions on accessory dwelling units (with which the City already complied).
Environmental Review:
This item is not subject to CEQA review.
Fiscal Impact:
None.
Public Notification:
None.
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Attachments:
None.
Reviewed/ Approved By:
Wendy aserman
Assistant City Manager
Reviewed By:
Alan Fenstermacher
City Attorney
Approved By:
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cWs�
City Manager
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