HomeMy WebLinkAboutLegislative Review - SB744 (Dunn & Ducheny) - HousingREQUEST:
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CITY OF PALM DESERT
COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
REQUEST FOR CONSIDERATION OF LEGISLATIVE REVIEW
COMMITTEE ACTION ON SB 744 (DUNN and DUCHENY) AT ITS
MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2004.
DATE: May 13, 2004
CONTENTS: SB 744 LANGUAGE
Recommendation:
By Minute Motion, concur with the action taken by the Legislative Review Committee at its
meeting of April 27, 2004, and direct staff to prepare a letter of opposition for the Mayor's
signature with regard to SB 744 (Dunn and Ducheny) relative to Housing.
Executive Summary:
Passage of SB 744 would require the Department of Housing and Community Development
to hear appeals of local decisions on applications for construction for housing development.
Background:
Current law requires that each city, county, or city and county prepare and adopt a General
Plan for its jurisdiction that contains certain mandatory elements, including a housing
element. One part of the housing element is an assessment of housing needs, an inventory
of resources, and constraints relative to meeting these needs. The assessment includes the
locality's share of regional housing needs, which is determined by the appropriate council of
governments subject to revision by the Department of Housing and Community
Development. SB 744 would require the Department of Housing and Community
Development to hear appeals of any city, county, or city and county decisions on
applications for the construction of housing developments that meet specified affordability
requirements.
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SB 744 - Housing
May 13, 2004
Page 2
As the City of Palm Desert strives to meet its housing needs and provide a community that
individuals and families relocating to the Coachella Valley find desirable, every effort is
made in the planning stages to meet the needs and inventory resources available. Passage
of SB 744 would create a State mandate that would prohibit the City of Palm Desert from
retaining local control over the manner in which it develops and conducts its day-to-day
business and would hand over control of this issue to a State agency. Therefore, the
Legislative Review Committee recommends that the City Council oppose SB 744 and direct
staff to prepare a letter stating that position to appropriate legislators for the Mayor's
signature.
PATRICIA SCULLY
SENIOR MANAGEMENT ANAL T
SHEILA R. GILLIGA
ASSISTANT CITY M 4AGER
PAUL GIBSON
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE/
CITY TREASURER
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SB 744 Senate Bill - AMENDED Page 1 of 4
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BILL NUMBER: SB 744 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 3, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Senators Dunn and Ducheny
(Principal coauthor: Senator Hollingsworth)'
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Steinberg)
(Coauthors: Senators Burton and Florez)
FEBRUARY 21, 2003
An act to add Section 65585.4 to the Government Code, relating to
planning.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 744, as amended, Dunn.. Planning: housing.
Existing law requires each city, county, or city and county to
prepare and adopt ageneral plan for its jurisdiction that contains
certain mandatory elements, including a housing element. One part of
the housing element is an assessment of housing needs and inventory
of resources and constraints relevant to meeting these needs. The
assessment includes the locality's share of regional housing needs
which is determined by the appropriate council of governments,
subject to revision by the Department of Housing and Community
Development.
This bill would ctablich within require
the department a H using Ac.R.eaa i' ; ty Comm ttom.
c ncicting f 5 m mb rs, app int d ac sp cifi d, to hear
appeals of city, county, or city and county decisions on applications
for the construction of housing developments that meet specified
affordability requirements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State -mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 65585.4 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
65585.4. (a) Th r shall b within th ,d partm nt a H using
Acc untability C mmitt c nricting f fiv m mb rs_ Th diroct r ^f
th d partm nt and th Dir ct r f th C v rn is Offic f Planning
and Rocoarch shall bo ax officio mombors, oxcopt that oithor may
d cignate er hr6r— er Lce
t s ry n th c mmitt Th r maining thr m mb re chall b
app int d by th C v rn r with th advic and c nc nt f th S nat .
n m mb r shall b a m mb r f a city c uncil r b and of
sup rvic rs, and n oth r m mb r shall hav xt nsiv xp ri nc in
th d v 1 pm nt f aff rdabl h using. Th app int d m mborc shall
c mp nsati n f r his r h r s rvics, but shall b roimburr d by tho
d partm nt for all r asenabl xp ns s actually r n c ssarily
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SB 744 Senate Bill - AMENDED
Page 2 of 4
incurre in the porformanco of his ow ho'r efficial uties. Tho
c mmittoe 1�aLLe�r
65585.4. (a) The department shall hear appeals pursuant to
this section
Th c mmitt . The department shall conduct
the hearings in accordance with rules and regulations established by
the d partment Th d partsient shall pr vide the spac and
department.
(b) Any applicant who proposes to construct a housing development
that meets the criteria of subdivision (c) and whose application is
either denied or approved with conditions that in his or her judgment
render the provision of housing infeasible, may appeal the decision
of the city, county, or city and county to the H using
Acc untability C mmitt department . However,
conditions or mitigation measures impose pursuant to a local coastal
permit or an environmental review required by the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000) of the Public Resources Code) may not be appealed.
(c) An applicant may file an appeal with the c mmitt
department if both of the following criteria are
met:
(1) The proposed housing development will meet any of the
following affordability requirements:
(A) Five percent of the total housing of the housing development
is available at affordable housing cost to extremely low income
households whose household income is less than or equal to 30 percent
of the area median income.
(B) Ten percent of the total housing of the development is
available at affordable housing cost to very low income households,
as defined in Section 50105 of the Health and Safety Code.
(C) Twenty percent of the total housing of the development is
available at affordable housing cost to lower income households, as
defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(D) Fifty percent of the total housing of the development is
available at affordable housing cost to moderate -income households,
consistent with Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) Either of the following criteria is met as of the date on
which the application to the city, county, or city and county is
deemed complete:
(A) The city, county, or city and county has adopted a housing
element that the department has determined pursuant to Section 65585
to be in substantial compliance with the requirements of this
article, and the proposed housing development, exclusive of any
density bonus granted pursuant to Section 65915, is consistent with
both the density allowed by the jurisdiction's zoning ordinance and
the general plan land use designation as specified in any element of
the general plan as of the date the application was deemed complete,
provided that consistency shall not be required with the zoning
ordinance or land use designation if the jurisdiction has not amended
the ordinance or the designation to conform to the adopted housing
element.
(B) The city, county, or city and county has not adopted a housing
element that the department has determined pursuant to Section 65585
to be in substantial compliance with the requirements of this
article, and the proposed housing development —,-_ is
located on a site that is designated for residential or commercial
uses in any element of the general plan as of the date the
application was deemed complete.
(d) An applicant may file an appeal with the committoo
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SB 744 Senate Bill - AMENDED Page 3 of 4
department within 20 days after the date of the
decision by the local agency to deny the application or approve the
application with conditions that render the provision of housing
infeasible. The committoo department
shall notify the local agency of the filing of such
an appeal within 10 days, and the local agency shall,
within 10 days of the receipt of the notice, transmit a copy of its
decision and the reasons therefor to the c mmitt
department . The appeal shall be heard within 30 days
after receipt of the request for an appeal by the applicant. The
f on or moro m mb rs f tho b ard, or a h aring offic r appointed
by the chair f th b and appeal hearing may be
conducted by the department or a hearing officer appointed by the
director of the department . A stenographic record of the
proceedings shall be kept. At its noxt fi..11 mooting, tho
c mmitt e Within 30 days of the appeals hearing, the
department shall render a written decision, based upon a
majority vote, stating its findings of fact, its conclusions and the
reasons therefor. The hearing by the H using Acc untability
C mmitt department shall be limited to the
issue of whether, in the case of the denial of an application, the
decision of the city, county, or city and county was reasonable and
consistent with meeting local housing needs as determined pursuant to
Section 65584 and, in the case of an approval of an application with
conditions and requirements imposed, whether those conditions and
requirements render the provision of housing infeasible and whether
they are reasonable and consistent with meeting local housing needs
as determined pursuant to Section 65584. If the c mmitt e
department finds, in the case of a denial, that
the decision of the local agency is not reasonable or consistent with
meeting local housing needs, it shall vacate the decision and shall
direct the local agency to issue any necessary approval or permit to
the applicant. If the c mmitt department
finds, in the case of an approval with conditions and
requirements imposed, that the decision of the board renders the
provision of housing infeasible and is not reasonable or consistent
with meeting local housing needs, it shall order the local agency to
modify or remove any such condition or requirement so as to make the
project no longer infeasible and to issue any necessary permit or
approval. Decisions or conditions and requirements imposed by a
local agency that are consistent with meeting local housing needs
shall not be vacated, modified, or removed by the committoo
department notwithstanding that those decisions
or conditions and requirements have the effect of rendering the
provision of housing infeasible.
(e) In any appeal before the c mmitt
department , the applicant shall have the initial burden of
proof to show that it has met the requirements of subdivision (c).
In a case of approval with conditions or requirements imposed, the
applicant shall also have the burden of proof to show that the
conditions and requirements render the provision of housing
infeasible. If the applicant meets the initial burden of proof, then
the city, county, or city and county shall have the burden of proof
to show that its action was reasonable in that denial of the project
or the failure to implement the conditions and requirements, as
proposed, would have a specific, adverse impact, as defined in
Section 65589.5, upon the public health or safety, the physical
environment, or on any real property that is listed in the California
Register of Historical Resources, that there is no feasible method
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SB 744 Senate Bill AMENDED
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to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific adverse impact
without rendering the project infeasible, and that the mitigation or
avoidance of such impacts outweigh local housing needs.
(f) The H using Acc untability C mmitt
department or the applicant shall have the power to enforce
the orders of the c mmitt department
at law or in equity in the superior court. The city, county, or city
and county shall carry out the order of the H using
Acc untability C mmitt department within 30
days of its entry and, upon failure to do so, the order of the
c mmitt department shall for all
purposes, be deemed to be the action of the local agency, unless the
applicant consents to a different decision or order by the local
agency.
(g) The department may charge a fee to cover actual costs directly
related to the activities of the W nG. o rtah;1;t
C mmitt department in administering this section
. The fee shall initially be paid by the applicant. • If the
c mmitt department orders approval of
the proposed development or modifies or removes any conditions or
requirements imposed upon the applicant, the city, county, or city
and county shall reimburse the applicant for the fee paid pursuant to
this subdivision.
(h) (1) For the purposes of this section, "housing development"
means a development project consisting of one or more residential
dwelling units or an emergency shelter facility.
(2) For the purposes of this section, an adopted housing element
that has been self -certified pursuant to Section 65585.1 shall be
deemed to have been approved by the department, unless a court finds
that the jurisdiction's housing element does not substantially comply
with this article.
(i) The remedies provided in this section are in addition to any
other remedy provided by law.
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