Land Use Legislation For 2010

CEQA

• ABx8 37 and AB 1805 (both Calderon and Nestande) and SBx8 42 and SB 1010 (both Correa and Cogdill). Creates the CEQA litigation protection pilot program that would permit the administration to exempt 100 projects over four years from judicial review based on CEQA.

Economic Development

• AB 2044 (Caballero). Requires the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency (BTH) to rank enterprise zones, with the apparent intent of eliminating the lowest-ranking zones.

• AB 2428 (Buchanan). Expands the definition of an enterprise zone to include green technology zones.

• AB 2518 (V. Manuel Pérez). Requires the Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank to create a local assistance program to provide technical support to small and rural communities seeking funding.

• SBx8 52 (Correa). Creates a special enterprise zone in the City of Fremont, where the NUMMI auto plant is closing, and authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to create 10 additional special enterprise zones.

Finance and Infrastructure

• AB 1716 (Torlakson). Currently a spot bill regarding school impact fees, this legislation is expected to reduce or eliminate the ability of school districts to charge "level 3" fees. These higher fees apply when state funds run short.

• AB 2579 (Evans). Creates the 11-member Master Plan for Infrastructure Financing and Development Commission.

• AB 2642 (Nestande). Authorizes the City of Riverside to form an infrastructure finance district to fund construction of a medical school on city property.

• SB 10 (Leno). Authorizes counties to seek majority voter approval of increased vehicle license fees for general fund purposes.

• SB 194 (Florez). Modifies how cities and counties spend Community Development Block Grant funds.

• SB 684 (Cogdill). Provides a greater share of future property tax revenues to Alpine, Lassen, Mariposa, Plumas, Stanislaus and Trinity counties, all of which receive less-than-average shares of property taxes.

• SB 1023 (Wiggins). Expedites the procedure for converting archaic resort improvement districts into more useful community services districts with similar powers and service areas. Napa County is behind the legislation, which could be used to advance redevelopment of Lake Berryessa resort and housing facilities (see CP&DR Public Development, October 2006).

• SB 1048 (Hancock). Authorizes use of Mello-Roos bonds to finance green building measures.

• SB 1299 (Torlakson). Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to implement a pilot program to determine the issues involved with levying a vehicle-miles-traveled fee on motorists.

Housing and Housing Elements

• AB 761 (Calderon). Permits a mobile home park owner subject to local rent control to raise the rent on a new tenant to market rate or double the previous rent, whichever is less.

• AB 1823 (Torres). Permits the expenditure of money in the state mobile home park purchase fund for relocating a park to a new site within the same jurisdiction.

• AB 1867 (Harkey). Expands the definition of "substantially rehabilitated" units that a city or county may count toward meeting its affordable housing obligation.

• AB 2085 (Saldaña). Authorizes the state auditor to audit the Proposition 1C infill incentive and the transit-oriented development grant programs, and the housing-related parks program.

• AB 2425 (Hagman). Exempts the City of La Habra Heights from the next regional housing needs assessment.

• AB 2508 (Caballero). Changes the definition of "suburban" to include jurisdictions of up to 175,000 people for the purpose of determining regional housing need.

• AB 2709 (Blumenfield). Authorizes the California Housing Finance Agency to make loan guarantees to nonprofit housing developers and local public agencies.

• SBx8 28 (Yee). Revises criteria for awarding $87.5 million in unallocated Proposition 1C funds with an emphasis on "shovel ready" projects that could create jobs.

• SB 326 (Strickland). Requires a city or county that fails to identify adequate sites for affordable housing required in its housing element to identify and zone additional sites in the next housing element update.

• SB 812 (Ashburn). Requires cities and counties when updating their housing elements to analyze housing needs of people with developmental disabilities.

Local Planning

• SB 518 (Lowenthal). Permits cities and counties to adopt an ordinance to reduce or eliminate subsidies for parking. The measure would also establish a voluntary system in which the state Air Resources Board would award points to jurisdictions that adopt measures to reduce free parking. Jurisdictions that achieve a certain number of points would be eligible for carbon reduction credits through a cap-and-trade program and for air board loans and grants.

• SB 959 (Ducheny). Establishes a streamlined system for project applicants who need state agency permits.  The bill would also require cities and counties to coordinate project reviews and decision-making through a "single administrative entity," and require the Office of Planning and Research to prepare guidelines for cities and counties to use for streamlining permit processing.

• SB 1174 (Wolk). Requires cities and counties to address in their general plans the presence of unincorporated islands, fringe communities and "legacy unincorporated communities" near city borders.

• SB 1207 (Kehoe). Revises the general plan safety element requirements for very high fire hazard severity zones and territory protected by CalFire. Similar bills have been voted each of the past two years.

Redevelopment

• AB 1791 (Monning). Exempts the Fort Ord Reuse Authority from having to make blight findings before exercising certain redevelopment powers on vacant lands.

• AB 1870 (Norby). Currently a spot bill carried by longtime redevelopment opponent Chris Norby, this measure could contain restrictions on redevelopment activities.

• SB 2043 (Torrico). Authorizes redevelopment agencies to loan up to $75,000 to reduce the principle mortgage balance of homeowners participating in the federal home affordable modification program. 

• AB 2050 (Fong). Permits redevelopment agencies to finance green technology facilities and capital equipment.

• AB 2759 (Nestande). Authorizes redevelopment agencies in contiguous cities to create a joint powers authority for the purpose of pooling housing set-aside fund to pay for emergency homeless shelters.

• SB 530 (Dutton). Attempts to expand the redevelopment pass-through reporting and repayment requirements that were in last year's state budget to all redevelopment project areas.

• SB 1374 (Kehoe). Modifies the information a redevelopment agency must provide to the legislative body when the agency seeks a 10-year time extension.

Transportation

• AB 266 (Carter). Requires the California Transportation Commission to develop an assessment of transportation funding and needs every five years.

• AB 726 (Nielsen). Specifies that local road rehabilitation projects are eligible for regional project funds under the State Transportation Improvement Program.

• AB 744 (Torrico). Authorizes the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to create a "Bay Area express lane network" of high-occupancy and toll lanes.

• AB 1375 (Galgiani). Creates the Department of High-Speed Trains within BTH, and specifies that the governor shall appoint the department director.

• AB 1747 (Galgiani). Encourages the High-Speed Rail Authority to consider California job creation when awarding major contracts or purchasing trains.

• AB 2658 (Conway). Creates a short-line railroad program to improve goods movement.

• SB 409 (Ducheny). Attempts to increase oversight of the High-Speed Rail Authority by requiring Senate approval of the governor's appointees to the authority board, requiring the authority to submit an annual funding plan to the California Transportation Commission, and requiring BTH to prepare a five-year rail connectivity plan.

• SB 1245 (Simitian). Ensures that existing toll-free high-occupancy vehicle lanes remain free to high-occupancy vehicles.

Other

• AB 2530 (Nielsen). Funds Williamson Act subventions to counties with fees collected from Williamson Act contract cancellations.

• SB 715 (Wolk). Gives local government more authority for enforcing Williamson Act contract compliance and conditioning the subdivision of land under contract.

• SB 1042 (Walters). Repeals the authority of counties to take property by eminent domain for the purpose of conveying the land to the federal government for military uses.