BILL NUMBER: AB 2494	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  641
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 26, 2008
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 30, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 21, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 18, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 1, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 18, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Caballero

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2008

   An act to add Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 50700) to Part 2
of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing,
and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2494, Caballero. Housing-Related Parks Program.
   The Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2006
authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $2,850,000,000
pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Proceeds from the
sale of these bonds are required to be used to finance various
existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill
development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and
housing-related parks. The act establishes the Housing and Emergency
Shelter Trust Fund of 2006 in the State Treasury, requires the sum
of $200,000,000 to be deposited in the Housing
Urban-Suburban-and-Rural Parks Account, which the act establishes in
the fund, and makes the money in the account available, upon
appropriation, for housing-related parks grants in urban, suburban,
and rural areas, subject to the conditions and criteria that the
Legislature may provide in statute.
   This bill would establish the Housing-Related Parks Program under
the administration of the Department of Housing and Community
Development. The bill would require the department to use funds
allocated from the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
provide grants for the creation, development, or rehabilitation of
park and recreation facilities, to cities, counties, and cities and
counties that meet certain criteria and issue housing starts, as
defined, for newly constructed units that are affordable to very low
or low-income households.
   The bill would appropriate the sum of $459,000 from the account to
the department to fund the startup administrative costs of the
program.
   Appropriation: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 50700) is added to
Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 8.  HOUSING-RELATED PARKS PROGRAM


   50700.  For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have
the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires
otherwise:
   (a) "Designated time period" means the time period designated in
the Notice of Funding Availability required under subdivision (b) of
Section 50702.
   (b) "Disadvantaged community," for the purposes of this program,
means an area within a city, county, or city and county that is
composed solely of those census tracts designated by the United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development as having at least
51 percent of its residents of low- or moderate-income levels, using
the most recent United States Department of Census data available at
the time of the Notice of Funding Availability.
   (c) "Housing start" means documentation of a completed foundation
inspection issued during the designated time period.
   (d) "Infill project" means a residential or mixed-use residential
project located within an urbanized area on a site that has been
previously developed, or on a vacant site where at least 75 percent
of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels that are developed with
urban uses. For these purposes, a property is adjoining the side of a
project site if the property is separated from the project site only
by an improved public right-of-way.
   (e) "Park and recreation facility" means a facility that provides
benefits to the community and includes, but is not limited to, places
for organized team sports, outdoor recreation, and informal turf
play; nonmotorized recreational trails; permanent play structures;
landscaping; community gardens; places for passive recreation;
multipurpose structures designed to meet the special recreational,
educational, vocational, and social needs of youth, senior citizens,
and other population groups; recreation areas created by the redesign
and retrofit of urban freeways; community swim centers; regional
recreational trails; and infrastructure and other improvements that
support these facilities.
   (f) "Parks deficient community" means a community that has less
than three acres of usable parkland per 1000 residents.
   (g) "Regional blueprint plan" means a regional plan that
implements statutory requirements intended to foster comprehensive
planning, as defined in Section 65041.1 of, Chapter 2.5 (commencing
with Section 65080) of Division 1 of Title 7 of, and Article 10.6
(commencing with Section 65580) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7
of, the Government Code. The regional blueprint plan articulates
regional consensus and performance outcomes on a more efficient land
use pattern that supports improved mobility and reduces dependency on
single-occupant vehicle trips; accommodates an adequate supply of
housing for all income levels; reduces impacts on valuable farmland,
natural resources, and air quality; includes the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions; increases water and energy conservation and
efficiency; and promotes a prosperous economy and safe, healthy,
sustainable, and vibrant neighborhoods.
   (h) "Urbanized area" means an incorporated city or an urbanized
area or urban cluster as defined by the United States Census Bureau.
For unincorporated areas outside of an urban area or urban cluster,
the area shall be within a designated urban service area that is
designated in the local general plan for urban development and is
served by public sewer and water.
   (i) "Urban use" means any residential, commercial, industrial,
public institutional, transit, transportation passenger facility, or
retail use, or any combination of those uses.
   50701.  There is hereby established in state government the
Housing-Related Parks Program, to be administered by the department,
using funds allocated, upon appropriation, under subdivision (d) of
Section 53545, for the purpose of providing grants for the creation,
development, or rehabilitation of park and recreation facilities to
cities, counties, and cities and counties for housing starts for
newly constructed units that are affordable to very low or low-income
households.
   50702.  (a) To the extent that funds are available for this
purpose, the department shall determine a base grant amount to be
provided under this chapter to any city, county, or city and county
that meets all of the following criteria:
   (1) On or before the end of the period covered by the Notice of
Funding Availability required under subdivision (b), the jurisdiction
has adopted a housing element that the department, pursuant to
Section 65585 of the Government Code, has found to be in substantial
compliance with the requirements of Article 10.6 (commencing with
Section 65580) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the
Government Code, and the jurisdiction has submitted to the department
the annual progress report required under Section 65400 of the
Government Code within the preceding 12 months.
   (2) The jurisdiction can document housing starts for newly
constructed units that are affordable to very low or low-income
households within the designated time period and that meet either of
the following criteria:
   (A) In the case of rental units, the development is subject to a
regulatory agreement recorded against the property that obligates the
owner to maintain rents on the restricted units at levels affordable
to very low or low-income households for at least 55 years.
   (B) In the case of ownership housing, units in the development are
initially sold to households of very low or low income at an
affordable housing cost. If public funds are used to achieve an
affordable housing cost, then upon the sale of an assisted unit to a
very low or low-income household, the public entity shall ensure the
repayment of the public funds and reuse of those funds for affordable
housing for a period of at least 20 years. The proposed mechanism
for restrictions of ownership units shall be consistent with criteria
established by the department and specified in the Notice of Funding
Availability.
   (b) For each year that funds are available, the department shall
issue a Notice of Funding Availability for housing starts issued
during the designated time period. The department shall accept
applications at the close of the designated period. Grant amounts
shall be based on a per-bedroom incentive for each unit restricted
for very low and low-income households. For the purposes of this
section, single-room occupancies and studio apartments shall be
considered one-bedroom units.
   (c) If eligibility for funds exceeds the amount of funding
available for the program, the department shall reduce all grants
proportionally. Funds awarded shall be disbursed upon documentation
of a certificate of occupancy, final inspection, or other comparable
local approval.
   50703.  (a) The department shall award bonus funds in addition to
the base grant award for applicants that meet the requirements under
Section 50702. The department shall determine the amount of the bonus
funds to be awarded pursuant to this chapter.
   (b) The amount of the bonus funds to be awarded shall be
established in the Notice of Funding Availability.
   (c) Bonus funds shall be awarded for any of the following:
   (1) Qualifying units that are affordable to extremely low income
households.
   (2) Qualifying units that are affordable to very low and
low-income households and are developed in infill projects.
   (3) Jurisdictions that have met or exceeded housing production
thresholds established by the department, in consultation with the
Department of Finance.
   (4) Jurisdictions that demonstrate that grant funds will be spent
to improve a park or community recreational facility that will serve
a disadvantaged community, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section
50700.
   (5) Jurisdictions that demonstrate that grant funds will be spent
to create a new park or community recreational facility that will
serve a disadvantaged community, as defined in subdivision (a) of
Section 50700.
   (6) Jurisdictions that meet the definition of a park deficient
community, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 50700.
   (7) Those jurisdictions that can demonstrate that grant funds will
be spent to create or improve a park or community recreational
facility to support infill development, or development within a
jurisdiction that has conformed its general plan to the regional
blueprint, as determined by the council of governments.
   50704.  (a) (1) Except as authorized under paragraph (2), a city,
county, or city and county shall not receive a grant unless it
qualifies, based on housing starts issued during the period
designated in the Notice of Funding Availability, for a grant in an
amount of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) or more.
   (2) If a city, county, or city and county is not able to meet the
minimum qualification amount under paragraph (1), it may delay
application, combine the number of housing starts issued during the
designated period described in paragraph (1) with the number of
housing starts issued during one or more subsequent Notice of Funding
Availability periods, and apply once it is able to meet the minimum
qualification amount by using the combined amount of housing starts
issued.
   (b) Grants provided pursuant to this chapter shall be used for the
costs of park and recreation facility creation, development, or
rehabilitation, including, but not limited to, the acquisition of
land for the purposes of those activities, consistent with the
requirements set forth in Section 16727 of the Government Code.
   (c) Funds awarded pursuant to this chapter shall supplement, not
supplant, other available funding.
   (d) A city, county, or city and county that receives funds under
this chapter may subcontract through a recreation and park district
formed under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 5780) of Division 5
of the Public Resources Code, or a district formed pursuant to
Section 5500 or 35100 of the Public Resources Code, for the creation
or improvement of a park or recreational facility, or any nonprofit
organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code (26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3)), that is exempt from taxation under
Section 501(a) of that code (26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(a)), and that has
among its purposes the conservation of natural or cultural resources.

   50704.5.  The department shall adopt guidelines for the operation
of the program. The guidelines shall not be subject to the
requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
  SEC. 2.  The sum of four hundred fifty-nine thousand dollars
($459,000) is hereby appropriated from the Housing
Urban-Suburban-and-Rural Parks Account in the Housing and Emergency
Shelter Trust Fund of 2006 to the Department of Housing and Community
Development to fund the startup administrative costs of the
Housing-Related Parks Program established under this act.