BILL NUMBER: AB 338 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 11, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ma
FEBRUARY 18, 2009
An act to amend Sections 53395.1, 65460.1, 65460.2, and 65460.4
of, and to add Sections 53395.7.5 and 65460.2.5 to, the Government
Code, relating to transit facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 338, Ma. Transit village developments: infrastructure
financing.
Existing law authorizes a city or county to create a transit
village plan for a transit village development district. A transit
village plan is required to include all land within not less than 1/4
mile of the exterior boundary of the parcel on which is located a
transit station, as defined. A legislative body is authorized to
create an infrastructure financing district, adopt an infrastructure
financing plan, and issue bonds, for which only the district is
liable, to finance specified public facilities, upon voter approval.
This bill would recast the area included in a transit village plan
to include all land within not more than 1/2 mile of the main
entrance of a transit station. The requirement of voter approval for
the formation of an infrastructure financing district, adoption of an
infrastructure financing plan, and an issuance of bonds for the
purpose of implementing a transit facility, as defined, would be
eliminated. A transit village plan financed by these bonds would be
required to include specified demonstrable public benefits regarding
housing, replacement dwelling units at an affordable housing cost
when specified dwelling units are destroyed or removed, and a
provision that at least 20% of all revenues derived from the property
tax increment be dedicated to increase, improve, and preserve the
transit village district's supply of affordable housing, as defined.
The bill also would make technical, nonsubstantive changes.
This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 65460.2
of the Government Code proposed by AB 1158, that would become
operative only if AB 1158 and this bill are both chaptered and become
effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered
last.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 53395.1 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
53395.1. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions shall govern the construction of this chapter:
(a) "Affected taxing entity" means any governmental taxing agency
that levied or had levied on its behalf a property tax on all or a
portion of the property located in the proposed district in the
fiscal year prior to the designation of the district, but not
including any county office of education, school district, or
community college district.
(b) "City" means a city, a county, or a city and county.
(c) "Debt" means any binding obligation to repay a sum of money,
including obligations in the form of bonds, certificates of
participation, long-term leases, loans from government agencies, or
loans from banks, other financial institutions, private businesses,
or individuals.
(d) "Designated official" means the city engineer or other
appropriate official designated pursuant to Section 53395.13.
(e) (1) "District" means an infrastructure financing district.
(2) An infrastructure financing district is a "district" within
the meaning of Section 1 of Article XIII A of the California
Constitution.
(f) "Infrastructure financing district" means a legally
constituted governmental entity established pursuant to this chapter
for the sole purpose of financing public facilities.
(g) "Landowner" or "owner of land" means any person shown as the
owner of land on the last equalized assessment roll or otherwise
known to be the owner of the land by the legislative body. The
legislative body has no obligation to obtain other information as to
the ownership of land, and its determination of ownership shall be
final and conclusive for the purposes of this chapter. A public
agency is not a landowner or owner of land for purposes of this
chapter, unless the public agency owns all of the land to be included
within the proposed district.
(h) "Legislative body" means the city council or board of
supervisors.
(i) "Transit facility" includes, but is not limited to, any
publicly owned facility and amenity necessary to implement a transit
village plan adopted pursuant to Article 8.5 (commencing with Section
65460) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7.
SEC. 2. Section 53395.7.5 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
53395.7.5. With respect to an infrastructure financing district
proposed to implement a transit village plan adopted pursuant to
Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 65460) of Chapter 3 of Division
1 of Title 7, an election is not required to form an infrastructure
financing district, adopt an infrastructure financing plan, or issue
bonds pursuant to this chapter. Any other provision of this chapter
applies to the formation of an infrastructure financing district and
the adoption of an infrastructure financing plan.
SEC. 3. Section 65460.1 of the Government Code is amended to read:
65460.1. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Federal, state, and local governments in California are
investing in new and expanded transit systems in areas throughout the
state, including Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Bay area, San
Diego County, Santa Clara County, and Sacramento County.
(2) This public investment in transit is unrivaled in the state's
history and represents well over ten billion dollars
($10,000,000,000) in planned investment alone.
(3) Recent studies of transit ridership in California indicate
that persons who live within a one-half mile radius of transit
stations utilize the transit system in far greater numbers than does
the general public living elsewhere.
(4) The greater use of public transit facilitated by the
development of transit villages improves local street, road, and
highway congestion concerns by providing viable alternatives to
automobile use.
(5) The development of transit villages can improve environmental
conditions by increasing the use of public transit, facilitating the
creation of and improvement to walkable, mixed-use communities, and
decreasing automobile use.
(6) Transit villages throughout the state should be developed in
environmentally conscious and sustainable manners, and related
construction should meet or exceed the requirements of the most
recent edition of the California Green Building Code Standards.
(7) Only a few transit stations in California have any
concentration of housing proximate to the station.
(8) Interest in clustering housing and commercial development
around transit stations, called transit villages, has gained momentum
in recent years.
(b) For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) "Bus hub" means an intersection of three or more bus routes,
with a minimum route headway of 10 minutes during peak hours.
(2) "Bus transfer station" means an arrival, departure, or
transfer point for the area's intercity, intraregional, or
interregional bus service having permanent investment in multiple bus
docking facilities, ticketing services, and passenger shelters.
(3) "County" includes a city and county.
(4) "District" means a transit village development district as
defined in Section 65460.4.
(5) "Peak hours" means the time between 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.,
inclusive, and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., inclusive, Monday through Friday.
(6) "Transit station" means a rail or light-rail station, ferry
terminal, bus hub, or bus transfer station.
SEC. 4. Section 65460.2 of the Government Code is amended to read:
65460.2. A city or county may prepare a transit village plan for
a transit village development district that addresses the following
characteristics:
(a) A neighborhood centered around a transit station that is
planned and designed so that residents, workers, shoppers, and others
find it convenient and attractive to patronize transit.
(b) A mix of housing types, including apartments, within not more
than a one-half mile of the main entrance of the transit station.
(c) Other land uses, including a retail district oriented to the
transit station and civic uses, including day care centers and
libraries.
(d) Pedestrian and bicycle access to the transit station, with
attractively designed and landscaped pathways.
(e) A transit system that should encourage and facilitate
intermodal service, and access by modes other than single occupant
vehicles.
(f) Demonstrable public benefits beyond the increase in transit
usage, including any five of the following:
(1) Relief of traffic congestion.
(2) Improved air quality.
(3) Increased transit revenue yields.
(4) Increased stock of affordable housing.
(5) Redevelopment of depressed and marginal inner-city
neighborhoods.
(6) Live-travel options for transit-needy groups.
(7) Promotion of infill development and preservation of natural
resources.
(8) Promotion of a safe, attractive, pedestrian-friendly
environment around transit stations.
(9) Reduction of the need for additional travel by providing for
the sale of goods and services at transit stations.
(10) Promotion of job opportunities.
(11) Improved cost-effectiveness through the use of the existing
infrastructure.
(12) Increased sales and property tax revenue.
(13) Reduction in energy consumption.
(g) Sites where a density bonus of at least 25 percent may be
granted pursuant to specified performance standards.
(h) Other provisions that may be necessary, based on the report
prepared pursuant to subdivision (b) of former Section 14045, as
enacted by Section 3 of Chapter 1304 of the Statutes of 1990.
SEC. 4.5. Section 65460.2 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
65460.2. A city or county may prepare a transit village plan for
a transit village development district that addresses the following
characteristics:
(a) A neighborhood centered around a transit station that is
planned and designed so that residents, workers, shoppers, and others
find it convenient and attractive to patronize transit.
(b) A mix of housing types, including apartments, within not more
than a one-half mile of the main entrance of the transit station.
(c) Other land uses, including a retail district oriented to the
transit station and civic uses, including day care centers and
libraries.
(d) Pedestrian and bicycle access to the transit station, with
attractively designed and landscaped pathways.
(e) A transit system that should encourage and facilitate
intermodal service, and access by modes other than single occupant
vehicles.
(f) Demonstrable public benefits beyond the increase in transit
usage, including any five of the following:
(1) Relief of traffic congestion.
(2) Improved air quality.
(3) Increased transit revenue yields.
(4) Increased stock of affordable housing.
(5) Redevelopment of depressed and marginal inner-city
neighborhoods.
(6) Live-travel options for transit-needy groups.
(7) Promotion of infill development and preservation of natural
resources.
(8) Promotion of a safe, attractive, pedestrian-friendly
environment around transit stations.
(9) Reduction of the need for additional travel by providing for
the sale of goods and services at transit stations.
(10) Promotion of job opportunities.
(11) Improved cost-effectiveness through the use of the existing
infrastructure.
(12) Increased sales and property tax revenue.
(13) Reduction in energy consumption.
(g) Sites where a density bonus of at least 25 percent may be
granted pursuant to specified performance standards.
(h) Other land uses, including educational facilities, that
provide direct linkages for people traveling to and from primary and
secondary education schools, community colleges, and universities.
(i) Other provisions that may be necessary, based on the report
prepared pursuant to subdivision (b) of former Section 14045, as
enacted by Section 3 of Chapter 1304 of the Statutes of 1990.
SEC. 5. Section 65460.2.5 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
65460.2.5. If a city, county, or city and county finances any
portion of a district, as defined in this article, under the
provisions of Chapter 2.8 (commencing with Section 53395) of Part 1
of Division 2 of Title 5, the city, county, or city and county shall
do all of the following:
(a) Use at least 20 percent of all revenues derived from the
property tax increment under Chapter 2.8 (commencing with Section
53395) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 for the purposes of
increasing, improving, and preserving the supply of lower and
moderate-income housing available in the district at affordable
housing cost, as defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety
Code, and occupied by persons and families of low or moderate income,
as defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code, lower
income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and
Safety Code, very low income households, as defined in Section 50105
of the Health and Safety Code, and extremely low income households,
as defined in Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code. The amount
of very low, low- and moderate-income housing shall be in compliance
with the Community Redevelopment Law (Part 1 (commencing with
Section 33000) of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code) and any
adopted policies of the city, county, or city and county that adopted
the transit village plan.
(b) Require that housing units described in subdivision (a) remain
available at affordable housing cost to, and occupied by, persons
and families of low or moderate income and very low income and
extremely low income households for the longest feasible time, but
for not less than 55 years for rental units and 45 years for
owner-occupied units. The covenants or restrictions implementing this
requirement shall be in compliance with subdivision (f) of Section
33334.3 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) Rehabilitate, develop, or construct, or cause to be
rehabilitated, developed, or constructed for rental or sale to
persons and families of low or moderate income an equal number of
replacement dwelling units that have an equal or greater number of
bedrooms as the destroyed or removed units, at affordable housing
costs within the district, and within four years after the
destruction or removal, whenever dwelling units housing persons and
families of low or moderate income are destroyed or removed from the
low- and moderate-income housing market as part of the development of
a district that is subject to a written agreement with the city,
county, or city and county, or when financial assistance has been
provided by the city, county, or city and county. The replacement
dwelling units shall be available at affordable housing cost to, and
occupied by, persons and families in the same or a lower income
category as the persons and families displaced from those destroyed
or removed units.
(d) Include in the transit village plan both of the following:
(1) As one of the five demonstrable public benefits required by
subdivision (f) of Section 65460.2, either an increased stock of
affordable housing or live-travel options for transit-needy groups.
(2) Provisions to implement subdivisions (a) and (b) and paragraph
(1).
SEC. 6. Section 65460.4 of the Government Code is amended to read:
65460.4. A transit village development district shall include all
land within not more than a one-half mile of the main entrance of a
transit station designated by the legislative body of a city, county,
or city and county that has jurisdiction over the station area.
SEC. 7. Section 4.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to
Section 65460.2 of the Government Code proposed by both this bill and
AB 1158. It shall only become operative if (1) both bills are
enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2010, (2) each
bill amends Section 65460.2 of the Government Code, and (3) this bill
is enacted after AB 1158, in which case Section 4 of this bill shall
not become operative.