BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |AB 1303 |Hearing |7/15/15 |
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|Author: |Gray |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |6/24/15 |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Weinberger |
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SUBDIVISION APPROVALS (URGENCY)
Provides an automatic 24-month extension for unexpired
subdivision maps approved after January 1, 2000 in jurisdictions
that meet specified criteria.
Background and Existing Law
Under the Subdivision Map Act, cities and counties approve
tentative maps that must be consistent with their general plans,
attaching scores of conditions. Once subdividers comply with
those conditions, local officials must issue final maps. For
smaller subdivisions (lot splits) local officials usually use
parcel maps, but they can require tentative parcel maps followed
by final parcel maps.
In good economic times, an experienced subdivider can comply
with a tentative map's conditions in a few years. Scarce
financing, complex settings, and inexperience can drag out the
time between a tentative map's approval and the filing of a
final map. If a tentative map expires, the subdivider must
start over, complying with any new required conditions.
The Permit Streamlining Act sets forth time limits and
procedures for some types of land use decisions, including
tentative maps. It also prohibits a local agency, after it
approves or conditionally approves a tentative map for a
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residential unit, from requiring conformance with any condition
the local agency could have imposed, as a condition to the
issuance of any building permit for five-years, after the
recordation of that subdivision's final map or parcel map. A
city or county also can't refuse to issue a building permit for
failing to conform with or perform any conditions that the city,
or county could have imposed as a condition to the previously
approved tentative or parcel map.
Tentative maps can be valid for up to 16 years:
The initial life of a tentative map is two years. At
the option of the city or county, a map's initial life can
be three years.
Local officials can grant extensions for up to six
years.
If the subdivider spends substantial funds and files
phased final maps, the remaining tentative map is
automatically extended by three years, up to a maximum of
ten years.
These deadlines don't apply during development moratoria
(up to five years) or during pending litigation (up to five
years).
During periods of economic recession, both in the mid-1990s and
in the last seven years, the Legislature has extended the life
of unexpired subdivision approvals, without local review or
approval. Unexpired subdivision maps that were valid on:
September 13, 1993, gained two more years (SB 428,
Thompson, 1993).
May 14, 1996, gained one more year (AB 771, Aguiar,
1996).
July 15, 2008, gained one more year (SB 1185, Lowenthal,
2008).
July 15, 2009, gained two more years (AB 333, Fuentes,
2009).
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July 15, 2011, gained two more years (AB 208, Fuentes,
2011).
When the Legislature granted the one-year extension in 2008, it
also let local officials grant an additional year, at their
discretion (SB 1185, Lowenthal, 2008).
In 2013, the Legislature granted unexpired subdivision maps
another two year extension (AB 116, Bocanegra, 2013). Under the
provisions of the Bocanegra bill, current law automatically
extends, by 24 months, the life of a tentative map that was
approved after January 1, 2000 and which was pending on July 11,
2013. For tentative maps initially approved before January 1,
2000, a subdivider must file an application at least 90 days
prior to the map expiration. If the local agency determines
that the map is consistent with the planning and zoning
standards in effect at the time of the extension application,
the local agency must grant an extension of 24 months. If the
tentative map is not consistent with the new standards, then the
agency may deny or conditionally approve the extension for up to
twenty four months.
For a tentative map or parcel map that is extended pursuant to
state law, a city or county may levy a fee or impose a condition
that requires the payment of a fee.
Because the housing construction market remains poor in some
California counties, despite the general economic recovery, some
county officials want legislators to extend the life of
unexpired tentative maps in counties that have not recovered
from the recent recession.
Proposed Law
Within counties that meet specified criteria, Assembly Bill 1303
extends, by 24 months, the expiration date for any tentative
map, vesting tentative map, or parcel map for which a tentative
map or tentative vesting map was approved on or after January
1, 2000 and which has not expired when this urgency bill takes
effect.
AB 1303's provisions only apply to maps approved within counties
that meet the following criteria:
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The annual mean household income within the county is
less than 80% of the statewide annual mean income, as
determined by a specified U.S. Census Bureau report.
The county's annual nonseasonal unemployment rate is at
least 3% higher than the statewide annual nonseasonal
unemployment rate, as defined by a specified Employment
Development Department report.
The poverty rate within the county's population is at
least 4% higher than the statewide median poverty rate, as
determined by a specified U.S. Census Bureau report.
For maps approved before January 1, 2000, AB 1303 allows a
subdivider to file an application for an extension at least 90
days before the expiration of the approved or conditionally
approved tentative map, vesting tentative map, or parcel map.
AB 1303 requires a legislative body to extend the time at which
the map expires for a period of 24 months, upon a determination
that the map is consistent with the applicable zoning and
general plan requirement in effect when the application is
filed.
If the map is determined to be inconsistent with applicable
zoning and general plan requirements in effect when the
application is filed, AB 1303 authorizes the legislative body or
advisory agency to deny or conditionally approve an extension
for a period of 24 months. Prior to the expiration of an
approved or conditionally approved tentative map, upon a
subdivider's application to extend that map, AB 1303
automatically extends the map for 60 days or until the
application for the extension is approved, conditionally
approved, or denied, whichever occurs last. If the advisory
agency denies a subdivider's application for an extension, the
bill authorizes a subdivider to appeal to the legislative body
within 15 days after the advisory agency denied the extension.
An extension provided pursuant to AB 1303 is in addition to
extensions authorized by eight specified statutes.
For any legislative, administrative, or other approval by a
state agency relating to a development project in a subdivision
affected by AB 1303 that has not expired when the bill takes
effect, AB 1303 extends the expiration date by 24 months. This
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extension is in addition to five other statutory extensions.
AB 1303 reduces, from five years to three years, the period of
time after the approval or conditional approval of a tentative
map, or recordation of a parcel map, during which a city or
county is prohibited, with exceptions, from imposing specified
conditions on a building permit or equivalent permit.
The bill also provides that the local agency is not prohibited
from levying a fee, or imposing a condition that requires the
payment of a fee upon the issuance of a building permit.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . In some California counties, economic
conditions have not yet recovered from the recent recession,
which has depressed the demand for new housing. Until the
demand for new housing resumes, subdividers aren't likely to
complete the required conditions of their tentative maps and
qualify for final maps. With statutory time limits looming,
some builders risk losing their earlier approvals and having to
start over again. Similar to the Legislature's earlier
responses during other market slumps, AB 1303 preserves
subdividers' ability to finalize their maps for two more years
in ten counties that qualify under the bill's criteria for
demonstrating economic hardship (Fresno, Imperial, Kings,
Madera, Merced, Modoc, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Yuba).
Allowing developers additional time to use maps in which they
have invested significant time and expense will help to promote
economic activity and jobs in communities that are still
struggling to achieve an economic recovery.
2. Timing is everything . Unlike past extension bills, the
Bocanegrea bill enacted in 2013 gave city councils and county
supervisors' discretion over whether to extend the life of maps,
that were approved before January 1, 2000 and which no longer
meet current land use standards. AB 1303 grants maps 2
additional years in which to become final, but doesn't change
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the cutoff date
for maps that no longer conform to general plan or zoning
requirements. To remain consistent with the approach the
Legislature adopted two years ago, the Committee may wish to
consider amending AB 1303 to allow local officials to exercise
discretion over maps, that were approved before January 1, 2002
and which no longer comply with current standards.
3. Timing is everything, part 2 . The first in the most recent
series of bills that have automatically extended deadlines for
tentative subdivision maps passed in 2008, at which time the
entire state was experiencing severe economic recession and
turmoil in the real estate market. Developers holding tentative
subdivision maps that were about to expire in 2008, clearly
needed more time to complete their projects. Even when the most
recent extensions bill passed in 2013, some developers could
still plausibly argue that they had recently sought approval of
tentative maps in the hopes that the economic repercussions in
the real estate market would resolve sooner than they actually
did. It is less clear why the Legislature should, in 2015,
provide automatic extensions for maps that were approved just
last year, or even in late 2013. If the Legislature continues
to grant automatic extensions even for maps approved well after
the worst of the economic downturn has passed, then legislators
will need to consider permanently changing the timelines that
apply to tentative maps. Instead, the Committee may wish to
consider amending AB 1303 to exclude from its automatic
extension any maps that were approved after July 11, 2013, which
is the date on which the preceding extension legislation took
effect.
4. Urgency . Regular statutes take effect on January 1
following their enactment; bills passed in 2015 take effect on
January 1, 2016. The California Constitution allows bills with
urgency clauses to take effect immediately if they're needed for
the public peace, health, and safety. AB 1303 contains an
urgency clause declaring that it is necessary for its provisions
to go into effect immediately to allow local governments to
preserve development applications that are set to expire and
that cannot be processed presently due to prevailing adverse
economic conditions in the construction industry.
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5. Mandate . The California Constitution requires the state to
reimburse local governments for the costs of new or expanded
state mandated local programs. Because SB 1303 requires local
officials to follow additional procedures related to extending
some tentative maps, Legislative Counsel says that the bill
imposes a new state mandate. SB 1303 disclaims the state's
responsibility for providing reimbursement by citing local
governments' authority to charge for the costs of implementing
the bill's provisions.
6. New bill, prior votes not relevant . As passed by the
Assembly, AB 1303 contained provisions amending the Alcoholic
Beverage Control Act's restrictions on market research involving
licensees. The Senate Governance & Finance Committee never
heard that version of the bill. The June 24 amendments deleted
AB 1303's contents and inserted the current language relating to
subdivision maps.
Assembly Actions
Not relevant to the June 24, 2015 version of the bill.
Support and
Opposition (7/9/15)
Support : California Association of Realtors; California Chamber
of Commerce; Home Builders Association of Kern County.
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Opposition : Unknown.
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