BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1303| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1303 Author: Gray (D) Amended: 8/18/15 in Senate Vote: 27 - Urgency SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 5-0, 7/15/15 AYES: Hertzberg, Nguyen, Beall, Moorlach, Pavley NO VOTE RECORDED: Hernandez, Lara SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/23/15 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Subdivision Map Act: map expiration dates SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill provides an automatic 24-month extension for unexpired subdivision maps approved on or after January 1, 2002, and before July 12, 2013, in jurisdictions that meet specified criteria. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1) Establishes, pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act (Map Act), a statewide regulatory framework for controlling the subdividing of land, which generally requires a subdivider to submit, and have approved by the city, county, or city and county in which the land is situated, a tentative map. 2) Provides for the expiration of tentative subdivision maps AB 1303 Page 2 after specified periods of time. 3) Authorizes cities and counties to grant discretionary map extensions as specified. This bill: 1) Extends by 24 months, within counties that meet specified criteria, 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, 2002 and before July 12, 2013. 2) Applies only to maps approved within counties that meet the following criteria: a) 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. b) The county's annual nonseasonal unemployment rate is at least 2.75% higher than the statewide annual nonseasonal unemployment rate, as defined by a specified Employment Development Department report. c) 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. 1) Allows, for maps approved before January 1, 2000, 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. 2) 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. 3) Authorizes, if a map is determined to be inconsistent with AB 1303 Page 3 applicable zoning and general plan requirements in effect when the application is filed, the legislative body or advisory agency to deny or conditionally approve an extension for a period of 24 months. 4) Requires, prior to the expiration of an approved or conditionally approved tentative map, upon an application by the subdivider to extend the map, the map to be automatically extended for 60 days or until the application for the extension is approved, conditionally approved, or denied, whichever occurs last. 5) Allows, if the advisory agency denies a subdivider's application for an extension, the subdivider to appeal to the legislative body within 15 days after the advisory agency has denied the extension. 6) Specifies that an extension provided pursuant to this bill is in addition to extensions authorized by eight specified statutes. 7) Extends the expiration date by 24 months for any legislative, administrative or other approval by a state agency relating to a development project in a subdivision affected by this bill. 8) 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. 9) 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. Background Under the 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 AB 1303 Page 4 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 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 10 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 AB 1303 Page 5 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, Chapter 407, Statutes of 1993). May 14, 1996, gained one more year (AB 771, Aguiar, Chapter 46, Statutes of 1996). July 15, 2008, gained one more year (SB 1185, Lowenthal, Chapter 124, Statutes of 2008). July 15, 2009, gained two more years (AB 333, Fuentes, Chapter 18, Statutes of 2009). July 15, 2011, gained two more years (AB 208, Fuentes, Chapter 88, Statutes of 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, Chapter 62, Statutes of 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. AB 1303 Page 6 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, this bill preserves subdividers' ability to finalize their maps for two more years in 11 counties that qualify under this bill's criteria for demonstrating economic hardship (Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Modoc, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Yuba). FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes SUPPORT: (Verified8/18/15) Building Industry Association of Fresno/Madera Counties Building Industry Association of the Greater Valley Building Industry Association of Tulare/Kings Counties California Association of Realtors California Chamber of Commerce Home Builders Association of Kern County OPPOSITION: (Verified8/18/15) None received ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/23/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, AB 1303 Page 7 Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Salas Prepared by:Brian Weinberger / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119 8/19/15 20:39:14 **** END ****