Density Bonus Law: qualifications for incentives or concessions: student housing for lower income students: moderate-income persons and families: local government constraints.

(1) Existing law, known as the Density Bonus Law, requires a city or county to provide a developer that proposes a housing development in the city or county with a density bonus and other incentives or concessions for the production of lower income housing units, or for the donation of land within the development, if the developer agrees to, among other things, construct a specified percentage of units for very low income, low-income, or moderate-income households or qualifying residents, including lower income students. Existing law requires the amount of a density bonus and the number of incentives or concessions a qualifying developer receives to be pursuant to a certain formula based on the total number of units in the housing development, excluding the units added by a density bonus awarded pursuant to the Density Bonus Law or any local law granting a greater density bonus. This bill would require a unit designated to satisfy the inclusionary zoning requirements of a city or county to be included in the total number of units on which a density bonus and the number of incentives or concessions are based. The bill would require a city or county to grant one incentive or concession for a student housing development project that will include at least 20% of the total units for lower income students. (2) Existing law requires a city or county to grant a density bonus and certain incentives or concessions if the developer agrees to construct a common interest development that will contain a specified percentage of units for persons and families of moderate income, as specified, if all units in the development are offered to the public for purchase. This bill instead would require a city or county to grant that density bonus and those incentives or concessions if the developer agrees to construct a housing development that will contain that specified percentage of units for persons and families of low or moderate income, as specified. (3) Existing law requires the planning agency of the city or county to provide to the department, the Office of Planning and Research, and the legislative body of the city or county, by April 1 of each year, an annual report that includes, among other things, the city or county's progress in meeting its share of the regional housing needs. This bill would require the planning agency to include in that report the number of units in a student housing development for lower income students for which the developer was granted a density bonus. (4) Existing law authorizes a city or county to refuse a concession or incentive if the city or county makes a written finding, based upon substantial evidence that the concession or incentive would have a specified adverse impact on public health and safety, the physical environment, or real property listed in the California Register of Historical Resources. This bill would remove the specified adverse impact on the physical environment from the list of reasons for which a city or county is authorized to refuse a concession or incentive. Existing law prohibits a city or county from applying any development standard that will have the effect of physically precluding the construction of a development meeting the criteria for a density bonus at the densities or with the concessions or incentives permitted by certain provisions of the Density Bonus Law. Existing law authorizes an applicant to submit to a city or county a proposal for the waiver or reduction of such a development standard and to request a meeting with the city or county, and requires a court to award reasonable attorney's fees and costs of suit to the plaintiff if the court finds that the refusal to grant a waiver or reduction violates certain provisions of the Density Bonus Law. Existing law prohibits these provisions from being interpreted to require a local government to waive or reduce development standards if the waiver or reduction would have a specified adverse impact upon health, safety, or the physical environment, and for which there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific adverse impact. This bill would remove the specified impact upon the physical environment from the limitations on the above-described requirement that a local government waive or reduce development standards. This bill would make findings and declarations related to the modifications to the Density Bonus Law made by this bill. (5) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65400 of the Government Code proposed by AB 168 and AB 2345 to be operative only if this bill and either or both AB 168 and AB 2345 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65915 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2345 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2345 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.