Read: AB 2234
STATUS: Became law 09/28/22 Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 651, Statutes of 2022
DCP, State Housing Update
Assembly Bill (AB) 2234 | Post-Entitlement Phase Permits
Adds requirements for cities during the post-entitlement phase, including posting of online information, digital processing, and new timelines for non-discretionary permits to be deemed complete and appealed.
Assembly Bill (AB) 2334 | Density Bonus: Very Low Vehicle Travel Areas
Allows 100% affordable housing projects to receive added height and unlimited density if the project is located in an urbanized very low vehicle travel area, where at least 80% of the units are restricted to lower income and no more than 20% are for moderate income households.
Note: This bill defines “very low vehicle travel area” to mean an urbanized area, as defined by the Census Bureau, where the existing residential development generates vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per capita that is below 85% of either regional or city VMT per capita.
SUMMARY
This bill requires a local agency to post information related to postentitlement phase permits for housing development projects, process those permits in a specified time period depending on the size of the housing development, and establish a digital permitting system if the local agency meets a specific population threshold.
Senate Amendments
1) Increase the population threshold that a local agency must meet in order to trigger the digital permitting requirements, and allows local agencies subject to the requirement to delay implementation if certain criteria are met.
2) Provide that the bill applies to permits applied for subsequent to both discretionary and ministerial entitlements, and make other technical and clarifying changes.
COMMENTS
This bill replicates elements of the Permit Streamlining Act (PSA) and applies those provisions to the non-discretionary postentitlement permit approval process for housing developments. Specifically, this bill borrows from and applies the following concepts in the PSA to non-discretionary postentitlement housing development permits reviewed by local agencies:
Deemed Complete Timeframe. The PSA requires public agencies to determine if a development proposal is complete within 30 days and to provide specified feedback to an applicant if the proposal is not complete. This bill requires public agencies to determine whether an application for a postentitlement phase housing development permit is complete, and provide specified information to the applicant within 15 days after the agency receives the application.
Substantive Review Timeframe. The PSA requires public agencies to approve or disapprove a development project within a specified timeframe (generally 60 to 180 days) depending on the type of CEQA review that applies to the development approval and the type of approval conferred by the public agency. This bill requires local agencies to review and approve non-discretionary postentitlement housing development permits within 30 to 60 days depending on the size of the project.
According to the Author
“AB 2234 will improve communication systems by requiring local jurisdictions to publish an online checklist for applications to be deemed complete and maintain this checklist online for the public.
