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Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 21 bills related to planning and development on Thursday – the vast majority of them dealing with increasing housing production. About 15 planning and development bills remains on his desk and he has until the end of September to sign them.

Taken together, the bills don’t include any extremely aggressive moves by the state to box in local governments. Indeed, in a few cases – such as a new bill on the builders remedy – the new legislation actually does the opposite and boxes in developers a bit. But some – such as an ADU law – are aggressive in their own way.

There’s also definitely a trend toward transparency – posting more information on the internet about fees especially.

Here are the bills Newsom signed Thursday.

ADUs

SB 1211: Increases the number of allowable accessory dwelling units on a parcel from 2 to 8, depending on the situation.

Builders Remedy

AB 1893: Boxes in the builders remedy, among other things limiting the amount of additional density a developer can obtain. Previous CP&DR coverage is available here.

CEQA

AB 2117: Ensures that permits don’t expire when a project is subject to a CEQA challenge.

SB 393: Puts the burden of proof on the plaintiff when seeking a bond from a CEQA defendant. A response to the $500,000 bond placed on the citizen group Save Downtown Livermore in litigation over Eden’s affordable housing project in Livermore. Previous CP&DR coverage of that case can be found here.

AB 2199: Extends infill exemption from 2025 to 2032.

Density Bonus Law

AB 2694: Extends Density Bonus Law to residential care facilities for the elderly. A dense eldercare facility was recently an issue in a court case from Los Angeles (previous CP&DRcoverage here), though the DBL was not at issue in that case.

Fees

AB 2430: Prohibits imposition of monitoring fees to monitor affordable housing requirements if the project is 100% affordable.

AB 2663: Requires cities and counties to post housing in-lieu fees on the internet and explain how they were spent.

AB 937: Allows delay of impact fee payment on residential projects

Housing Elements

AB 1886 and AB 2023: Clarifies that a Housing Element is compliant with state law if a court says so and there’s a “rebuttal presumption” in court that a Housing Element is in or out of compliance of the Department of Housing and Community Development says so. The question of whether a local government can independently certify Housing Element compliance has been a huge legal issue, as evidenced by CP&DR’s coverage here.)

AB 2667: Requires HCD to create standardized Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing reporting, which local governments must use in Housing Elements starting with the 7th RHNA cycle.

AB 3093: Adds two new categories to Housing Element income categories to account for homelessness. (Detailed CP&DR coverage of the HCD report that recommended these changes can be found here.)

Other Housing

AB 1413: Expands definition of “disapproval” under the Housing Accountability Act and also expands notification requirements in those situations.

AB 2243: Extends AB 2011, which permits residential development in commercially zoned areas, to high-rise districts not in commercial corridors as well as near freeways and clarifies that affordability requirements apply to base units in Density Bonus Law, not bonus units.

SB 450: Tightens SB 9 so that it's harder to deny lot splits, among other provisions. (For more background on how cities are – or are not – implementing SB 9, check out CP&DR’s previous coverage here.)

SB 7: Specifies that cities and counties can’t object to Regional Housing Needs Determination.

SB 312: Further clarifies CEQA streamlining for student housing contained in SB 886, which was passed after the so-called “People’s Park” decision. (For more background on the case and SB 886, see CP&DR’s previous analysis here.)

AB 2488: Allows tax-increment financing for office-to-residential conversion in Downtown San Francisco.

Transit-Oriented Development

AB 2553: Redefines a “major transit stop” under state law as a transit stop with 20-minute headways instead of 15-minute headways. This is important because much TOD streamlining is geared toward “major transit stops” and post-COVID transit agencies have been cutting back service.

AB 2712: Specifies that TOD projects with lower parking requirements in Los Angeles. must be excluded from residential permit parking.