Housing: Residential Entitlements Extended

Requires cities and counties to evaluate the impact of government actions on the cost of housing and associated impacts to minority communities and extends by 18 months, the time frame for the expiration, effectuation, or utilization of a housing entitlement for any housing entitlement that was issued prior to, and was in effect on, March 4, 2020, and will expire prior to December 31, 2021.

The California Building Industry Association writes in support, "This important measure has two critical components. First, it encourages local governments to consider the impacts their zoning decisions have on communities of color, and second, extends the expiration date of building permits or other entitlements necessary for, or pertaining to, a housing development project. This proposed legislation recognizes the extreme health and financial devastation due to this pandemic-induced recession has had on Californians and proposes a measured and time-limited response.

This law extends by 18 months any applicable time frame for any “housing entitlement.” This extension applies to any such entitlement issued prior to and effective on March 4, 2020, and that will expire prior to December 31, 2021.

“Housing entitlement” is defined in the statute to include:

• A building permit, including extension of any applicable time frame within which an applicant must request issuance of a building permit;
• “A legislative, adjudicative, administrative, or any other kind of approval, permit, or other entitlement necessary for, or pertaining to, a housing development project issued by a state agency”;
• “An approval, permit, or other entitlement issued by a local agency for a housing development project that is subject to [the Permit Streamlining Act]”;
• “A ministerial approval, permit, or entitlement by a local agency required as a prerequisite to issuance of a building permit for a housing development project”;
• “A requirement to submit an application for a building permit within a specified period of time after the effective date of a housing entitlement described (above)"; and 
• “A vested right associated with an approval, permit, or other entitlement described [above].”

Assembly Bill 1561 s codified as Government Code Sections 65583 and 65914.5.

CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.)

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