The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law requires the housing element to include, among other things, an inventory of land suitable and available for residential development, including specified sites, an analysis of the relationship of zoning and public facilities and services to these sites (first analysis) , and an analysis of the relationship of the sites identified in the land inventory to the jurisdiction's duty to affirmatively further fair housing (2nd analysis) . If the inventory of sites does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the need for groups of all household income levels, as provided, existing law requires that the local government rezone sites within specified time periods.
This bill would additionally require the 2nd analysis to demonstrate that the jurisdiction has accommodated a meaningful portion of its share of the regional housing need for lower income households on sites located in higher income, racially exclusive areas to the extent that those areas exist within the jurisdiction. The bill would also require the local government to rezone the sites within specified time periods, as described above, if the inventory of sites does not affirmatively further fair housing. By imposing additional duties on local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires a housing element to include a program that sets forth a schedule of actions during the planning period, each with a timeline for implementation such that there will be beneficial impacts of the programs within the planning period, that the local government is undertaking or intends to undertake to implement the policies and achieve the goals and objectives of the housing element through specified actions. Existing law requires this program to affirmatively further fair housing and consist of specified components, including an analysis of available federal, state, and local data and knowledge to identify integration and segregation patterns and trends, racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty and affluence, disparities in access to opportunity, and disproportionate housing needs, including displacement risk.
This bill would require the above-described analysis to be completed at least one year before the adoption deadline for the revision of the housing element, and would require the analysis to include meaningful consultation with members of protected classes and organizations representing their interests. By imposing additional duties on local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
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.

Statutes affected:
AB 906: 65583 GOV
02/19/25 - Introduced: 65583 GOV