Existing law establishes the Infill Infrastructure Grant Program of 2019 (program) , which requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature, to establish and administer a grant program to allocate those funds to eligible applicants to fund capital improvement projects that are an integral part of, or necessary to facilitate the development of, a qualifying infill project, qualifying infill area, or catalytic qualifying infill area. Existing law requires the department to administer a specified competitive application process for capital improvement projects for large jurisdictions, as defined. For these purposes, existing law defines a qualifying infill project to include a residential or mixed-use residential project located within an urbanized area on a vacant site where at least 75% of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels that are developed with urban uses. For catalytic qualifying infill areas, existing law requires grants be provided using a selection process that, among other things, requires eligible applicants to submit documentation of all necessary entitlements and permits, and a certification that the project is shovel ready, except as provided.
This bill would expand the definition of qualifying infill project to include a residential or mixed-use residential project located within an urbanized area on a vacant site where at least 75% of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels that have been previously with urban uses. For catalytic qualifying infill areas, the bill would instead require eligible applicants to submit documentation of approval of necessary entitlement and building permits, except as provided.
Existing law requires the department, in its review of applications, to rank affected qualifying infill areas and catalytic qualifying infill areas based on specified criteria, including the qualifying infill area's or catalytic qualifying infill area's inclusion of, or proximity to, a train station or major transit stop and the proximity of housing to existing or planned parks, employment or retail centers, schools, or social services.
This bill would revise these provisions to require the department to rank applications, as described above, based on the qualifying infill area's or catalytic qualifying infill area's inclusion of, or proximity or accessibility to, a transit station or major transit stop or walkability to essential services or businesses. The bill would additionally revise these provisions to require the department's ranking to be based on the proximity of housing to services, rather than social services.
Existing law requires the department to administer an over-the-counter application process for specified grants under the program for capital improvement projects for small jurisdictions, as provided. Among other things, existing law requires eligible applicants to submit documentation of all necessary entitlement and permits, and a certification that the project is shovel-ready, except as provided. For these purposes, existing law defines the term "qualifying infill area" as a contiguous area located within an urbanized area that meets one of specified alternative conditions, including that the capital improvement project for which funding is requested is necessary, as specified, to make the area suitable and available for residential development or to allow the area to accommodate housing for additional income levels, and the area may be included on an inventory of land in the housing element, as specified.
This bill would instead require eligible applicants to submit documentation of approval of necessary entitlement and building permits, except as provided.
Existing law defines various terms for the purposes of the program, including, "capital improvement project," "catalytic qualifying infill area," "eligible applicant," "urbanized area," and "urban uses."
This bill would revise these definitions. The bill would additionally define the terms "major transit stop" and "walkability."

Statutes affected:
SB 772: 53559 HSC, 53559.1 HSC
02/21/25 - Introduced: 53559 HSC, 53559.1 HSC
04/22/25 - Amended Senate: 53559 HSC, 53559.1 HSC