Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, among other things, prohibits a local agency from disapproving, or conditioning approval in a manner that renders infeasible, a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderate-income households unless the local agency makes written findings as to one of certain sets of conditions, as specified. Existing law defines, for its purposes, a housing development project as a use consisting of, among other things, mixed-use developments consisting of residential and nonresidential uses meeting one of several conditions, including that at least 23 of the new or converted square footage is designated for residential use.
This bill would revise the definition of "housing development project" to, in the case of mixed-use developments with at least 23 of the new or converted square footage designated for residential use, require that no portion of the project designated for use as a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other transient lodging, except as specified.
This bill would apply this requirement retroactively to an application or a revised application for a project that the local agency has not deemed complete, as specified, as of January 1, 2025, including projects that a preliminary application has been submitted for before January 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
SB 838: 65350.5 GOV
02/21/25 - Introduced: 65350.5 GOV
03/26/25 - Amended Senate: 65589.5 GOV, 65589.5 GOV, 65350.5 GOV