Item 30 - Uncodified Ordinance Amending the List of Parcels

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Ordinance to Revise Local AB 2011 Implementing Ordinance December 17, 2024 Page 2 Assembly Bill 2243 (AB 2243), signed into law by the Governor on September 19, 2024, will take effect on January 1, 2025. AB 2243 makes certain changes to AB 2011 site eligibility criteria and development standards. The changes will result in a number of sites that were previously not eligible for AB 2011 streamlined, ministerial approval and, thus, not contemplated, analyzed or included in the Ordinances, to now qualify for AB 2011 streamlining. The proposed ordinance amendments will revise the previously adopted AB 2011 exempt parcels lists by removing sites that are less integral to the General Plan's vision and adopted land use plan and adding sites to the previously adopted exempt parcels lists that are key to implementing that vision. The proposed ordinance amendments will also revise the previously adopted AB 2011 alternative and up -zoned parcels list. The lost potential capacity from the amended exempt parcels lists will be covered by the surplus capacity from the amended alternative and up -zoned parcels. DISCUSSION Over the last five years, numerous housing bills have been signed into law to address the state's housing crisis. In general, changes to state law have attempted to solve the housing crisis through limiting local land use controls to allow development proposals to circumvent community review and comment, compliance with local land use plans, and streamlining or exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Cities like Santa Ana that routinely exceed their Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for housing unit development are often not exempt from these laws. Assembly Bill 2011 AB 2011, known as the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, was approved by the state legislature, signed into law by the Governor on September 28, 2022, and took effect July 1, 2023. The bill created a streamlined, ministerial approval process for housing developments that meet specified objective standards, affordability, site criteria, and wage and labor standards. Specifically, the bill will allowed residential development on sites currently zoned and designated for commercial or retail uses. The bill also created a CEQA-exempt, ministerial approval process for qualifying development projects. The law provides different qualifying criteria for two categories of housing and they include 100-percent affordable projects and mixed -income projects. The provisions will sunset on January 1, 2033, unless extended through subsequent legislation. AB 2011 includes a provision that permits local governments to exempt parcels from the streamlining provisions permitted under the bill before a development proponent submits a development application on a parcel provided certain findings are made. A local government must identify one or more alternative sites for residential development that would result in no net loss of the total potential residential density in the jurisdiction, no net loss of the potential residential density of housing affordable to lower income households in the jurisdiction, and will affirmatively further fair housing.