AB 1174 · Housing Laws Navigator
Bills · 2021-2022 Session

AB 1174

Planning and zoning: housing: development application modifications, approvals, and subsequent permits.Ch. 160, Stats. 2021 · chaptered 2021-09-16 · Later amended

Key provisions · Claude summary of the digest, not bill text

Clarified how long SB 35 streamlined approvals stay valid and how modifications and subsequent permits are reviewed, applying the changes retroactively. It took effect immediately as an urgency statute.

  • Approval validity. Clarified requirements for approvals to be valid indefinitely, made approvals valid for 3 years from a final judgment upholding them if litigation is filed, revised construction requirements for continued validity, and extended validity when a modification is requested.
  • Modification standards. Allowed objective building standards to be applied to modification applications submitted before the first building permit application, or to later modifications only if the proponent agrees, and excluded underground space from the 15% square footage change calculation.
  • Subsequent permits. Required subsequent permits to be reviewed under the objective standards in effect when the original application was submitted, unless the proponent agrees to a change.
  • Affordable rent. Revised the definition of "affordable rent" for developments with streamlined applications submitted before January 1, 2019, that meet specified criteria.
  • Retroactivity. Applied these changes retroactively to developments approved, and to modification and subsequent permit applications submitted, before January 1, 2022.

Paraphrased from the Legislative Counsel’s Digest. Check the bill text before relying on it.

ClaudeGreen text is a summary heading written by Claude to help navigate. It is not statute text; the statute text is in black.

SEC. 1In the navigator:§ 65913.4changes

Section 65913.4 of the Government Code is amended to read:

SEC. 2

The Legislature finds and declares that ensuring access to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern and is not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Section 1 of this act amending Section 65913.4 of the Government Code applies to all cities, including charter cities.

SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.

SEC. 4

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to reduce delays, litigation, and inefficient permit processing of housing projects subject to streamlined ministerial approval, it is necessary that this bill go into immediate effect.

Source: LegiScan API, chaptered text of AB 1174 (2021-2022 Session).

Bill text is the chaptered version from LegiScan (California Legislature); spacing is normalized. Code section text in a bill is the text that bill chaptered, not necessarily the law in effect today. Not legal advice.