Legislative Counsel’s Digest, from the chaptered bill.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city and requires that general plan to include, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development to notify the office of the Attorney General, that a city, county, or city and county is in violation of state law if the department finds that the housing element or an amendment to the housing element does not substantially comply with specified provisions of the Planning and Zoning Law, or that the local government has taken action or failed to act in violation of specified provisions of law relating to housing, including, among others, the Housing Accountability Act, the Density Bonus Law, and the Housing Crisis Act of 2019.
Existing law provides that an intervention takes place when a nonparty becomes a party to an action or proceeding between other persons by, among other things, joining a plaintiff in claiming what is sought by the complaint. Existing law requires the court to permit a nonparty to intervene in the action or proceeding if a provision of law confers an unconditional right to intervene.
This bill would permit both the department and the office of the Attorney General to intervene as a matter of unconditional right in any legal action addressing a violation of the specified housing laws described above, including, among others, the Housing Accountability Act, the Density Bonus Law, and the Housing Crisis Act of 2019.