Section 65585.03 is added to the Government Code, to read:
A housing element or amendment shall be considered to be in substantial compliance with this article when the local agency adopts the housing element or amendment for the current planning period in accordance with Section 65585 and either of the following apply:
(a) The department finds that the adopted housing element or amendment is in substantial compliance with this article and the department’s compliance findings have not been superseded by subsequent contrary findings by the department or by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) A court of competent jurisdiction determines that the adopted housing element or amendment substantially complies with this article and the court’s decision has not been overturned or superseded by a subsequent court decision or by statute.
Section 65589.55 is added to the Government Code, to read:
(a) For purposes of a local agency’s approval, conditional approval, or disapproval of a housing development project pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 65589.5, a housing element or amendment shall be considered in substantial compliance with this article only if the element or amendment was in substantial compliance, as determined by the department or a court of competent jurisdiction, when a preliminary application, including all of the information required by subdivision (a) of Section 65941.1, was submitted or, if a preliminary application was not submitted, when a complete application pursuant to Section 65943 was submitted.
(b) This section does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law.
In Section 65585.03 of the Government Code, as added by Section 1 of this act, it is the intent of the Legislature to confirm that local agencies cannot self-certify housing element compliance and to ratify the regulatory interpretation expressed in the March 16, 2023, memorandum from the Department of Housing and Community Development to planning directors and interested parties, which states, “where a jurisdiction submits an ‘adopted’ housing element before submitting an initial draft or before considering HCD’s findings on an initial draft, HCD will consider the ‘adopted’ to be an initial draft for purposes of both HCD’s review and the jurisdiction’s statutory compliance,” and “a jurisdiction does not have the authority to determine that its adopted element is in substantial compliance but may provide reasoning why HCD should make a finding of substantial compliance. In addition, a jurisdiction is ‘in compliance’ as of the date of HCD’s letter finding the adopted element in substantial compliance. Any other letters are not a finding of substantial compliance.” In this respect, Section 65585.03 of the Government Code, as added by Section 1 of this act, does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law.
SEC. 4. It is the intent of the Legislature that Section 65585.03 of the Government Code, as added by Section 1 of this act, does not alter the interpretation of the terms “substantially complies” or “substantial compliance” as set forth in Section 44 of Chapter 1009 of the Statutes of 1984.
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.