Housing development: density bonus

The law limits local discretion over density-bonus benefits and gives developers clearer, earlier determinations of what they may receive. It also allows qualifying projects to use added floor area rather than added units as their density bonus.

What the law does ​

• Requires cities and counties to apply density-bonus rules when a housing application meets qualifying affordability, senior-housing, student-housing, special-needs, or fully affordable-project criteria.
• Requires local governments, once an application is complete, to determine the project’s density-bonus eligibility and amount, applicable parking ratio, and whether enough information was submitted to decide requested incentives, concessions, or development-standard waivers.
• Lets an applicant that submits a base-density study choose a density bonus as a percentage increase in maximum floor area ratio instead of additional dwelling units.
• Requires density bonuses, incentives, concessions, and development-standard waivers to be provided across sites within the same qualifying housing development.
• Makes density bonuses, incentives, concessions, and development-standard waivers nondiscretionary and not subject to separate zoning changes, general-plan amendments, studies, or CEQA review.
• Applies the law statewide, including to charter cities.

Who it affects ​

• Housing developers seeking density bonuses for projects that include qualifying affordable or senior housing.
• Cities, counties, and city-and-county governments processing density-bonus applications.
• Lower-income, very-low-income, moderate-income, senior, homeless, disabled-veteran, foster-youth, and qualifying student households.

Context ​

The law preserves local authority to deny a requested incentive or waiver where it would cause an unmitigable health, safety, historic-resource, or state- or federal-law conflict.

Breakdown ​

Automatic Density Bonus Eligibility ​

AB 2433 changes when a city or county must provide density bonus benefits for a housing development. Instead of requiring the applicant to seek a density bonus, the local government must provide the bonus, incentives or concessions, and qualifying waivers or reductions of development standards when it determines that the application meets the bill’s criteria, including required affordable or senior housing percentages.

Key takeaways

• The bill shifts the trigger for density bonus benefits from an applicant’s request to a qualifying housing development application.
• Cities and counties must grant the applicable density bonus benefits when they determine the project meets the specified criteria.
• Eligible benefits include a density bonus, incentives or concessions, and qualifying waivers or reductions of development standards.
• A qualifying project must include the specified share of units for very low-income, lower-income, or senior citizen housing, among other requirements.

Floor Area Ratio Density Bonuses ​

The bill lets applicants who submit a qualifying base density study choose a density bonus based on a percentage increase in the project’s maximum floor area ratio, rather than only on dwelling units per acre. It also updates the site-location rule so density bonuses and related benefits must be provided on sites within the same housing development.

Key takeaways

• Applicants who provide a qualifying base density study may choose a density bonus calculated as a percentage increase in maximum floor area ratio.
• For applicants using a base density study, the bill creates an exception to the general rule that base density must be calculated in dwelling units per acre.
• The bill revises the rules governing where a density bonus may be used within a housing development.
• A density bonus, incentive or concession, or waiver or reduction must be provided on sites that are part of the same housing development.

Density Bonus Eligibility Determinations ​

The bill requires a city or county to tell an applicant whether a project qualifies for a density bonus after the local government determines that the application is complete. This adds an explicit eligibility decision to the existing application-completeness process.

Key takeaways

• Cities and counties must provide a density bonus eligibility determination when they deem an application complete.
• The determination must state whether the proposed project is eligible for a density bonus.
• The requirement applies after the local government completes its review of whether the application is complete.

Density Bonus Incentive Calculations ​

This part updates how cities and counties calculate the number of incentives or concessions available to a housing developer seeking a density bonus. The bill revises some of the criteria used to determine how many requested incentives or concessions an applicant may receive.

Key takeaways

• The bill changes certain calculations used to determine the number of density bonus incentives or concessions available to an applicant.
• Cities and counties will use the revised calculations when deciding how many incentives or concessions an applicant is eligible to receive.
• The bill does not change the basic process allowing an applicant to request specific incentives or concessions as described in this part of the digest.

Density Bonus Environmental Review ​

The bill clarifies that approving density bonuses, incentives, concessions, and waivers or reductions of development standards is not a discretionary decision. It also says these approvals do not require CEQA environmental review. In addition, waivers or reductions of development standards do not require plan amendments, zoning changes, studies, or other discretionary approvals.

Key takeaways

• A city or county must treat the approval of a density bonus, incentive, concession, or development-standard waiver or reduction as nondiscretionary.
• These density bonus-related approvals do not require environmental review under CEQA.
• A waiver or reduction of development standards does not require a general plan amendment, local coastal plan amendment, or zoning change.
• A waiver or reduction of development standards does not require a study or another discretionary approval.

Statewide Application ​

The bill states that its changes address a statewide concern rather than a local municipal matter. As a result, the changes apply to every California city, including charter cities.

Key takeaways

• The bill includes findings that its housing-density-bonus changes concern the state as a whole.
• The bill’s provisions apply to all cities in California.
• Charter cities are included and must follow the bill’s changes.

Coordinating Overlapping Bill Changes ​

This part coordinates AB 2433 with possible changes to the same housing density bonus law in AB 2480 and SB 1383. If AB 2433 and either or both of those bills become law, and AB 2433 is enacted last, AB 2433 will incorporate their additional changes to Government Code Section 65915.

Key takeaways

• The provision addresses overlapping amendments to the state density bonus law.
• It applies only if AB 2433 and AB 2480, SB 1383, or both are enacted.
• AB 2433 must be enacted after the other applicable bill or bills for these coordinated changes to take effect.
• When those conditions are met, AB 2433 incorporates the additional amendments to Government Code Section 65915.

No State Reimbursement ​

The bill creates new duties for local governments, which would otherwise be treated as a state-mandated local program. It says the state does not have to reimburse local agencies or school districts for costs from those duties for the reason specified in the bill.

Key takeaways

• The bill imposes new requirements on local governments.
• Those requirements would create a state-mandated local program.
• The bill states that no state reimbursement is required for costs caused by the act.
• Existing law generally provides a process for reimbursing certain state-mandated costs, but the bill makes an exception here.