AB 480 - NYU Furman Center

State Land Use Enacted Legislation

Bill #	State	Year	Party	Topic
AB 480	CA	2023	D	Affordable housing incentives and financing, Publicly-owned

Provided by Furman

Summary

SB 747 and AB 480 will each only become operative if both are enacted and become effective (both were enacted).
Both bills, for requirements for the disposal of surplus land owned by a local agency, define ‘dispose’ to include the sale of surplus land or the lease of surplus land for more than 15 years during which development or demolition will occur.
Existing law requires a local agency to declare land as either surplus land (subject to specific legal restrictions for disposal of these lands- including affordability requirements for the subsequent development of housing) or ‘exempt surplus land’
Both bills define ‘exempt surplus land’ to include:

Land transferred to a community land trust housing development;
Surplus land that is less than one-half acre in area and is not contiguous to land owned by a state or local agency that is used for open-space or low- and moderate-income housing purposes.
Land owned by a public-use airport on which residential uses are prohibited; and
Land owned by transportation agencies that is developed for commercial or industrial uses for the purpose or revenue generation, provided that the agency has an adopted land use plan or policy that designates at least 50% of the gross acreage for residential units (at least 10 units per gross acre), 25% are affordable to lower income households, and the agency disposes of the land through a competitive request for proposals.

Both bills require the Department of Housing and Community Development to maintain a list of all entities, including housing sponsors, that have indicated interest in surplus land for the purpose of developing low- and moderate-income housing.

Differentiate the time requirement for affordability of disposed surplus land based on occupancy. Clarifies that disposition laws will not prevent a local agency from obtaining fair market value for surplus land, will not limit a local agency’s authority or discretion to decide on land use matter for surplus land, and will not require a local agency to dispose of surplus land.
Remove an exemption from the Administrative Procedure Act for the Department of Housing and Community Development implementing standards for localities to make central inventory of all surplus land.
Make penalties for violations of disposition laws- not applicable to nonsubstantive violations/violations that do not affect the availability of affordable housing, or clerical errors.

AB 480 exempts local agencies from making a declaration at a public meeting for certain “exempt surplus land,” if they identify the land in a published notice available for public comment at least 30 days before the exemption takes effect;

Extends affordability requirements for surplus land on tribal trust lands developed for a housing development from 45 years to 50 years;
Requires affordability requirements for surplus land to be recorded through covenant or deed restriction;
Defines surplus land subject to the declaration exemption as:

Land less than 10 acres subject to an open, competitive solicitation or bid process that is to include 300 or more residential units, with at least 25 percent of the residential units affordable to lower income households;
Land more than 10 acres subject to an open, competitive solicitation or bid process that is to include at least 300 or more residential units or a number of residential units 10 times the number of acres of surplus land and less than 10,000 residential units, with at least 25 percent of the residential units affordable to lower income households;
Land that is to become a mixed-use development with a least 50 percent of square footage designated for residential use and with at least 25 percent of the residential units affordable to lower income households;

If the local agency disposes of land in violation of this subparagraph, the local agency shall be liable for a civil penalty calculated based on the number of violations and percentage of the final sale price of the land

Extends the time by which dispositions of real property by local agencies subject to surplus land disposal procedures existing on December 31, 2019 must be complete to December 31, 2027.