The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) issued guidance and hosted a webinar earlier this week to provide an overview of several legislative proposals that were signed into law during the 2015-16 legislative session. HCD discussed Senate Bill 1069 (Wieckowski), Assembly Bill 2299 (Bloom), and Assembly Bill 2406 (Thurmond), all of which support development of affordable housing units, referred to as Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU).
Specifically, SB 1069 makes changes to parking requirements, reduces permitting fees and other fees associated with water and utility connection fees, addresses fire sprinkler requirements, requires a local government to use a ministerial process to approve applications for qualifying ADUs, and prohibits a local government from adopting an ordinance that precludes ADU development. AB 2299 also requires a ministerial approval process for ADUs under specified conditions, and includes requirements dealing with parking, unit size, and setbacks. Lastly, AB 2406 provides a local government the ability to authorize the development of Junior ADUs through adoption of an ordinance, which are also prescribed various requirements.
The HCD guidance document can be accessed here.