Housing developments: urban lot splits: historical resources.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not provide detailed information on the exact requirements or criteria for ministerial review of housing developments and urban lot splits, leaving some aspects open to interpretation.

Housing Developments and Historical Resources

AB-1061 modifies the review process for housing developments and urban lot splits near historical resources, streamlining approval processes outside designated historic areas while preserving structures within them.

What This Bill Does

• Modifies the rules for reviewing proposed housing developments so that they can be reviewed more easily if not located within contributing structures of a historic district or individually listed as historical resources in the State Historical Resources Inventory.
• Requires local agencies to automatically approve certain urban lot splits (dividing large properties into smaller ones) if these splits are outside designated historic landmarks and do not require demolition or alteration of specified structures.
• Allows local agencies to set rules for maintaining the value of historic districts listed in the California Register of Historical Resources.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local government agencies responsible for planning and zoning
• Developers looking to build housing developments or split urban lots

Terms To Know

Historic district

An area with buildings, structures, or objects that are important because of their history.

Urban lot splits

Dividing a large piece of land into smaller lots for development.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how local agencies will decide which developments can be reviewed more easily.
• It is unclear what specific structures must be preserved during urban lot splits.

Official Summary Text

AB 1061, Quirk-Silva.
Housing developments: urban lot splits: historical resources.
Under the Planning and Zoning Law, the legislative body of a county or city may adopt ordinances that, among other things, regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land, as provided. The Subdivision Map Act vests the authority to regulate and control the design and improvement of subdivisions in the legislative body of a local agency and sets forth procedures governing the local agency’s processing, approval, conditional approval or disapproval, and filing of tentative, final, and parcel maps. Existing law requires a local agency to consider ministerially a specified proposed housing development or to ministerially approve a parcel map for an urban lot split if the development or parcel meets specified requirements, including, that the development or parcel is not located within a historic district or property included on the State Historic Resources Inventory or within a site
that is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or historic property or district pursuant to city or county ordinance, as specified. Existing law authorizes a local agency to impose specified objective standards on the development or parcel created by an urban lot split, except as specified.
With respect to ministerial review of a proposed housing development under the above-described provisions, this bill would, if the other specified requirements are met, instead require a local agency to consider ministerially the development that is not located in either a contributing structure within a historic district included on the State Historical Resources Inventory or within a historic property or district pursuant to city or county ordinance or in
a parcel individually listed as a historical resource included in the State Historical Resources Inventory or within a property individually designated or listed as a city or county landmark under a city or county ordinance. The bill would also authorize a local agency to adopt objective standards for the purposes of maintaining the historical value of a historic district listed in the California Register of Historical Resources, as specified.
With respect to an urban lot split under the above-described provisions, this bill would, if the other specified requirements are met, instead require a local agency to ministerially approve the urban lot split if the parcel is not located within a historic landmark property included on the State Historical Resources Inventory or within a site that is designated or listed as a city or county landmark pursuant to a city or county ordinance. The bill would additionally require that the proposed urban
lot split not require demolition or alteration of specified structures.
By imposing additional duties on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

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