Official Summary Text
AB 1359, as amended, Ahrens.
Planning and zoning: development conditions: housing-forward jurisdictions.
Jury service exemptions.
Existing law allows for an eligible person to be excused from jury service only for undue hardship upon themselves or the public, as defined by the Judicial Council. Existing rules of court allow a person with a disability or their representative to seek a permanent medical excuse from jury service and require the individual to submit a written request accompanied by a supporting letter, memo, or note from a treating health care provider, as specified.
This bill would authorize a person 80 years of age or older to seek a permanent excuse from jury service without providing a supporting letter, memorandum, or note from a treating health care provider. The bill would require the court to permanently excuse a person who seeks the above-described permanent excuse from
jury service. The bill would authorize the Judicial Council to adopt or amend a rule of court and publish related judicial forms as necessary to implement these provisions.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. The housing element is required to be updated at specified intervals, and when updating the housing element, the local government is required to take into account regional housing needs for various income levels, as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to determine whether the housing element is in substantial compliance with specified provisions of the Planning and Zoning Law, and requires HCD to designate jurisdictions as prohousing, as prescribed.
The Planning and Zoning Law also provides for the creation of an
accessory dwelling unit by local ordinance, or, if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, by ministerial approval, in accordance with specified standards. The law prohibits a local agency from imposing certain standards, except as specified, when evaluating a proposed accessory dwelling unit.
Existing law, commonly referred to as the Density Bonus Law, requires a city or county to provide a developer that proposes a housing development, as defined, within the city or county with a density bonus, waivers or reductions of development standards and parking ratios, and other incentives or concessions, as specified, if the developer agrees to construct, among other options, specified percentages of units for lower income households or very low income households, and meets other requirements.
This bill would authorize a housing-forward jurisdiction, defined to mean a city, county, or city and county that is designated as a
prohousing jurisdiction by HCD and has met or exceeded its share of the regional housing need allocation, as provided, to impose certain conditions on a development project, including prohibiting a developer from using a density bonus benefit, as defined, to reduce the number of bicycle parking or storage spaces, and requiring an impact fee for specified accessory dwelling units.