Unlawfully restrictive covenants: grocery stores and supermarkets.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details about the additional duties imposed on county officials or their potential costs.

Making Old Grocery Store Sites Legal Again

AB-1857 makes it easier to open new grocery stores and supermarkets on land where they previously operated but have closed down, by voiding certain restrictive covenants.

What This Bill Does

• Makes void any covenant, restriction, or condition in property documents that prohibits or restricts the use of a property as a grocery store or supermarket if one was there before but has ceased operations and an approved modification document is recorded.
• Allows interested parties to submit a restrictive covenant modification document to the county recorder to prove an existing restriction is unenforceable.
• Requires county officials to check submitted documents for accuracy before they are recorded.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who want to open grocery stores or supermarkets on land where one used to operate but has closed down.
• Local government officials responsible for checking and recording property documents.

Terms To Know

Restrictive covenant

A rule in a property document that limits what can be built or done on the land.

Interested party

Someone who has a stake in the property and wants to use it for a grocery store or supermarket.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost local governments to handle these new duties.
• It is unclear if this law will encourage more grocery stores and supermarkets to open on old sites.

Official Summary Text

AB 1857, as amended, Aguiar-Curry.
Unlawfully restrictive covenants: grocery stores and supermarkets.
Existing law makes void and unenforceable any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of any interest in real property that effectively prohibits or restricts certain land uses, including the installation or use of a solar energy system or construction or use of an accessory dwelling unit or junior accessory dwelling unit on certain lots. Existing law authorizes a person who holds or is acquiring an ownership interest of record in property that the person believes is the subject of an unlawfully restrictive covenant, as specified, to record a restrictive covenant modification document. Before recording the document, existing law requires the county recorder to submit the modification document and the original document to the county counsel, who is required to determine whether the
original document contains an unlawful restriction.
This bill would make void and unenforceable against an interested party any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, lease, or other recorded or unrecorded instrument affecting the transfer or sale of any interest in real property that effectively prohibits or restricts the use of that property as a grocery store or supermarket, as defined, if a grocery store or supermarket previously operated on the property and has ceased operations and an approved restrictive covenant modification document has been recorded in the public record. The bill would entitle an interested party, as defined, to establish that an existing restrictive covenant is unenforceable by submitting a restrictive covenant modification document to the county recorder, in accordance with certain procedures, to allow the grocery store or supermarket development to proceed. By imposing additional duties
on county officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would include findings and declarations relating to these provisions.
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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