Housing elements: prohousing designation.

Assembly Member Soria's housing legislation modifies California's prohousing designation process, transitioning from emergency to permanent regulations while introducing new provisions for smaller jurisdictions. The bill revises Section 65589.9 of the Government Code, which governs how the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) evaluates and rewards jurisdictions that adopt housing-friendly policies.

Under the amended framework, HCD must evaluate housing element submissions from nonentitlement jurisdictions—defined as cities under 50,000 residents or counties under 200,000 residents—beginning with the seventh housing element cycle. This evaluation applies only to jurisdictions with compliant housing elements and aims to minimize supplementary documentation requirements. The bill also prohibits HCD from requiring nonentitlement jurisdictions to renew their prohousing designations for at least five years, though HCD retains authority to revoke designations when necessary.

Jurisdictions that maintain compliant housing elements and receive prohousing designation continue to receive additional points or preferences when applying for state housing and infrastructure programs. These include the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, Transformative Climate Communities Program, and various infill development grant programs. The legislation maintains existing definitions of prohousing policies, which encompass local financial incentives, reduced parking requirements, streamlined permit processing, and other measures that facilitate housing development.