Mitigation Fee Act: waiver of fees: affordable rental housing.

Assembly Member Ávila Farías proposes modifying California's Mitigation Fee Act to require local agencies to waive certain development fees for qualifying affordable rental housing projects. The legislation targets residential developments that maintain long-term affordability commitments through public entity agreements.

Under the proposed changes, residential projects must meet specific criteria to qualify for fee waivers: a minimum 55-year regulatory agreement with a public entity and reservation of at least 49 percent of units (excluding manager units) for lower-income households at affordable rent levels. The bill limits the scope of mandatory fee waivers to those funding public improvements or facilities, while explicitly preserving fees related to school facilities, code enforcement, and inspection services.

The measure introduces new parameters for local agency fee collection practices, building upon existing Mitigation Fee Act provisions that regulate the timing and application of development fees. Current law allows local agencies to impose various fees on development projects to fund public improvements, including water and sewer connections, while restricting fee collection timing to final inspection or certificate of occupancy issuance.