Housing development projects: objective standards: campus development zone.

Assembly Member Fong, joined by Caloza, Haney, Kalra, Wicks, and Wilson, advances a housing measure that ties campus proximity to streamlined ministerial review with a clearer, location-based scope for approval. The bill’s findings describe a student housing crisis tied to campus-area housing scarcity and acknowledge that off-campus housing should not substitute for on-campus development. It seeks to address this crisis by extending use-by-right approvals to developments within campus development zones that meet specific affordability and objective standards, while preserving a ministerial review framework for those projects.

A central change is to limit a local government’s review of a project to the portion of the site that is physically disturbed by construction, excluding other contiguous or noncontiguous areas unless the statute says otherwise. In addition, easements for public rights-of-way or utilities would not render a site ineligible for streamlined, ministerial review. The measure also expands eligibility for campus development zones, allowing mixed-income housing projects to qualify for streamlined review if they meet defined affordability and objective standards, with outcomes to be reported in a statewide assessment.

The bill tightens the criteria and timing surrounding ministerial review and associated standards. It requires that projects seeking ministerial review be multifamily housing and establishes density and height baselines that vary by jurisdiction and corridor characteristics, with special provisions for campus development zones and very low vehicle travel areas. It also prescribes objective standards defined as verifiable and non-discretionary, with design review to be focused and not to impede ministerial approvals. A number of affordability provisions apply to rental and owner-occupied components, including specific percentages of base units allocated to various income tiers and distinct requirements for campus development zones, along with long-term affordability commitments. The measure also requires a phase I environmental assessment and, if needed, a preliminary endangerment assessment, with mitigation steps prior to occupancy.

Beyond the development mechanics, the proposal introduces additional implementation and oversight provisions. It requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to conduct two outcomes studies (due 2027 and 2031) and to publish findings, including unit counts, affordability levels, greenhouse gas implications, and job creation in prevailing wages; and to include campus-development-zone outcomes in the 2031 report. It also mandates relocation assistance to eligible commercial tenants affected by nearby housing development, with a structured schedule tied to lease timing and tenant size, and it specifies that local governments need not provide reimbursement for the act. The measure expands the existing framework for environmental review exemptions for ministerial projects and aligns incentives and density considerations with broader housing and fair housing objectives baked into the policy.