Permit Streamlining Act: housing development projects: centralized application portal.

Assembly Member Caloza's housing permit streamlining legislation requires California cities and counties with populations over 150,000 to create centralized online application portals for housing development projects by January 1, 2028. These portals must enable applicants to submit required materials and track application status through a single digital interface.

Local jurisdictions may extend their implementation deadline to January 1, 2030 if they determine that meeting the earlier deadline would require substantial permitting fee increases and if they initiate procurement processes by January 1, 2028. While the portals must track applications submitted directly to the city or county, they are not required to display status updates for permits or inspections from other agencies, state entities, or utility providers.

The bill's provisions apply to all California cities, including charter cities, based on legislative findings that streamlining housing permits constitutes a matter of statewide concern rather than solely municipal affairs. Local agencies may levy service charges and fees to fund portal development and maintenance, with no state reimbursement required for implementation costs.