Planning and zoning: general plan: judicial challenges.

Senator Arreguín, with Assembly Members Bryan and Wicks, presents a measure that retools how general-plan challenges are heard and enforced, tying the timeline for compliance to clear court deadlines while extending enforceable reach to charter cities. At its core, the bill creates a framework in which court orders addressing general-plan or housing-element compliance are immediately appealable, and it establishes a defined window for jurisdictions to bring such plans into conformity, subject to limited, standards‑level extensions. The package also extends enforcement reach to charter cities, placing them within the same structure of review and remedy.

A central set of mechanisms centers on how quantified development standards are applied across general plan elements. The measure defines quantified development standards as site-specific limits on density, height, setbacks, unit size, lot coverage, and floor area ratio, and it provides that the most recently adopted element governs when standards conflict. It also authorizes the housing department to initiate review if a local agency misses a deadline to amend an ordinance or policy tied to those standards. In housing-element enforcement, a court finding noncompliance would require bringing the element into conformity within a 120-day period, with court oversight maintained; extensions would be allowed if a review by the Department of Housing and Community Development is not timely completed. The bill further extends the period to complete rezoning under court order to 120 days and replaces prior language about multiple short extensions with a sanctions‑based approach for noncompliance.

The legislation expands practical consequences and the sequencing of compliance actions. It requires a broad set of housing-element and zoning provisions to be enforceable through a judicial order that is immediately appealable, and it imposes a 120-day deadline for bringing general plans or mandatory elements into substantial compliance. The bill also requires planning agencies to submit revised housing elements to the Department of Housing and Community Development for review 45 days prior to adoption, with the department’s findings guiding final adoption. It directs that zoning ordinances be brought into consistency with amended plans within 120 days, and it prescribes a suite of remedies to accompany court orders, including potential suspensions of certain permitting authorities and, in specific circumstances, mandated approvals for residential housing projects that conform to applicable law and the plan.

Implementation and procedural rules accompany these substantive changes. The act requires temporary relief requests to be made by noticed motion or application and permits the court to grant temporary relief during pendency if there is a showing of probable merit, while ensuring that housing developments that comply with the law can proceed and are not unnecessarily blocked. It also preserves a pathway for environmental review by requiring an initial study and, if warranted, an environmental assessment or impact report when action is taken to comply with a court order, with CEQA review not staying the core remedy framework. The authors contend the changes address statewide concerns and apply to all cities, including charter cities, situating the measure within a broader policy context aimed at clarifying and standardizing enforceability and timelines for general-plan and housing-element compliance.