Amended  IN  Assembly  May 10, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 832

Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom

February 17, 2021

An act to add Section 34173.5 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to land use, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 832, as amended, Bloom. City of Los Angeles: transfer of former redevelopment agency land use plans and functions.
The Community Redevelopment Law authorized the establishment of redevelopment agencies in communities to address the effects of blight, as defined. Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies as of February 1, 2012, and authorizes a local agency that authorized the creation of a redevelopment agency to become the successor agency to the former redevelopment agency, as specified. If no local agency elects to serve as a successor agency for a dissolved redevelopment agency, existing law requires a public body referred to as a designated local authority to be immediately formed to serve as the successor agency until a local agency elects to become the successor agency.
Existing law, at the request of a city or county that authorized the creation of a redevelopment agency, transfers all land use related plans and functions of the former redevelopment agency, except as specified.
This bill would transfer to the City of Los Angeles all land use related plans and functions of the former Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, and would make the amendment or repeal of those land use related plans or functions exempt from specified provisions governing community redevelopment. The bill would deem any land use or development project permitted by specified laws of the City of Los Angeles for a property in a redevelopment project area to be an allowed land use or development project for purposes of the applicable redevelopment plan. The bill would deem certain land use related plans and functions of the former Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles to be of no further force and effect. The bill would make these provisions effective November 11, 2019.
Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.
This bill would exempt from CEQA a specified ordinance of the City of Los Angeles, and any action by the city before or after the adoption of the ordinance prior to January 1, 2023, in furtherance or implementing the transfer of all land use related plans and functions of the former redevelopment agency, as specified.
This bill would provide that its provisions are severable.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for City of Los Angeles.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The City of Los Angeles (the City) is experiencing a severe housing crisis that is impacting the health, safety, and welfare of its people.
(b) Since 1948, the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) was the City’s public partner in housing, commercial, neighborhood, and economic development in communities that suffered from blight and catastrophic events. Redevelopment agencies, such as CRA/LA, were dedicated to revitalizing, refurbishing, and renewing economically disadvantaged communities.
(c) Effective June 29, 2011, Assembly Bill 26 of the First Extraordinary Session (Chapter 5 of the 2011-12 First Extraordinary Session) (AB 26) deemed, upon dissolution of a redevelopment agency, any property taxes that would have been allocated to the redevelopment agency to no longer be deemed tax increment, and instead to be deemed property tax revenues and to be allocated first to successor agencies to make payments on the indebtedness incurred by the dissolved redevelopment agencies, with remaining balances allocated pursuant to applicable constitutional and statutory provisions. Pursuant to Section 34167 of the Health and Safety Code, Part 1.85 (commencing with Section 34170) of the Health and Safety Code added by AB 26 is intended to preserve, to the maximum extent possible, the revenues and assets of redevelopment agencies so that those assets and revenues that are not needed to pay for enforceable obligations may be used by local governments to fund core governmental services including police and fire protection services and schools.
(d) The dissolution of the former CRA/LA pursuant to AB 26 took effect on February 1, 2012. At that time, the City elected not to become the successor agency of the former CRA/LA. As a result, the Governor appointed a three-member governing board as the designated local authority (DLA) to wind down the operations of the former CRA/LA.
(e) On June 27, 2012, the Legislature and the Governor enacted Assembly Bill 1484 of the 2012 Regular Session (Chapter 26 of the Statutes of 2012) (AB 1484), which, among other things, did both of the following:
(1) Amended Health and Safety Code Section 34189 to make inoperative all provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law (Part 1 (commencing with Section 33000) of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code) that depended on the allocation of tax increment to redevelopment agencies with limited exceptions.
(2) Amended Health and Safety Code Section 34173 to allow a city or county that authorized the creation of a redevelopment agency to request transfer of all land use related plans and functions of the former redevelopment agency to that city or county.
(f) The City does not receive any tax increment to implement any requirements, goals, or objectives of the redevelopment project plans.
(g) On June 21, 2012, the governing board of the CRA/LA, the duly established successor agency to the former Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, approved a resolution applicable to certain specified redevelopment plan project areas that resolved the following: “For purposes of determining whether land uses proposed in development applications for any property located in the Project Areas are permitted uses, it is hereby determined that any land uses permitted for such property by the applicable provisions of the City of Los Angeles General Plan, Community Plan and Zoning Ordinance, all as they now exist or are hereafter amended or supplanted from time to time, shall be permitted land uses for all purposes under the applicable Redevelopment Plan [and] [t]he land use designation for any property in a Project Area set forth in the Redevelopment Plan Map and the land use regulations for such property set forth in the Redevelopment Plan for the applicable Project Area shall defer to and be superseded by the applicable City of Los Angeles General Plan, Community Plan and Zoning Ordinance land use designations and regulations for such property, all as they now exist or are hereafter amended or supplanted from time to time.”
(h) On September 24, 2019, the City Council of the City of Los Angeles adopted a resolution requesting transfer of all land use related plans and functions of the former redevelopment agency to the City pursuant to Section 34173 of the Health and Safety Code, to be effective upon the effective date of Ordinance No. 186325.
(i) On September 27, 2019, Mayor Eric Garcetti signed Ordinance No. 186325 and Ordinance No. 186325 became effective upon November 11, 2019. Therefore, pursuant to subdivision (i) of Section 34173 of the Health and Safety Code, an action by the City to amend or repeal any land use related plan or function of the former Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles transferred to the City of Los Angeles upon the effective date of Ordinance No. 186325 and those land use related plans and functions are subject to only those procedures, reports, and other requirements that would be applicable to amending or repealing a land use plan, or zoning ordinance, as applicable, independent of any procedure, report, or other requirement of Division 24 (commencing with Section 33000) of the Health and Safety Code. Additionally, pursuant to subdivision (i) of Section 34173 of the Health and Safety Code, the City is prohibited from creating a new project area, adding territory to, or expanding or changing the boundaries of a project area, or taking any action that would increase the amount of obligated property tax (formerly tax increment) necessary to fulfill any existing enforceable obligation beyond what was authorized as of June 27, 2011.
(j) On October 23, 2019, the City was sued on the following:
(1) Under Section 21167 of the Public Resources Code, the City’s compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) in adopting the ordinance to request transfer of all land use related plans and functions of the former redevelopment agency.
(2) The adequacy of the City’s request to transfer all land use related plans and functions of the former redevelopment agency under subdivision (i) of Section 34173 of the Health and Safety Code.
(3) The City’s practice of approving projects with density greater than the density restrictions in redevelopment plans under processes under state and city law to allow greater density in exchange for affordable housing, as violating and unlawfully amending the redevelopment plans.
(k) In the last few years, petitioners and project opponents have brought multiple lawsuits or threatened challenges on the approval by the City` City of housing projects that involved over 3,000 housing units, including affordable housing units, on the basis that they do not conform to redevelopment plan requirements.
(l) The City is unique compared to other cities in the state for both of the following reasons:

(m)

(1) The City elected not to become the successor agency to its redevelopment agency, which was done by only six other cities, including the Cities of Los Banos, Mendota, Merced, Pismo Beach, Riverbank, and Santa Paula.
(2) In the City, there are 19 active redevelopment plans which include project areas of approximately 851 acres, including plans with extensive land use and development regulations that are different from the City’s own existing land use and zoning regulations.
(3) The City has extensive existing and newly adopted land use regulations, including, but not limited to, regulations required by local voter initiative and designed to increase the supply of affordable housing, which have been challenged as conflicting with certain of the land use related plans and functions transferred to the City from the former redevelopment agency.

(n)

(m) The City is not the successor agency to the former redevelopment agency.

(o)

(n) The ambiguity about the status of the redevelopment plans in the City, including under state law, is delaying and preventing urgently needed housing, including affordable housing, in the City.

(p)

(o) The unique circumstances of the City described in this section require special legislation that applies to the City.
(p) It is the intent of the Legislature that this act does not affect obligations, if any, of the City of Los Angeles to comply with the Judgement After Appeal in County of Los Angeles v. Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, consolidated with Wiggins, et al v. Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles et al, (Los Angeles Superior Court Nos. BC 276472, related with Case No. BC277539).

SEC. 2.

 Section 34173.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

34173.5.
 (a) The adoption of Los Angeles City Ordinance No. 186325 on September 27, 2019, and any action by the City of Los Angeles before or after the adoption of that ordinance prior to January 1, 2023, in furtherance of implementing the transfer of all land use related plans and functions of the former redevelopment agency, including, but not limited to, the adoption of an implementing ordinance or resolution, is exempt from the requirements of Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, including, but not limited to, subdivision (i) of Section 34173, both of the following are effective November 11, 2019:
(1) All land use related plans and functions of the former Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles are transferred to the City of Los Angeles.
(2) The amendment or repeal of a land use related plan or function transferred pursuant to paragraph (1) is exempt from this division.
(c) Effective November 11, 2019, any land use or development project permitted by the City of Los Angeles General Plan, community plan, specific plan, Los Angeles Municipal Code, or other applicable land use plan or zoning ordinance adopted under the authority of the Los Angeles City Charter or Los Angeles Municipal Code, for a property in a redevelopment project area, is an allowed land use or development project for purposes of the applicable redevelopment plan, and any conflicting provision in any redevelopment plan shall defer to and be superseded by the applicable provisions of the City of Los Angeles General Plan, community plans, specific plans, Los Angeles Municipal Code, and any other land use plans or zoning ordinances adopted under the authority of the Los Angeles City Charter or Los Angeles Municipal Code.
(d) Effective November 11, 2019, any provision in any land use related plan or function of the former Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles that does any of the following has no further force and effect:
(1) Requires the City of Los Angeles to prepare or adopt policies, guidelines, or take any other legislative action.
(2) Places a numerical cap or any other limitation on density, floor area ratios, total dwelling units or buildings, that could limit the development of housing, including affordable housing.
(3) Requires administration or implementation of a cap or limitation described in paragraph (2).
(4) Imposes a requirement pursuant to a provision of the Community Redevelopment Law (Part 1 (commencing with Section 33000)) that depend on the allocation of tax increment to redevelopment agencies, including, but not limited to, Sections 33413, 33445, 33640, 33641, 33645, and subdivision (b) of Section 33670.
(5) Imposes a requirement pursuant to Section 33413.
(e) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

SEC. 3.

 The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique circumstances of the City of Los Angeles as described in Section 1.

SEC. 4.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to create affordable housing opportunities at the earliest possible time, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.