State Policy on Housing Project Approval

“It is the policy of the state that a local government not reject or make infeasible housing development projects, including emergency shelters, that contribute to meeting the need determined pursuant to this article (RHNA) without a thorough analysis of the economic, social, and environmental effects of the action and without complying with subdivision (d)” Government Code, § 65589.5, subdivision (b).

The HAA provides additional protections for projects that contain housing affordable to very low-, low- or moderate-income households, including farmworker housing, or emergency shelters. State policy prohibits local governments from rejecting or otherwise making infeasible these types of housing development projects, including emergency shelters, without making specific findings.