Housing Accountability Act and the Housing Element

• The Housing Accountability Act (Government Code section 65589.5) establishes state overarching policy that a local government not deny, reduce the density of, or make infeasible housing development projects, emergency shelters, or farmworker housing that are consistent with objective local development standards and contribute to meeting housing need. Jurisdictions without a housing element in compliance with State Housing Element Law or without a complete site inventory are further limited in the ability to deny a housing development application. Among other requirements (including those related to housing development regardless of affordability levels), the Housing Accountability Act states that a local agency shall not disapprove or condition approval in a manner that renders the housing development project infeasible, including through the use of design review standards, for development of an emergency shelter or a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderateincome households unless it makes written findings, based upon a preponderance of the evidence in the record, as to one of the following: • The jurisdiction has adopted a housing element in substantial compliance with Housing Element Law and the jurisdiction has met or exceeded its share of the RHNA for the planning period for the income category proposed for the housing development project.

• • The project would have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific adverse impact without rendering the development unaffordable to low- and moderate-income households or rendering the development of the emergency shelter financially infeasible.

• • The denial of the project or imposition of conditions is required in order to comply with specific state or federal law, and there is no feasible method to comply without rendering the development unaffordable or rendering the development of the emergency shelter financially infeasible.

• • The project is proposed on land zoned for agriculture or resource preservation, or which does not have adequate water or wastewater facilities to serve the project.

• • The project is inconsistent with both the jurisdiction’s zoning ordinance and general plan land use designation, unless the housing development project is proposed on a site that is identified as suitable or available for very low, low-, or moderate-income households in the jurisdiction’s housing element, or if the local agency has failed to identify in the inventory of land in its housing element sites that can be developed for housing within the planning period and are sufficient to provide for the jurisdiction’s share of the regional housing need for all income levels pursuant to Section 65584.

“Housing for very low, low-, or moderate-income households” means where at least 20 percent of the total units are or will be sold or rented to lower income households or 100 percent of the units will be sold or rented to persons and families of moderate income, or persons and families of middle income. End Housing Accountability Act explanation.

Site Inventory Guidebook

Page 35

May 2020

Rezoned due to an unaccommodated need from previous planning period [9] :

Pursuant to Government Code section 65584.09, if the jurisdiction failed to make adequate sites available to accommodate the regional housing need in the prior planning period, the jurisdiction must zone or rezone sites to accommodate any unaccommodated need within the first year of the planning period. If more than one year has lapsed since the beginning of the planning period, the housing element cannot be found in compliance with Housing Element Law until the required zoning or rezoning is complete and the housing element is amended to reflect the necessary rezoning.