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SB 35 aims to respond to California’s housing crisis by streamlining and expediting the construction of affordable housing.
The City of Hercules allows SB 35 streamlining for proposed developments with 50 percent or greater affordability, subject to specific eligibility requirements. The following process flowchart and eligibility requirements will help an applicant to determine if SB 35 is applicable to their development:
Which projects are eligible?
Housing projects qualify for SB 35 if they satisfy a number of criteria, including:
- Agreement is reached with California Native American tribes,
- Provides the specified number of affordable housing units,
- Contains multi-family or mixed-use residential
- Complies with objective planning standards,
- Is in an urban area with 75% of the perimeter developed,
- Is on sites zoned or planned to allow residential use,
- Is not located in the coastal zone, agricultural land, wetlands, or fire hazard areas,
- And, pay prevailing wages (only for projects with 10 or more units).
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Ministerial Review. Projects are reviewed for compliance and consistency with the City’s objective standards, such as those found in the General Plan, Specific Plans, Zoning Code, and Long-Range Plans. Under the ministerial approval process, eligible projects under SB 35 are not subject to discretionary processes, such as CEQA environmental review and public hearings.
Density Bonus Laws. Qualifying SB 35 projects can utilize the benefits under the State Density Bonus laws. Density is an increase in the number of housing units allowed under a general plan and/or zoning. Depending on the number of units and affordability, the density bonus varies between 5% and 35% above base density.
Streamlined Approval Process. Applicants must submit a “preliminary application” to a lead agency with a notice of intent to invoke the provisions of SB 35. The “preliminary application” is the same as in SB 330 (Government Code §65941.1).
Timelines. SB 35 establishes mandatory timelines for lead agencies to complete their streamlined review. Lead agencies must determine if a project is eligible for streamlining within:
- 60 days of application submittal for projects of 150 or fewer units, or
- 90 days of application submittal for projects containing more than 150 units.
Notification to California Native American Tribes. Within 30 calendar days of receiving the applicant’s “preliminary application” for SB 35, the lead agency must provide formal notice to each California Native American tribe about the proposed development. The formal notice must include the location and description of the proposed development and an invitation to engage in a scoping consultation. Each Tribe then has 30 calendar days to respond and accept the invitation to engage in consultation, and after receiving the acceptance invitation, the agency has 30 calendar days to initiate consultation. If there is no response to the notification of intent or an agreement reached in a scoping consultation and the project application is deemed complete and qualifies for SB 35 review, the project is eligible for SB 35 ministerial approval. If an agreement with one or more tribes is not reached, a project is not eligible for SB 35 approval. Provided that the notification and scoping session result in either an agreement or no response, SB 35 timelines shall commence provided an application is submitted.
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Modifications. AB 831 amended SB 35 to allow applicants to make modification requests to their project before issuing the final building permit. The modification has to be consistent with development standards that applied to the original application, with limited exceptions to changes to unit count and total floor area [Gov. Code §65913.4 (f)(3)]. In addition, AB 1174 amended and added that if the development proponent requests a modification to a development that has been approved under SB 35, then the time during which the approval will remain valid is extended for the number of days between the submittal of the modification request and the date of its final approval, plus an additional 180 days to allow time to obtain a building permit. If litigation is filed relating to the modification request, the time is further extended during the pendency of the litigation. However, these required extensions apply only to the first request for a modification submitted by the development proponent.
What to submit.
How to submit. Please email the application package to smatinpour@herculesca.gov
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