AB 1279 Summary

• Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to designate high-opportunity areas by January 1, 2022 based on California Tax Credit Allocation Committee Opportunity Maps, excluding areas at risk of displacement or with long commutes for low-wage workers.

• Allows residential development projects in high-opportunity areas to be approved as "use by right" (ministerial approval without discretionary review) if they meet specified affordability requirements, with projects limited to 50 units/40 feet height or 120 units/55 feet height depending on affordability levels.

• Requires developers of projects exceeding affordability thresholds to pay fees (10% of price difference for ownership units, 2x rent difference for rental units) deposited into funds for housing affordable to households earning less than 50% of area median income.

• Mandates 55-year affordability for rental units and affordability for initial occupants of ownership units; prohibits approval on sites with rental housing occupied in past 10 years, coastal zones, prime farmland, wetlands, high fire hazard areas, and other protected lands.

• Voids approval authority for use by right projects on and after January 1, 2031; includes findings that this addresses statewide concern and applies to all cities including charter cities.