Legislation requiring local government agencies to post housing-related data online yesterday passed the Senate and is now on its way to the governor’s desk.

AB 1483 by Assemblymember Tim Grayson (D-Concord) bill requires cities and counties to post specified housing-related information on their Web sites and calls for the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to establish a workgroup to develop a strategy for state housing data.

According to the most recent analysis, the bill:

Requires a city, county, or special district that has an Internet Web site to post
on their Web sites the following information, as applicable:
a) A current schedule of mitigation fees, exactions, and affordability
requirements, as defined, imposed by the city, county, or special district,
including any dependent special districts of the city or county, applicable to
a housing development project, in a manner that clearly identifies the fees
that apply to each parcel.
b) All zoning ordinances and development standards, including which
standards apply to each parcel.
c) A list that cities and counties must develop under existing law of projects
located within military use airspace or low-level flight path.
d) The current and five previous annual fee reports or the current and five
previous annual financial reports that local agencies must compile under to
existing law.
e) An archive of impact fee nexus studies, cost of service studies, or equivalent,
conducted by the city, county, or special district on or after January 1, 2018.
2) Requires a city or county to update the information required in 1) above, within
30 days of the changes.
3) Provides that these provisions shall not be construed to alter the existing
authority of a city or county to adopt or impose an exaction or fee.
4) Requires HCD, as part of its next revision of the statewide housing plan on or
after January 1, 2020, and each revision thereafter, to include a 10-year housing
data strategy that identifies the data useful to enforce existing housing laws and
inform state housing policymaking. In developing this strategy, HCD shall
establish a workgroup, as specified. The strategy must include, but is not
limited to, the following:
a) An evaluation of data priorities.
b) A strategy for how to achieve more consistent terminology for housing data
across the state.
c) An evaluation of costs and benefits of, and the ways HCD could support, a
more integrated digital land use management system, building permit
application management system, and other tools that would minimize
resources needs for jurisdictions to submit required data.
d) Information that should be reported in annual progress reports (APRs), as
specified.
e) An assessment of the quality of data submitted in the APRs, recommended
changes to APR requirements, and technical assistance needed.
f) An assessment of the nature and cost of staffing and technology necessary
for HCD and local governments to meet data goals and requirements over
the 10-year strategy period.