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Regulatory Updates
Housing Action Package (HAP) 2.0
EFFECTIVE SPRING 2024 (outside of the Coastal Zone)
The Housing Action Package 2.0 was adopted by the City Council on December 12, 2023. Information about each regulatory change can be found below.
Assembly Bill 2097 Implementation
Implements state law by removing parking minimums for new residential and commercial developments within Transit Priority Areas (TPAs) (within 1/2 mile of a major transit stop).
Accessible Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Incentive
Modifies the ADU Home Density Bonus program to incentivize the development of ADUs that meet the accessibility requirements of the California Building Code. Allows one additional accessible ADU home if a residential development includes at least two deed-restricted affordable ADU homes.
Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit (JADU) Revisions
Prohibits JADUs from being built inside detached garages and other ADUs.
Housing on Underutilized Commercial Sites
Provides a 0.5 floor area ratio (FAR) bonus for residential or mixed-use development on sites in the Sustainable Development Area (SDA) with a base commercial zone that allows for residential or mixed-use, but currently has a non-residential use. This bonus is stackable with other affordable housing density bonuses, and applies to the entire site of a proposed development.
Housing on Publicly-Owned and Non-Profit-Owned Land
Increases floor area ratio (FAR) bonuses for housing developed on publicly-owned and non-profit-owned land in exchange for providing additional base-unit affordable homes.
Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Hotel Incentives
Allows SROs in high resource communities through a ministerial approval process.
Amends the affordable home density bonus program to allow for a density bonus range based on the percentage of homes deed restricted for low-income students consistent with the multifamily affordable home density bonus program. Removes the requirement for student housing to provide an operating agreement with a college or university. Allows student housing development in any zone that allows multifamily housing within an Sustainable Development Area (SDA) or within one mile of a college or university campus. Increases bicycle parking requirements and removes automobile parking minimums. Only allowed in areas where multifamily homes are allowed by current zoning.
Anti-Displacement Measures: Dwelling Unit Protections
Makes dwelling unit protection regulations permanent, removes an exemption from housing unit replacement for commercial and all mixed-use projects (AB 1218), and clarifies that dwelling unit protections only apply to previously renter-occupied units.
Anti-Displacement Measures: Coastal Zone Affordable Housing Replacement
Expands protections and requires replacement of affordable dwelling units with very low income units, expands application to premises with two or more structures containing a total of five or more units, eliminates the three-mile allowance for replacing affordable units, and disallows the replacement in low resource or high segregation and poverty resource California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) areas. Off-site replacement affordable units in high or highest resource CTAC areas need to be relocated in an area that is also a high or highest resource area. Clarifies that affordable housing replacement requirements do not apply to previously owner-occupied units.
Anti-Displacement Measures: Condominium Conversion
Implements a state law to allow tenants of rental units proposed for conversion into a condominium a 90-day period to buy the condominium before the seller accepts other offers.
Complete Communities Housing Solutions (CCHS): Development Regulations
Adjusts the development regulations that disincentivize family homes and/or the use of CCHS programs. New projects may receive a waiver of the private exterior open space requirement for development if at least 10 percent of all homes have three or more bedrooms.
Complete Communities Housing Solutions (CCHS): Development Impact Fees (DIF)
Creates a new DIF waiver for homes with three or more bedrooms if the homes are deed restricted for households earning no more than 150 percent of the AMI and are limited to one lease per home. DIF scaling under CCHS is no longer relevant or necessary due to citywide DIF scaling.
Complete Communities Housing Solutions (CCHS): 100 Percent Moderate-Income Option
Creates a 100 percent base unit moderate-income option. Requires at least 100 percent of the base homes to be deed-restricted as affordable for moderate-income households: at least half of all required rental homes must be rented at a cost that does not exceed 30 percent of 80 percent of area median income (AMI) and the remainder must be rented at a cost that does not exceed 30 percent of 120 percent of AMI.
Complete Communities Housing Solutions (CCHS): Family Housing Incentive
Provides up to a 1.5 FAR bonus to a development where at least 10 percent of the units are two bedroom and an additional 10 percent are three bedroom. Each home is required to be under one lease agreement per home. This bonus is stackable with other programs.
Complete Communities Housing Solutions (CCHS): Off-Site Affordable Option
Provides the option to develop CCHS required affordable homes off-site, subject to specific criteria:
- Locational - The off-site homes must be located within an Sustainable Development Area (SDA) and either a California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) High or Highest Resource Opportunity Area or a Moderate Resource Opportunity Area (if it's located in the same community planning area and Council District as the market rate site or within three miles of the premises).
- Neighborhood Enhancement Fund - Payment is required for both the market rate and affordable sites, with the fee applied to the receiver site capped at the size of the subject development site.
- Deed Restriction - A deed restriction must be recorded prior to the first building permit that documents the number of affordable units and assigns foreclosure rights to the San Diego Housing Commission if affordable homes are not issued Certificates of Occupancy between 36 months (for existing structure) and 54 months (for new development).
- Comparable Amenities - Off-site affordable homes must have a comparable mix of bedrooms and amenities as the market-rate homes.
Incompatible Uses: FAR Incentive
Provides a 0.5 FAR bonus to development that converts an incompatible, previously conforming use into homes that are consistent with the current zone on the property. Can be increased to a 1.5 FAR bonus if at least 50 percent of the homes are affordable. Incentive must be used within 15 years after a property is determined to be an incompatible previously conforming use.
Incompatible Uses: Discontinuation
Prohibits the continuation of an incompatible discontinued previously conforming use in the San Diego Promise Zone if the use is ended for more than 30 days for any reason other than building maintenance, repair, or safety.
Incompatible Uses: No Longer Permitted
Prohibits incompatible previously conforming uses in the San Diego Promise Zone after a 15-year period from the effective date of the ordinance.
Materials from the City Council hearing can be accessed below.
- HAP 2.0 CC Staff Report
- HAP 2.0 CC Code Amendments
- HAP 2.0 CC Correction Memo
- HAP 2.0 CC Previously Conforming Uses Study
Additional information about the background and goals for the Housing Action Package can be found by visiting the City Planning Department's Housing Action Package webpage.
Housing Action Package (HAP) 1.0
ADOPTED FEBRUARY 2022 (outside of the Coastal Zone)
Please see the HAP 1.0 Fact Sheet for more information on the programs of HAP 1.0.
The Regulatory Updates page was created by Development Services Department Staff to highlight the key features of new programs available to facilitate building in San Diego. This page is not a substitute for, and may not always match, the current version of the regulations. Applicants should always refer to the San Diego Municipal Code and the text of any relevant state legislation when submitting development permit applications.
SB 6
Senate Bill (SB) 6, or the Middle Class Housing Act of 2022, allows for the development of residential or mixed-use projects on commercial properties where office, retail, or parking are permitted uses. The absence of requirements for SB 6 projects, in comparison to AB 2011, allows for market rate housing and/or mixed-use projects to be developed on commercially-zoned properties with the intent of increasing the overall supply of housing.
Applies to:
- Multi-family housing developments that are 100% residential or mixed-use
- Properties within the Coastal Zone
Requirements:
- For mixed-use developments, residential units must occupy at least half of the total square footage
- Must include prevailing wages for construction workers
- Does not include affordability requirements
- Does not create a streamlined ministerial approval process
- Projects are not exempt from CEQA
For additional information on site criteria, eligibility, and other requirements for SB 6, please see the following resources, published by SANDAG:
AB 2011
For commercial sites where the zoning allows for offices, retail, or parking, Assembly Bill (AB) 2011 (also known as the High Road Jobs Act of 2022) creates a CEQA-exempt, ministerial approval process for multi-family housing developments that are 100% residential or mixed-use.
Applies to:
- Multi-family housing developments that are 100% residential or mixed-use
- Properties within the Coastal Zone
Requirements:
- Must include an affordability component
- For mixed-use developments, residential units must occupy at least two-thirds of the total square footage
- Must include prevailing wages for construction workers. Projects with more than 50 units must meet additional labor standards, including apprenticeships, health care, and other administrative requirements.
For additional information on site criteria, eligibility, and other requirements for SB 6, please see the following resources, published by SANDAG:
SB 423
SB 423 extends and expands SB 35’s permit streamlining for qualified multifamily developments to apply in the Coastal Zone (effective January 1, 2025), and expands SB 35 to apply to any agency found not compliant by HCD.
For SB 35 to apply to a site within the Coastal Zone, the following criteria must be met:
- The site is within a non-appealable area
- The site is zoned for multifamily housing
- The site is not vulnerable to five feet of sea level rise
- The site is not within a 100-foot radius of a wetland
SB 423 also alters the general requirements for any project to qualify for SB 35 permit streamlining, including:
- Creating new labor standards for mixed-income projects (labor requirements do not apply to projects of 10 units or fewer) and exempting high fire severity zones and equine zones from streamlining.
- Requiring a city to hold one public meeting for any project in a census tract designated as a moderate or low resource area or an area of high segregation and poverty on the CTAC/HCD Opportunity map, within 45 days after receiving a notice of intent (preliminary application) to use SB 35 and before development application submittal.
AB 1287
AB 1287 modifies state density bonus law (modeled after San Diego program). Provides greater bonuses than City’s Density Bonus “stacking” provisions, but no additional incentives.
- Creates a new state density bonus for projects that maximize very low-, low-, or moderate-income units, as allowed by current state density bonus law, and set aside an additional percentage of very low- or moderate-income units. The density bonus for additional very low units is between 20 and 38.75 percent, and the density bonus for additional moderate units is between 20 and 50 percent.
To qualify, a project must:
- Restrict no more than 50 percent of the total units to moderate-, low-, or very low-income;
- Provide 15 percent of the total units to very low-income households, 24 percent of the total units to lower-income households, or 44 percent of the units to moderate-income households (maximums for state programs); and
- Provide 5 to 10 percent additional very low-income units or 5-15 percent additional moderate-income units.
- Increases the number of incentives and/or concessions for 100 percent low-income projects from 4 to 5 (as already stated in SDMC section 143.0740(e)). Requires a jurisdiction to grant at least 4 incentives and/or concessions for a for-sale housing development project that provides either a total of 16 percent very low-income units (as already stated in Table 143-07A) or 45 percent moderate-income units (as already stated in Table 143-07C).
- Prohibits a local government from requiring an applicant to provide documentation for requested incentives, concessions, or waivers - can only require reasonable documentation for requested density bonuses and parking ratios.
- Clarifies that the “base density” or “maximum allowable residential density” for the purpose of density bonuses is the greatest number of dwelling units allowed under the zoning ordinance, specific plan or land use element of the general plan.
AB 1332
Effective January 1, 2025
AB 1332 requires a local agency to create a ministerial program for the preapproval of ADU plans submitted by any applicant. If a plan is preapproved, the agency must post the plan and the contact information for the applicant online. Permits the local agency to collect a fee for preapproval.
An agency must approve or deny an application for a detached ADU within 30 days for any applicant that utilizes:
- An ADU plan preapproved by the local agency within the current triennial California Building Standards Code rulemaking cycle
- An ADU plan that is identical to a plan used in an application for a detached ADU approved by the local agency within the current triennial California Building Standards Code rulemaking cycle
AB 1490
AB 1490 makes extremely affordable adaptive reuse projects an allowable use and creates an expedited review process for those projects.
Applies to:
- Existing residential or commercial buildings that currently allow temporary dwelling or occupancy
Requirements:
- The development is a multifamily housing project
- The development involves the creation of new residential units through the retrofitting and repurposing of the existing building
- The development will be entirely within the envelope of the existing building
- The development is not on or adjacent to a site where more than 1/3 of the area is dedicated to industrial uses
- The development does not eliminate any existing open space on the parcel
- 100% of the units (excluding managers units) shall be dedicated to lower income households
- At least 50% of the units shall be dedicated to very low income households
- For developments of 50 units or more, the development shall provide onsite management services
Projects brought pursuant to this program shall be reviewed within:
- 60 days, for developments of 150 units or fewer
- 90 days, for developments of more than 150 units
SB 4
SB 4 allows affordable housing development by right on land owned by “independent institutions of higher education” or “religious institutions,” subject to certain criteria. These projects can include qualifying ground-floor commercial, childcare, and community center uses, or specified uses that already existed on-site, depending on the zone. Sunsets at the end of 2035.
Applies to:
- Sites in any zone that are owned by an independent institution of higher education or religious institution
Requirements:
- 100% of the units must be reserved as affordable for lower income households
- Up to 20% of the units may be for moderate income households
- Up to 5% of the units may be for staff of the educational or religious institution
- Prevailing wages for construction workers for projects of more than 10 units, with additional labor standards applying to projects of 50 or more units
Allowable densities:
- Residential Zones: 30 units/acre and a height one story above the maximum, or a greater density/height if allowed on an adjoining parcel
- Non-Residential Zones: 40 units/acre and a height one story above the maximum, or a greater density/height if allowed on an adjoining parcel
Approval or written comments for projects brought pursuant to this program shall be provided within:
- 60 days, for developments of 150 units or fewer
- 90 days, for developments of more than 150 units
NOTE: Most of the sites covered by this bill are already eligible for the existing “Affordable Housing in All Communities” program (SDMC sections 143.0746(a) and (b)). That program allows 100% affordable housing projects in High or Highest Resource CTCAC Areas and 25% affordable housing projects developed by a public agency or "qualified non-profit"/501(c)(3) organization, which includes religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes, in Mobility Zones 1, 2, or 3. This bill would only create new opportunities for those locations not covered by the existing Affordable Housing in All Communities Program, subject to the criteria in the bill.
SB 684
SB 684 facilitates the subdivision and development of multifamily zoned parcels into for-sale residential units by requiring local governments to ministerially approve parcel maps or tentative and final maps for housing development projects that meet certain criteria.
Applies to:
- Sites no larger than 5 acres that are zoned for multifamily development
Requirements:
- The proposed subdivision will result in 10 or fewer parcels no smaller than 600 square feet
- The housing development project will contain 10 or fewer units with an average total area of no greater than 1,750 net habitable square feet per unit
- The development complies with any local inclusionary requirements
Decisions on both mapping actions and housing development actions brought pursuant to this program must be made within 60 days.
AB 894
AB 894 requires a local agency to allow entities with underutilized parking to share their parking spaces with other entities through a shared parking agreement. Shared parking pursuant to this program can be used to meet any automobile parking requirement, except for required accessible parking spaces, for new or existing uses or developments. The program does not reduce the percentage of required electric vehicle parking spaces.
Applies to:
- Entities located on the same or contiguous parcels
- Entities no more than 2,000 feet apart measured by the shortest walking route
- Entities more than 2,000 feet away that have a plan for shuttles or other accommodations to move between sites
An agency shall approve a shared parking agreement if all of the following criteria are met:
- It includes a parking analysis using peer-reviewed methodologies sufficient to determine how many parking spaces can be reasonably shared
- It secures long-term provision of parking spaces or affords the opportunity for periodic review and approval
If a parking analysis is not included, the agency has discretion to approve or deny the agreement and to determine how many spaces can be reasonably shared.
For shared parking agreements for developments of 10 residential units or more or 18,000 square feet or more, before making a determination, the local agency shall provide notice to surrounding property owners within 300 feet of the proposed shared parking spaces. If requested by the property owner, the local agency must hold a public meeting to approve or deny the shared parking agreement and determine the number of shared parking spaces. The noticing and public meeting provisions do not apply if a local ordinance is adopted that provides for shared parking agreements.