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Bill restores protection for projects permitted under adopted community plans during CEQA litigation
Summary
Senate Bill 611 would restore provisions similar to AB 1515 (2019) that let projects permitted under an adopted community plan proceed even if the plan is being litigated under CEQA. Sponsors said the change is meant to prevent litigation from delaying housing development; the committee passed the measure to the next committee.
Senate Bill 611 would restore statutory protections that ensure development projects permitted under an adopted community plan remain vested even if the plan is subject to environmental litigation under the California Environmental Quality Act, a sponsor said during the committee hearing.
"SB 611 is crucial to ensuring that legally approved development projects can move forward, as long as the community housing plans were in effect at the time of permitting," the sponsor said. The sponsor and representatives from the City of Los Angeles emphasized that earlier protections passed by the Legislature in 2019 as AB 1515 had expired on Jan. 1, 2025, and that the lapse has created new uncertainty for large pending plan updates and related housing projects.
Nicole Kurian, State Affairs Manager for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, testified the Hollywood community plan update and other Los Angeles plan updates face CEQA challenges that could stall tens of thousands of housing units. She said SB 611 would not eliminate environmental review for individual projects but would prevent CEQA litigation over a community plan from halting all projects tied to that plan.
The committee recorded a vote moving the measure to Judiciary with a recorded roll-call indicating yes: 10, no: 0.
