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City planner outlines dozens of new state housing and land-use laws that will change Fullerton review processes
Summary
City planner Chris Schafer told the Fullerton Planning Commission that a wave of new state laws will limit local CEQA and zoning discretion, require a general plan update by 2030, expand ADU and campus-area allowances, and create new reporting and compliance deadlines that the city must address.
Chris Schafer, city planner for the City of Fullerton, told the Planning Commission on Jan. 28 that state lawmakers have passed roughly 300 new laws affecting housing, land use and CEQA and that staff are identifying about 30–40 they expect will be most relevant to the city. "As the years have progressed, the state has gotten more aggressive in allowing housing to be developed, and laws have been approved that are now limiting CEQA and actually limiting the city's ability to restrict housing development," Schafer said.
Schafer laid out several bills he said staff will examine closely. He said AB39 requires cities to begin general-plan updates after Jan. 1, 2027 and complete them by Jan. 1, 2030, adding mandated policies to support zero-emission vehicles and related infrastructure. "So this is the staff knows we have to do the general plan update... it kind of forces the start of the process in 2027," he said. The planner warned the timeline will add work for staff and require policy development on electrification and grid capacity.
On campus-adjacent housing, Schafer summarized an assembly bill that permits housing by right near state public universities with minimum densities; he cited the measure's minimum-density language (about 80 units per acre) and a maximum height threshold (he read figures in the five- to nine-story range) and said Cal State Fullerton makes this particularly relevant to the city. "So this actually affects the city of Fullerton because, as you know, we have Cal State Fullerton here," Schafer said, and staff will "look into the guts of this thing" to determine precise implications.
Schafer also flagged changes to accessory dwelling unit (ADU) rules: junior ADU owner-occupancy requirements appear to be removed and some ADUs will continue to be processed ministerially. He noted a bill that requires ADU ordinances be submitted to the state Department of Housing and Community Development and another that imposes short processing timelines for ministerial ADU reviews. "If you guys don't know, ADUs are dictated by about 12 or 13 different state laws," Schafer said.
Other bills covered include SB71, which exempts certain active-transportation projects from CEQA through Jan. 1, 2030 (Schafer pointed to a planned bike-lane project on Harbor Boulevard as an example), SB753, which makes owners responsible for retrieving abandoned shopping carts and allows fines (he cited a $100 fine per cart), and SB786, which strengthens state oversight and penalties if a city fails to meet its housing-element commitments.
Schafer said some bills appear to expand ministerial approvals and limit local discretion, and that the practical effect in Fullerton so far has been modest: he told commissioners the city has only recently received its first by-right high-density application (a roughly 57-unit project) and that financing remains a limiting factor for larger projects. "We're just looking at it right now...This is the first project we're barely getting," he said.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about retroactivity, compliance deadlines, and whether the bills come with funding for city staff; Schafer said many bills do not include funding and recommended staff follow up with more detailed analyses and legal review. "A lot of these have gone to effect as of January 1. So, as a result of that, we need to, as staff, double check and make sure that we're enforcing the right things at the right time," he said.
Votes at a glance: the commission approved the consent calendar (minutes) and voted to postpone selection of chair and vice chair until the next meeting; roll-call votes for both items recorded Fleener, Valadez, Tudor and Chair Ardeno voting in the affirmative.
Schafer closed by listing upcoming items staff will bring back to the commission, including four historic-designation hearings (Feb. 11), a tentative tract map for a multifamily project at Harbor and Hermosa (Feb. 25) and the Cedar Woods project and Mills Act applications coming before City Council in early February. The commission adjourned with no further formal action on the legislative items.
