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City attorney outlines 2026 planning and housing bills, flags Norco code deadline for logistics zoning
Summary
The city attorney briefed the Norco City Council on 2026 state planning and housing legislation — including CEQA exemptions (AB 130/131), permit-streamlining and ADU deadlines — and warned SB 415 requires Norco to update local code by Jan. 1, 2030 for logistics uses.
The city attorney delivered a focused update on 2026 planning and land-use legislation and told the Norco City Council the big themes are affordable housing, permit streamlining and CEQA exemptions.
"These both create exemptions and streamlines for 2 different types of projects," the city attorney said of AB 130 and AB 131, describing one streamlining route for infill projects where infrastructure already exists and another for projects tied to wildfire-risk reduction. He also described a host of bills changing how local governments process housing permits, including SB 489 and AB 253, and post-approval requirements aimed at shortening review times.
The presentation flagged requirements affecting accessory dwelling units: several bills require cities to determine ADU application completeness within 15 days and then comply with a 60-day permit decision once an application is complete. The attorney stressed that "the objective standards that we have are not thrown out the window" and that local objective requirements may still be applied even under the new timelines.
He also noted a non-housing bill with direct local impact: "SB 415 is going to require, and this is a code adoption deadline for the city of Norco of 01/01/2030," the attorney said, explaining the law updates zoning and development code standards for logistics uses — "These are the Amazon distribution centers" — and will force cities to align local truck routes and minimum development standards with state law.
City staff and council asked several clarifying questions during the presentation. The attorney said staff will work with the city attorney's office to review required ordinance changes and bring any necessary amendments back to council for action and that further details on implementation timelines will follow in upcoming staff reports.
