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California Government Code Section 65589.4

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(a) An attached housing development shall be a permitted
use not subject to a conditional use permit on any parcel zoned for
an attached housing development if local law so provides or if it
satisfies the requirements of subdivision (b) and either of the
following:
   (1) The attached housing development satisfies the criteria of
Section 21159.22, 21159.23, or 21159.24 of the Public Resources Code.

   (2) The attached housing development meets all of the following
criteria:
   (A) The attached housing development is subject to a discretionary
decision other than a conditional use permit and a negative
declaration or mitigated negative declaration has been adopted for
the attached housing development under the California Environmental
Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the
Public Resources Code). If no public hearing is held with respect to
the discretionary decision, then the negative declaration or
mitigated negative declaration for the attached housing development
may be adopted only after a public hearing to receive comments on the
negative declaration or mitigated negative declaration.
   (B) The attached housing development is consistent with both the
jurisdiction's zoning ordinance and general plan as it existed on the
date the application was deemed complete, except that an attached
housing development shall not be deemed to be inconsistent with the
zoning designation for the site if that zoning designation is
inconsistent with the general plan only because the attached housing
development site has not been rezoned to conform with the most recent
adopted general plan.
   (C) The attached housing development is located in an area that is
covered by one of the following documents that has been adopted by
the jurisdiction within five years of the date the application for
the attached housing development was deemed complete:
   (i) A general plan.
   (ii) A revision or update to the general plan that includes at
least the land use and circulation elements.
   (iii) An applicable community plan.
   (iv) An applicable specific plan.
   (D) The attached housing development consists of not more than 100
residential units with a minimum density of not less than 12 units
per acre or a minimum density of not less than eight units per acre
if the attached housing development consists of four or fewer units.

   (E) The attached housing development is located in an urbanized
area as defined in Section 21071 of the Public Resources Code or
within a census-defined place with a population density of at least
5,000 persons per square mile or, if the attached housing development
consists of 50 or fewer units, within an incorporated city with a
population density of at least 2,500 persons per square mile and a
total population of at least 25,000 persons.
   (F) The attached housing development is located on an infill site
as defined in Section 21061.0.5 of the Public Resources Code.
   (b) At least 10 percent of the units of the attached housing
development shall be available at affordable housing cost to very low
income households, as defined in Section 50105 of the Health and
Safety Code, or at least 20 percent of the units of the attached
housing development shall be available at affordable housing cost to
lower income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health
and Safety Code, or at least 50 percent of the units of the attached
housing development available at affordable housing cost to
moderate-income households, consistent with Section 50052.5 of the
Health and Safety Code. The developer of the attached housing
development shall provide sufficient legal commitments to the local
agency to ensure the continued availability and use of the housing
units for very low, low-, or moderate-income households for a period
of at least 30 years.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a local agency from
applying design and site review standards in existence on the date
the application was deemed complete.
   (d) The provisions of this section are independent of any
obligation of a jurisdiction pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
65583 to identify multifamily sites developable by right.
   (e) This section does not apply to the issuance of coastal
development permits pursuant to the California Coastal Act (Division
20 (commencing with Section 30000) of the Public Resources Code).
   (f) This section does not relieve a public agency from complying
with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) or
relieve an applicant or public agency from complying with the
Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66473)).
   (g) This section is applicable to all cities and counties,
including charter cities, because the Legislature finds that the lack
of affordable housing is of vital statewide importance, and thus a
matter of statewide concern.
   (h) For purposes of this section, "attached housing development"
means a newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated structure
containing two or more dwelling units and consisting only of
residential units, but does not include a second unit, as defined by
paragraph (4) of subdivision (h) of Section 65852.2, or the
conversion of an existing structure to condominiums.

Last modified: January 12, 2009