(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), if a residential project, not exceeding 100 units, with a minimum residential density of 20 units per acre and within one-half mile of a transit stop, on an infill site in an urbanized area is in compliance with the traffic, circulation, and transportation policies of the general plan, applicable community plan, applicable specific plan, and applicable ordinances of the city or county with jurisdiction over the area where the project is located, and the city or county requires that the mitigation measures approved in a previously certified project area environmental impact report applicable to the project be incorporated into the project, the city or county is not required to comply with subdivision (a) of Section 21081 with respect to the making of any findings regarding the impacts of the project on traffic at intersections, or on streets, highways, or freeways.
(b) Nothing in subdivision (a) restricts the authority of a city or county to adopt feasible mitigation measures with respect to the impacts of a project on pedestrian and bicycle safety.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply in any of the following circumstances:
(1) The application for a proposed project is made more than five years after certification of the project area environmental impact report applicable to the project.
(2) A major change has occurred within the project area after certification of the project area environmental impact report applicable to the project.
(3) The project area environmental impact report applicable to the project was certified with overriding considerations pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 21081 to the significant impacts on the environment with respect to traffic or transportation.
(4) The proposed project covers more than four acres.
(d) A project shall not be divided into smaller projects in order to qualify pursuant to this section.
(e) Nothing in this section relieves a city or county from the requirement to analyze the project’s effects on traffic at intersections, or on streets, highways, or freeways, or from making a determination that the project may have a significant effect on traffic.
(f) For the purposes of this section, “project area environmental impact report” means an environmental impact report certified on any of the following:
(1) A general plan.
(2) A revision or update to the general plan that includes at least the land use and circulation elements.
(3) An applicable community plan.
(4) An applicable specific plan.
(5) A housing element of the general plan, if the environmental impact report analyzed the environmental effects of the density of the proposed project.
(6) A zoning ordinance.
(Added by Stats. 2006, Ch. 715, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2007.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018