Fees & public finance
Development agreement (DA)
A negotiated contract under Gov. Code §§ 65864–65869.5 freezing the rules and fees applicable to a project for its term, in exchange for public benefits.
Definition
A development agreement is a negotiated contract between a developer and a city or county, authorized by Gov. Code §§ 65864–65869.5 (archived with the Zoning Law). Adopted by ordinance — a legislative act, subject to referendum — it freezes the rules, regulations and policies applicable to the project at execution for the agreement's term, can lock or schedule fees, and is reviewed at least annually for good-faith compliance. In exchange the agency negotiates public benefits: infrastructure, affordability, phasing commitments. The vesting is stronger and typically far longer than a vesting tentative map's.
Why it matters in an underwrite
On multi-phase projects the DA is the underwriting document: whether fees are frozen or merely scheduled with escalators, when benefit payments fall due against absorption, and whether the term outlasts your build-out are pro forma inputs, not legal trivia. The trade has a sharp edge — exactions volunteered in a DA largely escape Nollan/Dolan and Mitigation Fee Act scrutiny afterward, so quantify every commitment before signing rather than counting on a later protest.
Sources & related guides
See also
See the term in the law itself
Read the controlling text in the Code Library, or ask the AI how it applies to your project.
Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.