§ 65658.7

65658.7. (a) (1) (A) Before submitting an application for an adaptive reuse project pursuant to Section 65658.5 for a structure that is more than 50 years old and not listed on a local, state, or federal register of historic resources, the development proponent shall submit to the local government a notice of its intent to submit an application.

(B) The notice of intent described in subparagraph (A) shall be in the form of a preliminary application that includes all of the information described in Section 65941.1. A local government may use an existing historic resource determination process in lieu of the preliminary application.

(2) Upon receipt of a notice of intent to submit an application described in subdivision (a), the local government shall evaluate the project site for historical resources. The local government shall make a historic resource significance determination within 90 days of submission of the notice of intent for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 65658.5.

(3) Submission of a notice of intent pursuant to this section does not constitute owner consent for determination of eligibility for the California Register of Historical Resources or National Register of Historic Places. Any historic resource determination made pursuant to this subdivision shall apply only for the purposes of this article and shall not affect or be applicable to any other law.

(b) If the adaptive reuse project is proposed for an existing building or structure that is listed on a local, state, or federal register of historic resources or if the local government has determined that the project site is a historic resource pursuant to subdivision (a), the adaptive reuse project proponent shall sign an affidavit declaring that the project will only move forward if it complies with either of the following:

(1) (A) The United States Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, as found in Part 67 of Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations, for the preservation of exterior facades of a building or structure that face a street, interior facades of a building or structure that face a courtyard, and interior spaces of a building or structure that are publicly accessible and character defining, including ground floor lobbies. Exterior facades that do not face a street, interior facades that do not face a courtyard, and interior spaces that are not publicly accessible and character defining may be modified without regard to the United States Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

(B) The local agency shall determine any compliance with the United States Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation described in subparagraph (A).

(2) The project is awarded federal historic rehabilitation tax credits pursuant to Section 47 of the Internal Revenue Code, or state historic rehabilitation tax credits pursuant to Section 17053.91 or 23691 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

(c) (1) (A) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), if the adaptive reuse project is proposed for a site that is listed on a local, state, or federal historic register and the adaptive reuse project proponent does not sign an affidavit pursuant to subdivision (b), the local government shall process the adaptive reuse project pursuant to Section 65658.8, but the local government may deny or conditionally approve the project if the local government makes a finding, based upon a preponderance of evidence in the record, that the project will cause a significant adverse impact to historic resources.

(B) A local agency may impose conditions of approval to mitigate impacts to historic resources and to comply with the United States Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, as found in Part 67 of Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations, for the preservation of exterior facades of a building or structure that face a street and interior spaces of a building or structure that are publicly accessible and character defining, including ground floor lobbies, but shall not impose other conditions of approval. Exterior facades that do not face a street and interior spaces that are not publicly accessible and character defining shall not be required to be preserved according to the United States Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

(2) An adaptive reuse project pursuant to this section shall not constitute a “project” for purposes of Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.

(d) For the purposes of this article, a local government’s evaluation of a site for historical resources and review of an adaptive reuse project for consistency with the United States Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation shall be conducted by a person who meets the United States Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards, as published in Part 67 (commencing with Section 67.1) of Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Any revised professional qualifications standards adopted by the Secretary of the Interior that supersede the standards described in this paragraph shall apply.

(Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 493, Sec. 4. (AB 507) Effective January 1, 2026. Operative July 1, 2026, pursuant to Section 65658.16.)