Completeness Determination of Development Application

Government Code section 65943 states that local governments have 30 days after an application for a housing development project is submitted to inform the applicant whether or not the application is complete. If the local government does not inform the applicant of any deficiencies within that 30-day period, the application will be "deemed complete", even if it is deficient.

If the application is determined to be incomplete, the local government shall provide the applicant with an exhaustive list of items that were not complete pursuant to the local government’s submittal requirement checklist. Information not included in the initial list of deficiencies in the application cannot be requested in subsequent reviews of the application.

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Housing Accountability Act Technical Assistance Advisory

Key Provisions of the Housing Accountability Act

A development applicant who submitted a preliminary application has 90 days to complete the application after receiving notice that the application is incomplete, or the preliminary application will expire. Each time an applicant resubmits new information, a local government has 30 calendar days to review the submittal materials and to identify deficiencies in the application.

Please note, Government Code section 65943 is triggered by an application submitted with all of the requirements on lists compiled by the local government and available when the application was submitted that specifies in detail the information that will be required from any applicant for a development project pursuant to Government Code section 65940. This is not the “preliminary application” referenced in Government Code section 65941.1.

Triggers for a Disapproval of a Housing Development Project Government Code, § 65589.5, subdivisions (h)(6)

The HAA does not prohibit a local government from exercising its authority to disapprove a housing development project, but rather provides limitations and conditions for exercising that authority. The HAA defines disapproval as when the local government takes one of the following actions:

• Votes on a proposed housing development project application and the application is disapproved. This includes denial of other required land use approvals or entitlements necessary for the issuance of a building permit. Examples include, but are not limited to, denial of the development application, tentative or final maps, use permits, or design review. If the project is using the Streamlined Ministerial Approval Process, disapproval of the application would trigger the provisions of the HAA.

• Fails to comply with decision time periods for approval or disapproval of a development application[2] . Until 2025, the following timeframes apply:

  • 90 days after certification of an environmental impact report (prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act) by the lead agency for a housing development project.

• 60 days after certification of an environmental impact report (prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act) by the lead agency for a housing development project where at least 49 percent of the units in the development project are affordable to very low or low-income households[3] , and where rents for the lower income units are set at an affordable rent[4] for at least 30 years and owner-occupied units are available at an affordable housing cost[5] , among other conditions (see Gov Code § 65950).

  • 60 days from the date of adoption by the lead agency of a negative declaration.

  • 60 days from the determination by the lead agency that the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.

2 Timeframes are pursuant to Government Code section 65950

3 As defined by Health and Safety Code sections 50105 and 50079.5

4 Pursuant to Section 50053 of the Health and Safety Code

5 Pursuant to Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code

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Housing Accountability Act Technical Assistance Advisory

Key Provisions of the Housing Accountability Act