Rancho Santa Margarita, Cal., Code of Ordinances ch. 9.14 § 9.14.060

(a) Purpose and applicability. The purpose of this Section is to implement the provisions of the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, which require development project proponents to replace demolished residential dwelling units and protected rental units and to provide relocation assistance and other benefits to existing occupants of demolished protected rental units. This Section applies to all development projects subject to Article 2 of Chapter 12 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code.
(b) Definitions. If defined in therein, terms used in this Section shall have the same meaning as defined in Government Code Sections 66300.5--66300.6. Unless otherwise defined in Government Code Sections 66300.5--66300.6, as used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
Affordable housing cost has the same meaning as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 50052.5.
Affordable rent has the same meaning as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 50053.
Comparable unit shall have the same meaning as the term "comparable replacement dwelling" as defined in Government Code Section 7260; provided, however, that with respect to an occupied protected unit that is a single-family home that will be demolished in conjunction with a proposed development project that consists of two or more dwelling units, a "comparable unit" need not contain more than three bedrooms or have the same or similar square footage or the same number of total rooms.
Development project has the same meaning as defined in Section 9.01.100 .
Equivalent size means that the replacement protected units contain at least the same total number of bedrooms as the units being replaced.
Extremely low income households has the same meaning as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 50106.
Housing Crisis Act means and refers the provisions set forth in Article 2 of Chapter 12 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, commencing with Section 66300.5, as such provisions may be amended from time to time.
Housing development project has the same meaning as defined in Government Code Section 65905.5.
Lower income households has the same meaning as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 50079.5. Lower income households includes very low income households and extremely low income households.
Protected unit shall have the same meaning as defined in the Housing Crisis Act and includes, but is not limited to, the following: (1)
Existing or previously demolished residential dwelling units that are or were subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, or law that restricts rents to levels affordable to persons and families of lower or very low income within the five-year period preceding the application submittal date; and
(2) Existing or previously demolished residential dwelling units that are or were rented by lower or very low income households within the five-year period preceding the application submittal date.
Relocation Assistance Law shall mean Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 7260) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code and its related implementing regulations.
Replace has the same meaning as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Government Code Section 65915; provided, however, that for purposes of a development project that that consists of a single residential unit on a site with a single protected unit, "replace" shall mean that the protected unit is replaced with a unit of any size at any income level.
Replacement protected units means and refers to affordable residential units proposed to be developed to replace one or more protected units.
Very low income households has the same meaning as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 50105. Very low income households includes extremely low income households.
(c) One-to-one replacement of demolished dwelling units. If, and to the extent required by the Housing Crisis Act, the final decision-making authority shall not approve a housing development project that will require the demolition of one or more residential dwelling units unless the proposed project will create at least as many residential dwelling units as will be demolished in conjunction with the project.
(d) Replacement of protected units. If, and to the extent required by the Housing Crisis Act, the final decision-making authority shall not approve a development project that will require the demolition of one or more occupied or vacant protected units, or that is located on a site where one or more protected units were demolished in the previous five years, unless all applicable requirements, including, but not limited to the following, are complied with:
(1) Number of total units required. If the project is a housing development project, the project shall include at least as many total dwelling units as the greatest number of permitted dwelling units that existed on the project site within the five-year period preceding the application submittal date.
(2) Number of replacement protected units required. Unless otherwise provided in the Housing Crisis Act, the development project shall replace all existing occupied or vacant protected units that will be demolished as part of the proposed project and all protected units that were previously located on the project site and demolished on or after January 1, 2020. Any replacement protected units provided will be considered in determining whether a housing development project satisfies the requirements of Government Code Section 65915 and Section 9.14.040.
a. Projects involving demolition of occupied protected units. If any existing protected units to be demolished are occupied on the date of application submittal, the project shall provide at least the same number of replacement dwelling units of equivalent size to be made available at affordable rent or affordable housing cost to, and occupied by, persons and families in the same or lower income category as those households in occupancy of the protected units. If a project site containing occupied protected units to be demolished also contains vacant protected units that will be demolished as part of the project, or previously contained protected units that were demolished within the five-year period preceding the application submittal date, the project shall also provide at least the same number of replacement protected units of equivalent size as such protected units, to be made available at an affordable rent or affordable housing cost to, and occupied by, persons and families in the same or lower income category as the last household in occupancy. If the income of the existing or last household in occupancy of any protected units is not known, it shall be rebuttably presumed that lower income renter households occupied such protected units in the same proportion of lower income renter households to all renter households within the City of Rancho Santa Margarita, as determined by the most recently available data from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy database. All replacement protected unit calculations resulting in factional units shall be rounded up to the next whole number.
b. Projects only involving vacated or demolished protected units. If all protected units on the project site are vacant or have been demolished within the five-year period preceding the application submittal date, the project shall provide at least the same number of replacement protected units of equivalent size as the number of protected units as existed at the highpoint of those units in the five-year period preceding the application submittal date, to be made available at an affordable rent or affordable housing cost to, and occupied by, persons and families in the same or lower income category as those persons and families in occupancy of the protected units at that time, if known. If the incomes of the persons and families in occupancy of the protected units at the highpoint is not known, it shall be rebuttably presumed that low-income and very low income renter households occupied these protected units in the same proportion of low-income and very low income renter households to all renter households within the City of Rancho Santa Margarita, as determined by the most recently available data from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy database. All replacement protected unit calculations resulting in factional units shall be rounded up to the next whole number.
c. Replacement protected unit size. A replacement protected unit must include at least the same number of bedrooms as the protected unit being replaced; provided, however, that if, and to the extent permitted pursuant to the Housing Crisis Act, a protected unit may be replaced with two or more replacement protected units of the same or a lower income category as the protected unit, provided the cumulative number of bedrooms in the replacement protected units equals or exceeds the number of bedrooms in the protected unit being replaced.
d. Single-family projects involving a single protected unit. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Subsection (d)(2), if a development project consists of a single residential unit on a site with a single protected unit, that protected unit may be replaced with a unit of any size at any income level.
(3) Location of replacement protected units. If the project is a housing development project, replacement protected units shall be constructed on the same site as the demolished protected units being replaced and integrated into the development project, if feasible. Subject to approval of the final decision-making authority for the City, and to the extent permitted by the Housing Crisis Act, an applicant may develop, or contract with another entity to develop, a replacement protected unit on a different parcel in the City zoned for residential use, provided that (i) an application for development of the replacement protected units on different parcels is made concurrently with an application for all other components of the proposed development project, (ii) the other parcel is zoned for residential use and all objective General Plan, zoning, and other standards and requirements are met, and (iii) the applicant demonstrates that no residential tenants on the other parcel have been or will be displaced as a result of development of the replacement protected unit.
(4) Timing of construction of replacement units. All replacement units shall be constructed concurrently with or prior to other components of the proposed development project.
(5) Affordability restrictions. All replacement protected units that will be rented shall be subject to a recorded affordability restriction for at least 55 years. For-sale replacement protected units shall be subject to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Government Code Section 65915.
(6) Regulatory agreement required. The record owner(s) of the property shall enter into a regulatory agreement with City pursuant to Section 9.14.050 .
(e) Benefits to be provided to occupants of protected units. The final decision-making authority shall not approve a development project subject to the Housing Crisis Act that will require the demolition of one or more occupied protected units, unless the applicant and record owner(s) of the subject site agree to comply with the requirements set forth in this Subsection (g) and to provide any other benefits to existing occupants of protected units required pursuant to the Housing Crisis Act.
(1) Right to remain in occupancy pending demolition. Any existing occupants of a protected unit to be demolished, regardless of their household income level, shall be allowed to occupy the unit until six months before the start of construction activities on the site. The project proponent and/or record owner of the occupied protected unit shall provide the existing occupants with written notice of the planned demolition, the date the occupants must vacate the unit, and their rights under the Housing Crisis Act. Said notice shall be provided at least six months in advance of the date that the existing occupants must vacate the unit, and a copy shall be concurrently delivered to the Development Services Director.
(2) Right to return if demolition does not proceed. Any existing occupants of a protected unit to be demolished, regardless of their income level, that are required to leave the unit shall be allowed to return at their prior rental rate if the demolition does not proceed and the unit is returned to the rental market. This right shall be memorialized in a written agreement, covenant, or other document that is enforceable by the occupant(s) of the protected unit, the form of which shall be subject to review and approval by the Development Services Director.
(3) Right of first refusal for a comparable unit in new housing development project. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Subsection (e)(3), the record owner(s) of a protected unit that will be demolished shall agree to provide existing occupants of the protected unit that are lower income households with a right of first refusal to rent or purchase a comparable unit available in the new housing development project, or in any required replacement units associated with a new development that is not a housing development project, affordable to the household at an affordable rent or affordable housing cost. The right of first refusal shall be memorialized in a written agreement, covenant, or other document that is enforceable by the occupant(s) of the protected unit, the form of which shall be subject to review and approval by the Development Services Director. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Subsection (e)(3) shall not apply to either (i) a development project that consists of a single residential unit located on a site where a single protected unit is being demolished, (ii) units in a housing development in which 100 percent of the units, exclusive of a manager's unit or units, are reserved for lower income households, unless the occupant of the protected unit qualifies for residence in the new development and providing a comparable unit to the occupant would not be precluded due to unit size limitations or other requirements of one or more funding source of the housing development, or (iii) a development project that is an industrial use and to which the requirement in the Housing Crisis Act to provide replacement units does not apply.
(4) Relocation benefits.
a. The applicant and/or the record owner(s) of a protected unit that will be demolished as part of a development project shall provide existing occupants of the protected unit to be demolished that are lower income households with relocation benefits that are equivalent to the relocation benefits required to be paid by public entities pursuant to the Relocation Assistance Law. By way of example, said relocation benefits may include, without limitation, advisory assistance in finding comparable new housing, payment of moving expenses, and rental assistance payments.
b. The applicant shall engage a qualified third-party contractor or consultant (a "relocation consultant") approved by the Development Services Director to determine the eligibility of occupants for benefits, prepare a relocation plan, and oversee the provision of the required relocation benefits.
c. The applicant's relocation consultant shall prepare a written relocation plan consistent with the provisions of the Relocation Assistance Law, which plan shall be subject to review and approval by the Development Services Director. The relocation plan shall include, without limitation, provisions addressing the following:
1. Determination of eligibility requirements;
2. Identification of eligible occupants;
3. Occupant interviews and needs assessments;
4. An evaluation of the availability of comparable replacement housing within the relevant geographic area;
5. Identification of specific replacement housing options;
6. The provision for relocation advisory services to affected occupants;
7. A description of the relocation benefits available to eligible occupants;
8. A process for the provision of benefits and the submission of benefit claims by eligible occupants;
9. A process for occupants to appeal benefit determinations; and
10. Procedures for providing the benefits required pursuant to this Subsection (e), including copies of the required notices, agreements, and other forms needed to implement the provision of said benefits.
d. Prior to the issuance of a grading or building permit for the development project, the relocation consultant shall provide a letter to the Development Services Director certifying that the relocation process has been completed and that all required relocation benefits have been provided.
(f) Reimbursement of City's professional fees and costs. If benefits are required to be provided to existing occupants of protected units pursuant to Subsection (e), the applicant shall reimburse the City for the actual fees and costs charged for the services of attorneys and/or other professional third-party consultants engaged by the City to provide consultation, advice, analysis, and/or review or preparation of documents in connection with the review of a relocation plan, notices, or other required forms and documents and the monitoring and/or enforcement of compliance with requirements for provision of benefits. Concurrent with or prior to the applicant's submittal of any notice, agreement, plan, or other document requiring approval of the Development Services Director pursuant to Subsection (e), the applicant shall execute a reimbursement agreement with the City in a form approved by the City Attorney and provide a deposit to the City in an amount sufficient to cover the estimated total professional fees and costs to be incurred by the City, as determined by the Development Services Director in his or her reasonable discretion. The City Manager is authorized to execute said reimbursement agreement on behalf of the City.
(g) Fees. In addition to the reimbursement of professional fees and costs pursuant to Subsection (f), above, the City may impose a fee or fees to recover the City's other reasonable costs to implement the dwelling unit protection provisions of the Housing Crisis Act and this Section. Any such fees shall be adopted by resolution of the City Council.