Cities and counties can set up either or both a board of zoning adjustment and a zoning administrator by passing a local law. They can also create a board of appeals. Members of these boards may be paid for attending meetings. They can also be reimbursed for travel costs to attend meetings within the city or county.

This law section gives authority to the board of zoning adjustment or the zoning administrator to decide on applications for special land use permits and variances from zoning rules. The zoning ordinance must outline the criteria for these decisions. The board or administrator can also perform other duties as defined by local rules and set up procedures for their operations.

Additionally, a city or county can authorize these bodies to grant zoning variances without a public hearing. To do this, an ordinance must specify which types of variances can be granted and how much flexibility the board or administrator is allowed in making these decisions.

If there is no zoning board or zoning administrator, the planning commission will take on their responsibilities. Also, a county's legislative body can decide that an area planning commission should handle these zoning duties in a specific part of the county.

This law states that if a local government has set up a board of appeals, that board is responsible for handling appeals regarding decisions made by the board of zoning adjustment or the zoning administrator. The process for these appeals follows local rules. The board can either change, confirm, or adjust the decision being appealed, and whatever the board decides is final.

This law states that if there is no formal board of appeals in place, the local government (like a city council or county board) will take over the responsibilities of this board. They must perform these duties just like the board of appeals would, as outlined in another section of the law (Section 65903).

This law states that a public hearing is required for certain zoning-related matters. These include requests to deviate from zoning rules (variances), applications for special permissions to use land in a specific way (conditional use permits), changes to existing permissions, or appeals about these decisions. Additionally, the law specifies that notice of such hearings must be given according to another law, Section 65091.

This law limits the number of public hearings that a city or county can hold for a proposed housing development to five, as long as the project meets existing general and zoning standards when the application is considered complete. If any hearing is continued, it counts towards the five-hearing limit. Cities and counties must decide on applications within these hearings according to the Permit Streamlining Act timelines.

'Deemed complete' means the application meets all outlined requirements at submission. 'Hearing' covers public meetings regarding the housing project but not legislative changes like zoning or plan amendments.

A 'housing development project' includes any proposed construction that complies with general plan standards, even if the project site’s zoning doesn't match. The law reinforces existing interpretations, ensuring projects adhere to general plans and encourages development at allowed densities. Amendments don't change the law's essence but cannot affect applications submitted before 2022.

This law explains that a variance from local zoning rules can only be given when a specific property has unique features, like an unusual size or location, that make following the zoning rules unfair compared to other nearby properties with the same zoning. If a variance is granted, it must not give special advantages not allowed to other properties nearby. Variances cannot permit property uses not allowed by current zoning laws. This does not cover conditional use permits.

This law allows exceptions to parking rules in zoning laws if certain conditions are met. Parking spaces can be located elsewhere, including in different towns, or replaced with fees or facilities. This can only happen if the changes help nonresidential projects and make it easier for people using public transit, like trains or buses, to access them.

This California law requires that starting January 1, 2026, local agencies with websites, that collect inclusionary housing in-lieu fees, must each year post online how much they collected in the previous year and if these fees are planned for a project. Inclusionary housing in-lieu fees are payments that local agencies can charge developers as an alternative to directly building affordable housing units. Additionally, every five years, these agencies must also post the total amount collected over the last five years and detail the projects the funds were used for.

This law allows local governments in California to temporarily reduce the required parking spaces for existing businesses if they expand outdoor dining areas to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. This decision is in place to help businesses accommodate outdoor expansions without facing penalties for parking space reductions.

This rule will expire and be repealed on July 1, 2026.

This law states that if an agency takes legal action to enforce zoning rules, they can file a notice at the county recorder's office to inform others about the action concerning a specific property. This filing acts like a public alert to anyone interested in the property.

If necessary, a party involved in the case can request to have this notice removed by convincing a judge of the need to do so. If a judge agrees, an official order will be recorded, canceling the notice, and it will no longer inform the public about the legal proceedings regarding the property. The decision to remove this notice cannot be directly appealed, but the opposing party has a limited time to ask a higher court to review the decision.

This law states that local government agencies cannot require you to dedicate land or post a bond for improvements unless these conditions are directly related to the specific usage of your property. This means they can't impose unrelated demands when you're seeking a building permit, use permit, or zone variance.

This law allows cities and counties in California to charge fees for processing use permits, zone variances, or zone changes. However, these fees must be reasonable and cannot be more than what is needed to cover the processing costs. The fees must be set according to specific state procedures.