CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 65460-65460.10
65460. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Transit
Village Development Planning Act of 1994.
65460.1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Federal, state, and local governments in California are
investing in new and expanded rail transit systems in areas
throughout the state, including Los Angeles County, the San Francisco
Bay area, San Diego County, Santa Clara County, and Sacramento
County.
(b) This public investment in rail transit is unrivaled in the
state's history and represents well over ten billion dollars
($10,000,000,000) in planned investment alone.
(c) Recent studies of transit ridership in California indicate
that persons who live within a quarter-mile radius of rail transit
stations utilize the transit system in far greater numbers than does
the general public living elsewhere.
(d) The use of transit by persons living near rail transit
stations is particularly important given the decline of transit
ridership in California between 1980 and 1990. Transit's share of
commute trips dropped in all California metropolitan areas--greater
Los Angeles: 5.4 percent to 4.8 percent; San Francisco Bay area:
11.9 percent to 10.0 percent; San Diego: 3.7 percent to 3.6 percent;
Sacramento: 3.7 percent to 2.5 percent.
(e) Only a few rail transit stations in California have any
concentration of housing proximate to the station.
(f) Interest in clustering housing and commercial development
around rail transit stations, called transit villages, has gained
momentum in recent years.
65460.2. A city or county may prepare a transit village plan for a
transit village development district that addresses the following
characteristics:
(a) A neighborhood centered around a transit station that is
planned and designed so that residents, workers, shoppers, and others
find it convenient and attractive to patronize transit.
(b) A mix of housing types, including apartments, within not more
than a quarter mile of the exterior boundary of the parcel on which
the transit station is located.
(c) Other land uses, including a retail district oriented to the
transit station and civic uses, including day care centers and
libraries.
(d) Pedestrian and bicycle access to the transit station, with
attractively designed and landscaped pathways.
(e) A rail transit system that should encourage and facilitate
intermodal service, and access by modes other than single occupant
vehicles.
(f) Demonstrable public benefits beyond the increase in transit
usage, including all of the following:
(1) Relief of traffic congestion.
(2) Improved air quality.
(3) Increased transit revenue yields.
(4) Increased stock of affordable housing.
(5) Redevelopment of depressed and marginal inner-city
neighborhoods.
(6) Live-travel options for transit-needy groups.
(7) Promotion of infill development and preservation of natural
resources.
(8) Promotion of a safe, attractive, pedestrian-friendly
environment around transit stations.
(9) Reduction of the need for additional travel by providing for
the sale of goods and services at transit stations.
(10) Promotion of job opportunities.
(11) Improved cost-effectiveness through the use of the existing
infrastructure.
(12) Increased sales and property tax revenue.
(13) Reduction in energy consumption.
(g) Sites where a density bonus of at least 25 percent may be
granted pursuant to specified performance standards.
(h) Other provisions that may be necessary, based on the report
prepared pursuant to subdivision (b) of former Section 14045, as
enacted by Section 3 of Chapter 1304 of the Statutes of 1990.
65460.3. To increase transit ridership and to reduce vehicle
traffic on the highways, local, regional, and state plans should
direct new development close to the transit stations. These entities
should provide financial incentives to implement these plans.
65460.4. A transit village development district shall include all
land within not more than a quarter mile of the exterior boundary of
the parcel on which is located a rail transit station designated by
the legislative body of a city, county, or city and county that has
jurisdiction over the station area.
For purposes of this article, "district" means a transit village
development district as defined in this section.
65460.5. A city or county establishing a district and preparing a
plan pursuant to this article shall:
(a) Be eligible for available transportation funding.
(b) Receive assistance from the Office of Permit Assistance,
pursuant to Section 15399.53, in establishing an expedited permit
process pursuant to Section 15399.50, at the request of the city or
county.
65460.6. An agency responsible for the preparation and adoption of
the congestion management program may exclude district impacts from
the determination of conformance with level of service standards
pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65089.3.
65460.7. (a) A transit village plan shall be prepared, adopted, and
amended in the same manner as a general plan.
(b) A transit village plan may be repealed in the same manner as
it is required to be amended.
65460.8. No transit village plan may be adopted or amended unless
the proposed plan or amendment is consistent with the general plan.
65460.9. No local public works project may be approved, no
tentative map or parcel map for which a tentative map was not
required may be approved, and no zoning ordinance may be adopted or
amended within an area covered by a transit village plan unless it is
consistent with the adopted transit village plan.
65460.10. A city, county, or city and county may require a
developer to enter into a development agreement pursuant to Article
2.5 (commencing with Section 65864) of Chapter 4 to implement a
density bonus specified in the transit village plan pursuant to
subdivision (g) of Section 65460.2.