California Senate Bill 684 (2023)

California Senate Bill 684 (SB 684) is a 2023 California statute which requires cities to ministerially allow property owners to subdivide multifamily lots to create subdivisions with up to 10 houses, townhouses or condos in multi-family-zoned areas.^[1] The law amended the 1974 Subdivision Map Act to streamline approvals for more housing on a single parcel of land. The law also amended the Planning and Zoning Law as well as the Starter Home Revitalization Act (AB 803, 2021). The law requires that eligible housing projects must protect existing housing that:

• is designated for low-income tenants;
• is rent-controlled;
• has been occupied by renters in the last 5 years, and subject to local and environmental standards.^[2]

The law also limits the period for cities and counties to approve or deny an application under the law to 60 days, with applications being deemed approved after the period's expiration unless the local government makes a finding related to the development’s compliance with certain requirements or the development’s specific, adverse public health or safety impact.

The law, drafted by Anna Caballero, was originally written to apply to single-family zones of housing, but the language regarding single-family zones was removed by the Assembly Housing Committee prior to passing the Assembly.^[3] The bill was signed into law by Gavin Newsom on October 11, 2023, and took effect on July 1, 2024.^[4]

A subsequent law, SB 1123 (2024), allows for SB 684 to be applied to vacant lots in single family zones. The bill also clarified language in SB 684 so that variety of different lower-cost homeownership types and builders are eligible to use the bill, including tenancies in common and community land trusts.^[5][6] The bill, also drafted by Caballero, was signed into law by Newsom on September 19, 2024, and will take effect on July 1, 2025.^[7][8]