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California 20252026

AB 1751

Missing Middle Townhome Ownership Act.

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Source: Open States / PluralUpdated 2026-09-12 13:12:55 UTC.

Official record

Measure details

Jurisdiction
California
Session
20252026
Chamber
lower
Classification
bill
Subjects
MissingMiddleTownhomeOwnershipAct
Introduced / first action
2026-02-09 00:00:00

Source-supplied abstracts

Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, contains various provisions requiring a local government that receives an application for certain types of qualified housing developments to review the application under a streamlined, ministerial approval process, depending on the type of housing development, as specified. Existing law, the Subdivision Map Act, vests the authority to regulate and control the design and improvement of subdivisions in the legislative body of a local agency and sets forth procedures governing the local agency's processing, approval, conditional approval or disapproval, and filing of tentative, final, and parcel maps, and the modification thereof. The act generally requires a subdivider to file a tentative map or vesting tentative map with the local agency, as specified, and the local agency, in turn, to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the map within a specified time period. Existing law, known as the Starter Home Revitalization Act of 2021, among other things, requires a local agency to ministerially consider, without discretionary review or a hearing, a parcel map or a tentative and final map for a housing development project that meets certain requirements, including that the housing development project on the lot proposed to be subdivided will contain 10 or fewer residential units, except as provided. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA does not apply to the approval of ministerial projects. This bill, the Missing Middle Townhome Ownership Act, would authorize a development proponent to submit an application for a townhome development project that is subject to a prescribed ministerial approval process if the development complies with certain procedural requirements and satisfies specified objective planning standards. The bill would also require a local agency to ministerially consider, without discretionary review or a hearing, a tentative and final map for a townhome development project that meets specified requirements, including that the proposed subdivision complies with the requirements established by the bill for ministerial approval of a townhome development project, as described in the preceding sentence, and that the newly created parcels are no smaller than 600 square feet. The act would define "townhome" for these purposes to mean a single-family dwelling unit that is less than or equal to 3 stories of occupiable square footage and either shares a common wall, as specified, or is separated from one or more neighboring units by no more than a specified fire separation distance, and would define "townhome development project" to mean a housing development project that consists entirely of residential units that satisfy this definition of townhome and meets prescribed density requirements, size requirements, and unit limits. The bill would authorize a local agency to disapprove a townhome development project, or deny the issuance of a tentative map or a final map for a townhome development project, allowed under the bill's provisions if it makes written findings based upon a preponderance of the evidence that the proposed townhome development project would have a specific, adverse impact, as provided in specified law, upon public health and safety and for which there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. The bill would authorize a local agency to adopt an ordinance to implement its provisions and would provide that the adoption of such an ordinance is not a project under CEQA. By establishing new ministerial approval processes relating to townhome development projects, as described above, this bill would expand the scope of the exemption from CEQA for ministerial projects. Further, by adding to the duties of local officials with respect to the review and approval of townhome development projects, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would exempt the City and County of San Francisco from its provisions. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City and County of San Francisco. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities, except as provided. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Sponsors

Source-supplied history

Actions

  1. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.

    executive-receipt

  2. Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 60. Noes 0.).

    amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable

  3. In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

  4. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 36. Noes 2.).

    passage, reading-1, reading-3

  5. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1, reading-2, reading-3

  6. Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, reading-3

  7. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1, reading-2, reading-3

  8. From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

    committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2

  9. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee

  10. In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

  11. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee

  12. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 1).

    amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee

  13. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee

  14. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on L. GOV. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 24).

    amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee

  15. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on HOUSING.

    amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee

  16. Referred to Coms. on HOUSING and L. GOV.

    referral-committee

  17. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

    reading-1, referral-committee

  18. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 47. Noes 0. Page 5196.)

    passage, reading-1, reading-3

  19. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1, reading-2, reading-3

  20. Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2

  21. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (May 14).

    amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage

  22. In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

    referral-committee

  23. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee

  24. Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV.

    referral-committee

  25. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on L. GOV. Read second time and amended.

    amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee

  26. Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV.

    referral-committee

  27. (Pending re-refer to Com. on L. GOV.)

    referral-committee

  28. Assembly Rule 56 suspended. (Page 4663.)

  29. Read second time and amended.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2

  30. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on L. GOV. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (April 15).

    amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee

  31. Referred to Coms. on H. & C.D. and L. GOV.

    referral-committee

  32. From printer. May be heard in committee March 12.

  33. Read first time. To print.

    reading-1

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Related measures

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