Legal framework
State & Local Law
A plain-English, source-first guide to the state housing laws and Campbell rules relevant to the tracked properties.
The short version
Two separate state-law pathways are relevant to the neighborhood. The Starter Home framework, associated with SB 684 and SB 1123, can allow qualifying projects of up to 10 housing units with a subdivision of up to 10 lots through ministerial review. SB 9 provides a different pathway for qualifying single-family parcels, including urban lot splits. The laws have different eligibility rules and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Starter Home framework
California’s Starter Home framework is associated with SB 684 (2023), SB 1123 (2024), and later amendments including AB 130 (2025). Campbell’s official Starter Home Projects page describes qualifying projects as up to 10 housing units created with a tentative map for 10 or fewer lots and subject to streamlined ministerial approval.
Campbell’s local rules
Campbell’s Interim Ordinance No. 26-2347 implements the Starter Home framework locally and includes rules addressing eligibility, vacancy, subdivision and objective development standards. Ordinance No. 26-2347 was later extended by Ordinance No. 26-2349 and is listed by the City as effective through April 20, 2027, unless superseded earlier.
Current City requirement: the parcel must be vacant when the application is filed
Under Campbell’s current Starter Home application requirements, a qualifying single-family (R-1) parcel must already be vacant on the day the formal Starter Home application is filed. This means an existing habitable house generally must be removed before filing, rather than after plans are reviewed. Section 2 of Interim Ordinance No. 26-2347 expressly amended Section 4(C) of earlier Ordinance No. 2334 to require vacancy on the application date. The older final-map/building-permit deadline appears only as struck-out text in the amendment and in the prior ordinance attached for reference.
The operative April 2026 amendment—not merely later HCD guidance—sets the application-date vacancy rule. HCD’s July 17, 2026 technical-assistance letter separately discusses the state-law interpretation. Read Ordinance No. 26-2347, Section 2 (PDF) →
Navigating Vacancy and Demolition Rules →
What HCD did not decide about demolition permits
Campbell asked whether demolition permits could be restricted until replacement housing projects obtained necessary approvals. In its July 17, 2026 letter, HCD declined to issue a determination, while cautioning about potential effects on beneficial redevelopment. Its response did not categorically forbid such controls or establish that they would be lawful. The neighborhood asks for City Attorney analysis of available options. See the October 20 proposals →
Proposed Replacement Housing and Demolition Control Ordinance (not yet adopted)
The draft ordinance (PLN-2026-83) is published in the October 27, 2026 Planning Commission agenda packet as Item 4. It proposes to coordinate residential demolition with replacement housing approvals, including limited exceptions for subdivisions. The Planning Commission reviewed it October 27 and split evenly between yes and no votes. In its advisory role, the Commission’s comments accompany the draft to the City Council; Council consideration remains tentatively expected December 1. The meeting outcome is resident-reported as of October 28, pending confirmation against the official record. This is a proposed rule, not yet operative, and does not replace Interim Ordinance No. 26-2347. White Oaks Manor advocates early eligibility and documented vacancy checks, vacant-lot safeguards and neighbor notice.
Read the ordinance assessment → White Oak Manor Proposal →
Read the October 27 Planning Commission agenda and draft ordinance ↗
Vacancy and tenant protections are different questions
Campbell’s current guidance treats physical vacancy of a single-family parcel as an eligibility question at application submittal. Separately, state law includes protections concerning recent tenant or lower-income occupancy. Demolishing a structure does not, by itself, resolve the separate occupancy-history question.
California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)
Campbell requested technical assistance from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on April 16, 2026 concerning the statutory vacancy requirement and related Starter Home questions. HCD provided a Letter of Technical Assistance on July 17, 2026. This site provides an internal summary at HCD’s July 17, 2026 guidance to Campbell.
SB 9 is a separate pathway
SB 9 and Campbell’s related rules provide a separate path for qualifying single-family parcels, including an urban lot split into two lots and residential development allowed under that framework. Campbell’s Ordinance 26-2354 addresses the SB 9 / SB 450 / AB 1061 framework and should not be cited as though it were the City’s Starter Home ordinance.
Legislative chronology
Starter Home law timeline
- SB 684
Established the statutory framework for streamlined small-lot housing subdivisions that later became central to the Starter Home process.
- SB 1123
Expanded the framework, including applicability to qualifying single-family residential parcels.
- Expanded applicability
The expanded single-family-parcel provisions became relevant to local implementation.
- AB 130
Further amended portions of the state housing framework referenced in Campbell’s Starter Home guidance.
- Campbell requests HCD assistance
The City asked HCD for clarification concerning vacancy timing and related Starter Home issues.
- Campbell Interim Ordinance No. 26-2347
The City’s interim Starter Home ordinance took effect. It was later extended by Ordinance No. 26-2349 through April 20, 2027, unless superseded earlier.
- HCD technical assistance
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) provided Campbell its requested Letter of Technical Assistance. HCD’s July 17, 2026 guidance to Campbell is summarized on this site.
- SB 1116 signed into law
SB 1116 further amends the Starter Home framework for applications received on or after January 1, 2027. Among other changes, it limits local front setbacks to no more than 10 feet, generally bars internal setbacks between newly created parcels except where required by the California Building Standards Code, and requires qualifying height limits to regulate physical building height rather than the number of floors.
- AB 1751 — Missing Middle Townhome Ownership Act
Signed September 29, 2026; generally effective January 1, 2027. Creates a separate ministerial approval pathway for qualifying townhome developments and subdivisions. Some provisions overlap with existing Starter Home laws (SB 684 and SB 1123).
Potential impact on White Oaks Manor: Qualifying underutilized single-family-zoned parcels, including vacant lots where a home was previously demolished, may be eligible. The law excludes projects requiring demolition or alteration of housing occupied by tenants and subject to rent or price control within the preceding five years, including housing already demolished or vacated. Unlike the SB 1123 pathway, ordinary prior tenancy alone is not expressly listed in this particular exclusion. Whether statewide rent caps under AB 1482 count as rent control for this provision remains legally unresolved; the five-year clause does not expressly say the controls must be local. Eligibility depends on all other statutory requirements.
Information note: These summaries are explanatory and are not legal advice. Where legal meaning matters, the underlying statutes, City ordinances and HCD materials should control.