San Marcos, CA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

Chapter 20.305 implements the state's density bonus law for any housing development of five or more units, including mixed-use projects, and applies to any applicant who agrees to build the minimum share of very-low, low, or moderate income units, senior housing, transitional foster youth or disabled veteran units, donates land for housing, includes a qualifying child care facility, or converts apartments to condominiums under Section 20.305.030. Section 20.305.020 calculates the density increase under Government Code Sections 65915(f) and (g), rounding any fractional unit up to the next whole number, and Section 20.305.030.B.4 caps the maximum combined mandated density increase at fifty percent regardless of how many affordability categories a project stacks.

Granting the bonus does not, by itself, require a General Plan amendment, zone change, or other discretionary approval. Section 20.305.040 sets the affordability tenure: rental target units for low or very-low income households must stay affordable for at least fifty-five years, longer if the project received a subsidy requiring a longer term, and for-sale units carry an equity-sharing agreement enforced at resale. Applicants may also request additional incentives under Section 20.305.060, including waivers of development standards that would otherwise physically preclude the project, or reduced parking ratios as low as one space for a studio or one-bedroom unit, one and a half spaces for two or three bedrooms, and two and a half spaces for four or more bedrooms, or an exemption entirely for projects within a half mile of a major transit stop. City Council members, Planning Commissioners, and anyone with an equity interest in the development are ineligible to occupy a target unit under Section 20.305.040.F.