It has been called a game changer and YIMBY Holy GrailIt is a reference to both the pro-housing movement, which has become a force in local and state politics in recent years, and its expected impact on housing production in notoriously expensive California cities. senate bill 79 is also labeled neighborhood wrecker, usurper of municipal political powerAnd a ticking time bomb that will destroy local infrastructure,
Now, in a highly anticipated decision, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed the bill into law, offering a targeted example of transit-oriented development. Real estate developers would be allowed to build taller, denser residential buildings near high-volume transit lines, with the idea that access near transit would reduce the need for cars and additional parking while adding larger numbers of housing units. Here’s what to know about SB 79.
What is SB 79 and how did it originate?
Repeatedly reworked and controlled during its controversial path through the state legislature, SB79 would upzone areas around major transit stops (rail or bus rapid transit stops), overruling local laws limiting building height and density. In eight urban counties across the state, mostly in the Bay Area and Southern California: San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange, sites for buildings within a half-mile of such a stop can build 80 units per acre, up to 55 feet tall, with greater height and density for buildings closer to the station. With., up to 95 feet tall and 160 units per acre.
YIMBYs have celebrated the legislation as a redress for the slow pace of housing construction in the state. Advocates point to cities’ slow progress in zoning for more housing or getting closer to meeting state-mandated housing goals — known as Regional Housing Need Allocations, or RHNAs — as reasons the state needs to eliminate local control.
“I believe SB 79 will really address that issue in a very meaningful way by opening up a lot of potential for mixed-income housing and affordable housing around transit stops, on land that historically has not been allowed to build mixed-income housing and affordable housing,” says Mahdi Maji, policy director at the Inner City Law Center. “It is important that housing is built in areas where people have historically been excluded.”
Since it passed, what does it mean?
There are no exact figures or estimates of how many such projects will be completed in the first few years; Costs of labor and materials, financing, and how laws are interpreted at the local level will influence the initial wave of development. But it is likely to be seen as a significant YIMBY victory, and a source of consternation and pushback for local government and the many residents who oppose the plan.
“If you pass a law like this, you’re not going to get overnight housing on every eligible parcel,” says Brian Hanlon, president and CEO of . California YIMBY“But the ultimate goal here is to build a ton more housing to make California affordable, so people don’t have to wake up every morning with a pit of anxiety in their chest, wondering if this is the day they order a U-Haul to Arizona. We want people who live here to be able to build their future here.”
The most significant change is that SB 79 will allow development in areas and neighborhoods that were previously only for single-family housing. Critics have been vocal, especially in Los Angeles. Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council-on 8-5 vote-Opposed the bill on the grounds that it negates local zoning controls and shoehorns density into unsuitable areas.
assembly member Rick Chavez-ZabarThe Los Angeles Democrat, who represents parts of Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Hollywood, told CalMatters, “This obvious, one-size-fits-all bill won’t work for a district like mine. For many Californians, living in a single-family neighborhood fulfills a lifelong dream — the American dream.”
How much housing could this add?
There are no exact figures yet — Hanlon estimates that could mean hundreds of thousands of units over the next decade — but the main advantage of this bill is that it gets rid of zoning distinctions that made previous changes less effective. For example, municipalities across the state already have local programs to develop denser housing near transit. In Los Angeles, the Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) program provides incentives for more construction near transit.
However, it is severely limited; It does not allow construction in the three-quarters of Los Angeles that is zoned for single-family homes. SB 79 allows greater density in more locations, and that means a much higher cap in terms of total units produced. California YIMBYs estimate that if 10 percent of the housing allowed by SB 79 was built in L.A., it would cover Nearly two-thirds of the city’s housing shortage (now in approximately 270,000 units,
Why does California need more housing?
State data shows housing costs in California continues to growSince 2020, rents have increased 30 percent or more in many parts of the state, monthly mortgage payments average $5,900, and homes are priced twice as much as in other parts of the country. Citizens and cities pay a price for this, including financial difficulties, lower local tax revenues, increased homelessness, and even reduced political representation at the national level. Population decline is impacting Congress delegationsAnd cities have struggled to build more units. Take Los Angeles, where housing is allowed Reached a 10-year low last yearAccording to CalMatters, while New York City could build 50,000 homes in 2025, Los Angeles has permitted only 3,100 homes as of July.
The passage of the bill also gives a boost to public transportation, which has seen a significant decline in ridership during the pandemic. This would boost ridership by adding more potential customers near transit stops, and allow development on land owned by transit agencies while offering additional sources of revenue.
Has any such bill been proposed before?
Democrat state senator Scott Wiener, a progressive San Francisco representative, has been a YIMBY champion for years, and has repeatedly tried to pass legislation like SB 79. since 2018This is the first time that he was able to get legislation out of the Senate, passed in the state Assembly, and signed by the Governor, an accomplishment that was partly due to his ability to compromise (the bill went through 13 changes before final approval, including using only high-frequency transit stops, and limiting building construction to mostly urban, not suburban, counties.)
Wiener has long seen the housing challenge at the center of many other issues facing California, he said in a statement After SB 79 passed in the legislature, that “Decades of overly restrictive policies have driven up the cost of housing to enormous levels, forcing millions of people away from jobs and transit and into longer commutes to and from the suburbs.
what happens next?
This law is going to come into effect from July 1, 2026. Signing the bill would strengthen Governor Newsom’s claim that he has taken the housing crisis seriously and taken bold steps to fix the state’s more powerful policy issue.
In the interim, final maps of the areas that will be affected by SB 79 need to be created by the respective local officials, such as Southern California Association of GovernmentsIn the debates surrounding the bill’s passage, the local government posted maps with an asterisk that these were not the final determinations of where SB 79 projects would be built, causing derision from opponents; There will certainly be strong opposition during the creation of the final maps. Many housing advocates across the country will likely be eager to see how SB 79 ultimately works to pass similar bills in statehouses across the country.
Top photo: Adobe Stock
