Gov. Gavin Newsom is signing a bill that would allow for more homes to be built near transit stations, in an effort to address California’s high housing costs.
In a statement Friday, the governor said he is signing Senate Bill 79, a measure sponsored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco).
“For too long, California has poured billions into transit without building the housing density needed for those systems to reach their potential,” Newsom said.
The governor said having more homes near transit would provide multiple benefits, including boosting ridership, cutting traffic and pollution, lowering housing costs and expanding access to jobs, schools and services.
Newsom added, “The world looks to California for leadership — it’s time to build modern, connected communities that fulfill California’s promise, meeting the needs of today and the next generation.”
The signing of Senate Bill 79 is the latest attempt to increase homebuilding to tackle the state’s housing costs, which remain among the highest in the country. Earlier this year, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 130 and Senate Bill 131, which reforms the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to speed up the building of housing and infrastructure.
Years in the making
In a separate statement, Wiener, said, “In California we talk a lot about where we don’t want to build homes, but rarely about where we do — until now. SB 79 unwinds decades of overly restrictive land use policies that have driven housing costs to astronomical levels, forcing millions of people to move far away from jobs and transit, to face massive commutes, or to leave California entirely.”
Wiener, who was first elected to the State Senate in 2016, has proposed multiple zoning reform bills aiming to boost the number of homes near transit, including Senate Bill 827 in 2018 and Senate Bill 50 in 2020. Both attempts failed to gain passage in the legislature.
Senate Bill 79 passed the legislature last month with a 43-19 vote in the Assembly and a 21-8 vote in the State Senate.
Where does SB79 apply?
According to supporters, SB79 sets standards for allowable housing development within a half mile of train stops and bus rapid transit stops that meet specific criteria. The measure applies only to a handful of counties designated as an “urban transit county” in California, including Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
For qualifying “Tier 1” stops, which includes stops along BART, Caltrain and LA Metro’s B & D lines, housing up to 9 stories can be built adjacent to a transit stop, up to 7 stories will be allowed within a ¼ mile and up to 6 stories will be allowed between a ¼ and ½ mile of a stop.
Qualifying stops in “Tier 2”, which include some light rail lines such as Sac RT and San Francisco Muni, some stations on Metrolink and some rapid bus transit lines, housing up to 8 stories would be allowed next to the station, 6 stories within a ¼ mile and 5 stories within ¼ and ½ mile.
In his signing statement, Newsom also pushed back on claims that the bill impacts any efforts to rebuild homes that were damaged in the Palisades and Eaton fires that devastated Southern California in January, saying there are no transit stops that qualify for the measure in the burn scars of either fire and that the measure has additional safeguards for fire-prone areas.
A map provided by the Los Angeles Planning Department showed where the measure could apply in the state’s most populous city, showing no transit stops in Pacific Palisades were covered.
What people are saying about the bill
Supporters called it a long-overdue step to boost housing supply and reduce costs. Opponents, however, warned that it could lead to overdevelopment and diminish the voices of local communities.
“It’s got the kind of quaint charm of an older city, a hometown vibe,” said Xander Pisano, who moved to San Francisco’s Glen Park neighborhood about eight months ago. “It’s also got the kind of edginess of a city on the outskirts.”
Pisano said he loves his neighborhood but worries how it might change if high-rise apartment buildings are built around the nearby Glen Park BART Station. Still, he understands the need to make housing more affordable.
“If it can lower the rent, that’s always a good thing,” he said. “But with that, there are pluses and negatives as well.”
One of the main supporters, the non-profit California YIMBY organization, spent eight years pushing for the bill before the governor signed it into law.
“It’s a moment of validation. It’s a moment of celebration,” said Matthew Lewis, communications director for California YIMBY. “And really, it’s a moment for the work to get started in actually implementing these laws.”
“The affordability part of it is the big scam,” said Susan Kirsch, founder and director of Catalyst for Local Control, a group that opposed the legislation. “[These buildings] have no assurances, no promises of meeting the needs for those people who are living on minimum wages.”
Supporters like California YIMBY disagreed, arguing that the law addresses the state’s long-standing housing shortage through basic economics of increasing supply to help bring down prices.
Office-to-home conversions, ADU building bills also approved
In addition to SB79, Newsom announced the signing of several other measures to boost home construction, including Assembly Bill 507 by Asm. Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), which would streamline the conversion of office towers into housing.
“Across California, commercial real estate is taking a hit. Offices are losing tenants, property values are falling, and cities are bracing for a financial crunch. AB 507 offers a solution: turn unused office space into desperately needed housing,” said a statement from Haney’s office.
Newsom also signed Senate Bill 543 by state Sen. Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), which seeks to streamline the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), small homes also known as backyard cottages or casitas.
“California needs to build housing to help make our state more affordable. And one of the most effective ways to address our housing affordability crisis is to accelerate the construction of low-cost housing, like ADUs and junior ADUs,” McNerney said in a statement.
Tim Fang
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