Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation upzoning many areas throughout the state that fall within a quarter- to half-mile radius of a major transit stop, aimed at spurring housing development.
Senate Bill 79, sponsored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would set a uniform standard for allowable height and density minimums within a certain distance of major rail stops, including Caltrain and BART stations. The upzoning would be implemented on a tiered basis and applies mostly in urban counties in the Bay Area, Southern California and Sacramento.
Nine-story developments are now allowed if they are adjacent to any Caltrain or BART stop, seven stories if they fall within a quarter-mile and six stories between a quarter- to half-mile. For smaller cities, the radius is confined to an eighth- to quarter-mile radius. The bill also allows local transit agencies to develop housing on land they own.
The new policy will likely affect almost every jurisdiction in the county with a major transit stop, even those that have already upzoned much of their downtown and Caltrain-adjacent corridors, Jeremy Levine, policy manager at the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, said. Even cities like Redwood City and San Mateo, which recently upzoned its transit-heavy areas as a result of Measure T, will see changes.
“This covers a significant number of parcels that have not been rezoned,” Levine said. “This is going to create new opportunities in every city in San Mateo County.”
The new law, which underwent numerous iterations over the past several years, applies only to rail and high-frequency bus routes, and it is also not allowed to require demolition of rent-stabilized, multifamily housing.
Many housing advocates are also hopeful the legislation will improve fare revenue, especially for agencies like Caltrain and BART, which still struggle to regain pre-pandemic ridership levels and are facing major fiscal cliffs.
The bill offers some flexibility to local jurisdictions, allowing them in many cases to shift density standards from inside the transit stop radius to other parts of the city if approved by the state.
But Jason Rhine, senior director of Legislative Affairs at the League of California Cities, said via email that the legislation still defies local jurisdictions’ current initiatives that already plan for housing near transit, adding that there are “no requirements to force developers to actually build housing near transit,” and that residents “are demanding affordable housing, and this measure falls short.”
The city of Burlingame penned a letter opposing the bill, expressing concern over the lack of authority cities now have in their planning efforts, even among those jurisdictions that have successfully welcomed new development.
“We’ve felt like we’ve already been addressing the need for housing ... we’ve been very proactive and very smart about our planning,” Burlingame Mayor Peter Stevenson said. “It definitely strips away local control from our Planning Department and Community Development [Department].”
The bill comes on top of other legislation this year aimed at spurring housing development, including Assembly Bill 130 and Senate Bill 131, which among other provisions, exempts most residential and mixed-use infill developments from the California Environmental Quality Act.
“This is likely going to be the most impactful housing bill that has been passed in our lifetime,” Levine said. “This is a really meaningful change for San Mateo County that is going to complement a lot of the local planning efforts that cities have done.”
(4) comments
Here is what is really wrong with the YIMBY-endorsed politicians in San Mateo County.
Many in fact to like the idea of supporting real estate and high-density developments - there is a lot of 'sponsoring' to be had in that field.
But then they never do the first step - high-density housing requires first and foremost high-density transportation.
But San Mateo Democrats have prepared El Camino Real nor Middlefield/Old County Road to be a high-density transportation corridor.
Mountain View and Palo Alto have done so now - but only because Caltrans forced them to.
But where is San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City and Menlo Park on this? So far they have been balking at the idea of bus lanes or bike lanes basically anywhere.
Which tells us that the YIMBY movement is NOT about the housing, but it's ALL about the 'sponsoring' part.
This is yet another up zoning effort, but where is the actual housing production. Zoning is beginning to feel a lot like a college or advanced degree in that it is the opportunity but not the guarantee of a better outcome. There has been enough focus on zoning time to focus on financing, (deregulate some of the GFC safeguards that were put into place to prevent another housing crisis, it has worked to well in stopping housing creation and lending.) and production need to train people and allow other methods to speed up and reduce the cost of building housing. If Cities are looking to ban single family homes isn't the next step for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to create more multi-family loan programs and reduce single family home loans (perhaps eliminating them altogether in high cost markets, there should be enough available capital in those markets and should not require government support)?
What cities are "banning single family homes"?
Thanks, Senator Weiner and Governor Newsom. We need more housing and it should be prioritized next to transit. We don't need tens of thousands more cars on the road as our population increases. This will allow more people to get to work via transit instead of worsening congestion on our roads.
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