New California Laws 2026
SB 79: Boosting transit- oriented housing access
By Brooke Miller and Alexander Caton A fter years of fighting for legislation over- riding local zoning controls to allow dense multifamily housing near transit, Sen. Scott Weiner—with an assist from lead sponsor California YIMBY—clocked a major win in October when Gov. Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 79, the “Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act Originally introduced as SB 827 back in pre- COVID times of 2018, where it failed to overcome significant controversy in the Transportation and Housing Committee, Weiner reintroduced ver- sions in 2019 (SB 50) and 2020 (SB 902), both of which were similarly unsuccessful. But as the Sen- ator warned in a 2018 interview with The New York Times, “This issue isn’t going away.” (https:/www. nytimes.com/2018/04/17/business/economy/cali- fornia-housing.html.) After other major successes, including SB 35 (2017), SB 10 (2021) and SB 4 (2022), and some lessons learned, Weiner renewed his push for state-mandated transit-oriented housing, and this time it became the law. So, what’s different about SB 79? State efforts to en- courage transit-oriented development aren’t new: In 2005, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed SB 375 to require regional planning agencies to adopt a “sustainable communities strategy” (SCS) and exempt “transit priority projects” of up to 200 units, with at least 20 dwelling units per acre, located within one-half mile of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corri- dor and consistent with the SCS from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)—if the agency holds a hearing to determine the project is eligible. A 2025 study found only 71 total projects have used this exemption. SB 79 bypasses local planning lim- its, overriding zoning density in eligible locations in counties with more than 15 passenger rail stations, within one-half mile of qualifying transit stops. SB 79 also leveraged minimum affordability requirements (10% low income for projects over 10 units), labor standards (for projects over 85 feet) and an option for local agencies to adopt “alternative plans” (with
state approval) to build consensus among affordable housing advocates, building trade unions and local governments. But perhaps the most important dif- ference between 2018 and 2025 is how much worse the housing crisis has gotten. Not only did the issue not go away—it’s become so acute that, despite lin- gering controversy, mandating more housing near transit over local limits now seems much more rea- sonable. Since local agencies didn’t find ways to plan dense housing near transit, they now no longer have a choice.
Brooke Miller is special counsel, and Alexander Caton is an associate at Sheppard Mullin.
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