CALIFORNIA STATE – A sweeping new California housing law is opening the door to large apartment and condominium buildings in places where they might have been nearly impossible to build just weeks ago.
Senate Bill 79, known as the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, took effect on July 1. The law establishes minimum zoning standards for qualifying properties near major public transportation stops, overriding local rules that previously limited many sites to stores, offices, small apartment buildings or even single-family homes.
Under the new standards, housing buildings of up to nine stories may be allowed immediately next to certain transit stations. Projects within a quarter-mile may qualify for seven stories, while sites between a quarter-mile and half-mile away may be eligible for six-story development.
Those are only the starting standards.
Because eligible projects can also use California’s Density Bonus Law, developments that include a required share of affordable housing may seek additional density, concessions and waivers from certain development rules.
Depending on the property and project design, that could result in buildings rising above the nine-story baseline — potentially reaching 10 stories or more.
Housing Could Replace Stores, Offices and Single-Family Homes
One of the most consequential parts of SB 79 is the range of properties it covers.
The law makes qualifying housing development an allowed use on land zoned for residential, mixed-use or commercial activity. That means a parcel containing a shopping center, office building, restaurant, auto-oriented business or detached house could potentially be redeveloped with a much larger housing project if it is close enough to an eligible transit stop.
The standards are divided into two transit tiers.
Tier 1 includes high-capacity systems such as BART, Caltrain and some Los Angeles Metro subway lines. Immediately adjacent to these stations, qualifying properties can generally support buildings as tall as 95 feet, or approximately nine stories, with densities of up to 160 homes per acre.
Tier 2 covers qualifying light-rail and bus rapid transit stops. These areas can generally support buildings of up to eight stories immediately beside a station, with somewhat lower limits farther away.
The biggest changes may not necessarily occur in the downtown cores where tall buildings are already common. Instead, the law could have its most visible impact along the edges of established residential neighborhoods, beside suburban train stations and on low-rise commercial corridors.
Even Wealthy, Low-Density Communities Could Be Affected
Early development proposals show just how unusual some of the affected locations may be.
In Atherton, one of California’s wealthiest and most famously low-density communities, a developer recently proposed a 30-unit townhouse project on a roughly one-acre property near the Menlo Park Caltrain station. Atherton has traditionally consisted almost entirely of large detached homes and has no conventional downtown commercial district.
Developers also moved quickly in Palo Alto, filing multiple housing applications after SB 79 took effect. The proposals arrived during a brief window before the city adopted measures intended to pause or modify how the law would apply locally.
The applications do not guarantee that every project will be financed, approved in its proposed form or ultimately constructed. They do, however, demonstrate how developers may use the new law to revisit properties that were previously considered unsuitable for substantial housing.
The Law Does Not Apply Everywhere
Despite its statewide significance, SB 79 has a narrower geographic reach than its name might suggest.
It currently applies only in eight “urban transit counties” containing more than 15 passenger rail stations: Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
That creates a striking divide in the Bay Area.
Properties near BART stations in Alameda County may be covered, while otherwise similar properties near stations in Contra Costa County are not. Contra Costa has exactly 15 qualifying passenger rail stations and therefore falls below the law’s threshold of more than 15.
As a result, SB 79 does not automatically upzone land around the Lafayette, Orinda, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Concord or other Contra Costa BART stations.
That exemption was added as the bill moved through the Legislature amid concerns about wildfire evacuation routes and development in suburban communities. Local governments in Contra Costa can still approve taller transit-oriented housing through their own zoning changes or under other state housing laws, but SB 79 itself does not impose the new height standards there.
Cities Still Have Some Control
The law does not mean every qualifying parcel will immediately receive a large apartment building.
Cities may adopt their own transit-oriented development plans, provided those plans preserve roughly the same overall housing capacity required by the state. Some communities have used temporary exemptions, revised zoning maps or alternative plans to change where new density will be concentrated.
Certain properties may also be excluded or temporarily protected because of wildfire danger, sea-level-rise risk, historic status, industrial use or other conditions established in the law.
Developers must still contend with construction costs, financing, building codes, labor requirements and affordable-housing obligations. Projects exceeding 85 feet are subject to additional labor standards, which may make some taller buildings more expensive to construct.
A Major Change That Will Unfold Gradually
Supporters of SB 79 argue that California has invested billions of dollars in transit while preventing enough people from living near it. They say allowing more homes around stations could improve ridership, reduce long commutes and gradually ease the state’s housing shortage.
Opponents have criticized the law for overriding local zoning and potentially changing established neighborhoods without enough community control. Others question whether allowing taller buildings will result in construction when financing and labor costs remain high.
The most immediate effect may therefore be a wave of development applications rather than an instant construction boom.
Still, the underlying change is substantial. Properties that recently allowed only a house, a small store or a low-rise office building may now have development potential measured in dozens — and in some cases hundreds — of homes.
And when the state’s new transit zoning is combined with affordable-housing incentives, the resulting buildings could climb even higher than SB 79’s widely reported nine-story limit.
