SB 79

Status: Introduced

Transit-Oriented Development & Upzoning

SB 79 will make it faster and easier to build multi-family housing near transit stops, like train and rapid bus lines, by making it legal for more homes to be built in these areas and streamlining existing permit review processes.

Most cities in California continue to prohibit multi-family homes on many properties near transit stops, which both increases housing costs, and undermines access to, and use of, transit. The broad prohibitions on multi-family housing also increase climate pollution, both through reducing transit ridership and forcing people to drive private vehicles for more of their trips.

Despite the Legislature’s successful recent efforts to reduce local barriers to transit-adjacent housing, many properties within a half-mile of transit are still essentially off-limits to multi-family housing — often because local zoning restrictions prohibit these types of homes. Across California, single-family-only zoning districts still dominate the land use around many publicly-funded transit systems.

SB 79 will make it legal to build multi-family housing near transit, including in areas currently zoned only for single-family homes, by requiring upzoning near rail stations and bus lines. It will help address housing affordability by increasing the supply of homes in these areas, while also bolstering transit use – and the funding stability of public transportation systems.