New state law tries to build more apartments near public transportation stops | California Politics 360
California taking steps to increase housing. The new law changing the rules to put more housing options by transit. Soon *** new California law will try to encourage housing around transit hubs. Starting July 1st, zoning standards will change around train stations, ferry terminals, and bus rapid transit stops. It will allow apartment buildings and other multi-family homes up to 9 stories near those stops. I spoke with Nolan Gray with California Yes in My Backyard. Here’s our conversation. Nolan, thank you so much again for joining us on California Politics 360. Thanks for having me, Ashley. Nolan, so first I want to just start with, uh, we’ve heard about *** lot of housing laws that have passed not just last year but in the years previously. I mean, what exactly will this do and how is this any different? Well, we know that California has *** debilitating housing shortage, especially in the Bay Area, Metro Los Angeles. The typical family in California no longer has *** path to homeownership. We have the highest rate of renters who are spending. Over *** third or 50% of their income on rent. And then of course we have the largest homelessness population in the country. So in recent years, the state has passed *** lot of legislation to try to get the state building housing again. SB 79 narrows one common sense best practice aspect of that, which is building more housing near transit, building housing where in many cases demand is highest, where people can live car light or car-free if they like to, where they have easy access to job centers. And so SB 79 requires cities to come up with *** plan to allow housing near transit, and many cities have already done this work. And I mean with this law and it’s as it was making its way through the California legislature, there were several, I mean pretty densely populated suburban areas that were carved out of it, for example, in the Bay Area, Marin County, Contra Costa County. I mean how effective can this be if you know there’s there’s not that linkage to the suburban areas? It’s *** great question. You know, as the housing advocacy organization, of course we would like to see as much housing built all across California, and you’re right, there’s significant need in places. Marin County, uh, you know, the the bill really focuses on what we’re calling urban transit counties, so counties that have *** lot of transit. There are *** lot of connections. Uh, Building housing near transit really will make it easier for people to get to job centers. And so that’s mainly the more densely populated areas of the Bay Area, Sacramento County, Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County. Those are the most transit rich parts of the state, and I think the most appropriate places to start on *** lot of this work, the places where the need is most acute. From your perspective, I mean, how soon could we see the impacts of SB 79? Well, the law takes effect on July 1st of 2026, so implementation will start. You know, of course development takes time, so it could take *** year or two years before the first projects start wrapping up construction at the earliest. And then beginning with the seventh cycle of our housing element reviews in 2031 in the major cities, then the law will take full effect, and that’s when we’ll probably start to see *** lot more housing being built. So you know these things take time, of course we have *** crisis right now, and so hopefully cities move quickly and are *** little bit more. Active than the law requires. This is one push in many to address California’s housing crisis. What would you like to see the California legislature zero in on when they return in January to also consider new housing proposals? Well, we have to get the cost of construction down, so we’ve made *** lot of progress removing regulatory barriers to building housing. We’ve made *** lot of progress streamlining the permitting process, but because our construction costs are so high, the cost to actually build the housing is so high, in many cases projects just don’t pencil. And so even if they’re allowed and they can get permits, it’s hard for *** developer to go out and get financing and build the project. So we have to reduce that thicket of state and local regulations that drive up costs in *** way that maybe isn’t necessarily tailored to health and safety, but that drives up costs for superfluous reasons. So that’s going to be really, really key, dealing with things like impact fees, which are incredibly high in California, dealing with building code mandates that don’t necessarily make *** lot of sense. Getting more projects to pencil, I think, should be the priority of the legislature in 2026. All right, Nolan Gray with California UMB, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.
New state law tries to build more apartments near public transportation stops | California Politics 360
Updated: 8:28 AM PST Dec 28, 2025
A new law in California will try to make it easier for housing developers to build more homes near public transportation stops. The new law will prioritize the construction of new apartments near stops with the most traffic across the state, such as BART and Caltrain lines in San Francisco. Zoning rules will allow nine-story buildings to be built right next to the busier transit stops. For those within a quarter mile the rules allow seven story buildings and six story buildings for those within a half mile. The law known as SB 79 takes effect in July and supporters say it will help with California’s housing crisis.”Building housing where in many cases demand is highest, where they can live car light or car free if they like to, where they have easy access to job centers,” said Nolan Gray with California YIMBY in an interview on California Politics 360. Some more populated areas are exempt from the new law such as Contra Costa and Marin Counties in the Bay Area. Gray noted the law is primarily focused in high transit counties. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has not been supportive of the measure, echoing concerns from other opponents about the loss of local zoning control and impacts to existing communities with single family homes. When asked how soon he expects to see results from the new law. Gray said development takes time. “It could take a year or two years before the first project start wrapping up construction at the earliest,” he said.Watch the full interview with Nolan Gray in the video player above. This story was produced for California Politics 360, which reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
A new law in California will try to make it easier for housing developers to build more homes near public transportation stops.
The new law will prioritize the construction of new apartments near stops with the most traffic across the state, such as BART and Caltrain lines in San Francisco. Zoning rules will allow nine-story buildings to be built right next to the busier transit stops. For those within a quarter mile the rules allow seven story buildings and six story buildings for those within a half mile.
The law known as SB 79 takes effect in July and supporters say it will help with California’s housing crisis.
“Building housing where in many cases demand is highest, where they can live car light or car free if they like to, where they have easy access to job centers,” said Nolan Gray with California YIMBY in an interview on California Politics 360.
Some more populated areas are exempt from the new law such as Contra Costa and Marin Counties in the Bay Area. Gray noted the law is primarily focused in high transit counties.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has not been supportive of the measure, echoing concerns from other opponents about the loss of local zoning control and impacts to existing communities with single family homes.
When asked how soon he expects to see results from the new law. Gray said development takes time.
“It could take a year or two years before the first project start wrapping up construction at the earliest,” he said.
Watch the full interview with Nolan Gray in the video player above.
This story was produced for California Politics 360, which reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel