{"id":145299,"date":"2026-01-22T22:14:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/145299\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T22:14:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:14:06","slug":"la-transit-agency-seeks-to-override-state-law-allowing-more-homes-near-train-and-bus-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/145299\/","title":{"rendered":"LA transit agency seeks to override state law allowing more homes near train and bus lines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before it passed last year, a major new California housing law<\/a> that allows more apartments near public transit stops faced stiff opposition from Los Angeles politicians.<\/p>\n

L.A. elected leaders are continuing to fight it, arguing the law jeopardizes efforts to expand local transportation infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The latest round of resistance comes from the L.A. Metro Board of Directors, which voted Thursday to formally oppose local implementation of the law, SB 79. The only members who declined to join in opposition were L.A. County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Lindsey Horvath.<\/p>\n

The transit agency recently published a staff report that recommended the board stand against a bill that seeks to clarify certain points on how SB 79 will be implemented.<\/p>\n

Learn the ins and outs behind L.A.’s housing crisis.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Building Your Block, a seven-issue newsletter course from LAist that explains the obstacles around housing development in L.A. and what you can do to make things better.<\/p>\n

The Metro staff report went beyond asking for technical tweaks to the legislation. One of its suggestions called for \u201cexempting Los Angeles County from SB 79.\u201d Another recommendation suggested \u201climiting the bill\u2019s applicability to the Bay Area as a pilot project.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Absolutely ridiculous\u2019 say housing proponents<\/p>\n

Advocates for more housing development said that seeking to override the law, which takes effect July 1, would be counterproductive for L.A.\u2019s troubled transit agency. They said resisting new housing will reduce the number of riders living within walking distance of a Metro stop.<\/p>\n

Azeen Khanmalek \u2014 executive director of Abundant Housing L.A., a co-sponsor of SB 79 \u2014 called the report\u2019s recommendations \u201cabsolutely ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can’t just continue this recalcitrant opposition in perpetuity,\u201d Khanmalek said. \u201cWe really hope Metro is on board and wants more riders near their transit stations.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Metro\u2019s Board of Directors is made up of elected leaders who have, in some cases, already made their positions on SB 79 clear.<\/p>\n

Before Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law in October, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass asked him to veto it.<\/p>\n

Two other board members, L.A. City Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky and Imelda Padilla, voted with a slim majority of the council last year to oppose SB 79<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Metro says law will boost transit opposition<\/p>\n

About three-quarters of all residential land in incorporated L.A. County is zoned for single-family homes<\/a>. But under SB 79, some of those neighborhoods could now be eligible for dense apartment buildings, as long as they lie within a half-mile of a major transit stop.<\/p>\n

The Metro staff report said SB 79 could harm the transit agency\u2019s expansion goals by galvanizing housing opponents against new light rail stations and dedicated bus lanes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSB 79 has become a catalyst for local opposition to Metro\u2019s transit projects,\u201d the report said. \u201cBy linking increased housing density to both existing and future transit investments, the law has intensified resistance from some cities and community groups that now view new transit projects as a trigger for state-mandated upzoning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asking for tweaks, or total exemption?<\/p>\n

The report also called on state lawmakers to clarify the term \u201clight rail transit,\u201d which could affect how SB 79 will apply to neighborhoods around Metro\u2019s A, C, E and K rail lines.<\/p>\n

At an earlier Metro meeting, Board Vice Chair Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker supported calls to carve L.A. County out of the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve found that the effort to have one-size-fits all planning didn\u2019t work,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is ingenious to suggest that any modifications be tested in the Bay Area first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hahn said she supported asking for more moderate amendments to the SB 79 clean-up bill, SB 677, but she did not think lawmakers would take seriously calls for a countywide exemption.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like we\u2019re willing to dialogue,\u201d Hahn said. \u201cI would just like to see some amendments that feel a little bit more realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before it passed last year, a major new California housing law that allows more apartments near public transit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[72566,72565,35385,48,52,51,47,50,49,51408],"class_list":["post-145299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-housing-near-transit-stops","tag-l-a-housing","tag-l-a-metro","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-sb-79"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}