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GT Wharton is the co-founder of Strong Towns Oceanside, a nonprofit dedicated to safe, walkable communities. (Courtesy of GT Wharton).<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\tWhy this matters<\/p>\n
Housing advocates praise the law as transformative. North County officials worry about losing local control.<\/p>\n
GT Wharton is tired of seeing the Oceanside Transit Center have little besides a parking lot. As co-founder of Strong Towns Oceanside, a nonprofit dedicated to safe, walkable communities, he\u2019s been part of the effort to push the city to approve a project that would add hundreds of housing units and shops to the transit center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
GT Wharton is the co-founder of Strong Towns Oceanside, a nonprofit dedicated to safe, walkable communities. (Courtesy of GT Wharton).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would love to see more housing, especially any type of housing that isn\u2019t single-family detached housing, especially those that are built out in the periphery of our cities,\u201d Wharton told inewsource. \u201cWe\u2019d like to see more housing downtown and especially in transit so that people can go car free or car light.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Oceanside Transit Center redevelopment plan is one of 11 \u201ctransit oriented development\u201d projects that the North County Transit District has embarked on to revitalize its stops, something it hopes will help increase cities with housing crises and increase ridership.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is those same motivations that led to a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week. Senate Bill 79 allows for more housing development near major public transportation stops.<\/p>\n
An amendment to the law removed stops along rail lines with fewer than 48 trips per day, which exempted North County\u2019s 30-trip per day Coaster line. SB 79 will apply to the Sprinter line, which connects Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido, with 15 stations along the way. A total of 455 Sprinter trains run every week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The law has been praised by housing advocates but opposed by North County cities and its transit district. Housing groups say adding housing argue that despite these benefits, a statewide law impedes local control over city planning.<\/p>\n
North County Transit District CEO Shawn Donaghy told inewsource that the law may be right for the Bay Area \u2013 but not for North County projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have really good partnerships with our communities, and that\u2019s really what drives big projects, for me, is the buy-in from the city,\u201d Donaghy said. \u201cI think this bill has the potential to maybe change those relationships a little bit if they think that we have authority over things that historically we would have worked on together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Housing, environmental benefits\u00a0<\/p>\n
Advocates for SB 79 say the demand for local control is a leading contributor to the housing crisis around the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, we\u2019re in our housing shortage because of local control,\u201d said Saad Asad, a communications manager for California YIMBY, a pro-housing group that advocated for the bill. \u201cEvery city thinks it\u2019s like a snowflake that is super special, and it says that this is our character, this is how this should be, go build somewhere else. And then if you have all 18 jurisdictions in San Diego County saying that, then there really isn\u2019t any place to build.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asad added that the law still leaves room for local control. Cities are still able to have the final say on the design of the project and affordability designations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Nicole Capretz, CEO of Climate Action Campaign, building housing next to public transportation is also a critical climate solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not only a key climate solution, it\u2019s a key public health and opportunity,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the best location for housing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sprinter line project plans \u2014 and what local leaders have to say about them<\/p>\n
Some North County cities have a history<\/a> of fighting the state on housing policy, and SB 79 was no exception: Encinitas, Oceanside, Vista, Carlsbad, Del Mar and Solana Beach all opposed it.<\/p>\n Many leaders said they agreed with the benefits of putting housing near transit, but did not want mandates coming from the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, who has historically advocated for more housing dating back to when she was Encinitas mayor, voted against SB 79. She said that mayors and council members in her district were \u201cvehemently opposed,\u201d as were the 618 residents who contacted her office.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough I am a strong proponent of creating more affordable housing\u201a I voted against this legislation. That\u2019s because SB 79 would allow transit agencies to go around local governments\u2019 decision-making processes in determining where to put denser housing,\u201d she wrote in a recent newsletter.\u00a0<\/p>\n The law\u2019s author, Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, amended it in the final stages. Transit centers that only serve the Amtrak or Coaster, which runs along North County\u2019s coast, were excluded, leaving most of coastal North County out of the effects of the legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aside from the law, the North County Transit District is committed to building more housing near its transit stops. The districts\u2019 11 projects are in varying stages. Even after it partners with developers, getting approved by the City Council can be a large hurdle.\u00a0<\/p>\n A few mayors of cities with projects\u00a0 along \u2013 and near \u2013 the Sprinter line shared their trepidations about the law:<\/p>\n They include the city of Oceanside, which is in the midst of debates over its transit center.<\/p>\n \u201cOceanside is a strong supporter of sustainable mobility and transit-oriented development,\u201d Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez wrote in a letter<\/a> to the Legislature opposing the law. \u201cHowever, SB 79\u2019s rigid, one-size-fits-all land use mandates remove local discretion and risk undermining thoughtful planning that takes into account both state priorities and community needs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At an October City Council meeting, Sanchez expressed support for plans to build more than 700 units, a hotel and commercial space at the Oceanside Transit Center. But she said she was wary of specific components like the congestion from the bus route in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Oceanside-sprinter-subhed.jpg\")
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