CA: Valley residents push back on bill allowing large buildings near transit, urging Newsom to veto it

A growing number of San Fernando Valley residents and neighborhood groups are rallying against SB 79, a state bill that would allow denser housing near public transit stops — a move they said could upend decades of neighborhood planning and overwhelm local infrastructure.

For months, some San Fernando Valley residents have mounted a forceful campaign against SB 79 — a controversial state bill that would override local zoning and allow buildings as tall as nine stories near high-frequency transit stops, and near single family homes.

One coalition, United Neighbors, says it has helped send thousands of letters to Gov. Gavin Newsom, warning the measure could devastate neighborhoods that already spent years crafting state-approved housing plans. Now, with even Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass expressing opposition, the grassroots resistance is gaining political traction — and drawing renewed attention to the tensions between local control and state housing goals.

SB 79, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D- San Francisco, aims to address the state’s housing problems by allowing taller housing near high-frequency transit stops.

In areas served by heavy rail with 72 or more daily stops, developers could build up to nine stories next to the station, seven stories within a quarter-mile, and six stories between a quarter- and half-mile. Slightly lower height limits would apply to light rail and bus rapid transit lines, including LA Metro’s A, C, E, K and Orange (G) lines in the San Fernando Valley.

SB 79 passed the Legislature earlier this month and now heads to Newsom, who must sign or veto it by Oct. 12.

Supporters said the measure would help California combat its worsening housing affordability problems by concentrating growth near public transportation.

But many local leaders and residents argue the bill would override years of community planning, including the city of Los Angeles’ state-certified “housing element” plan — a state-reviewed plan that took significant time and resources to develop.

“ I think there’s a need for good sound planning and I think we all need to stand up and fight the idea that housing anywhere is just great, it’s not,” said Maria Pavlou Kalban, a Sherman Oaks resident and one of the founders of United Neighbors. “You have to have the infrastructure for it; you have to plan a city, and I think we’re ready to do that, but this is not the way.”

Kalban’s group helped produce a 185-page report during the city’s housing element process, identifying underutilized lots for new development. But SB 79, she said, would allow housing to be built deep into single-family zones — even in cities like L.A. that have already adopted state-approved plan to meet their housing targets.

“ For instance in Sherman Oaks, (which) is where I live, the Orange Line is a transit line that qualifies. It has five stops in Sherman Oaks,” she said. “When you look at that, it could generate about 200,000 units of housing in a community that is only 70,000 people.”

Local opposition has been particularly vocal in the San Fernando Valley, where several major transit projects are underway — including the East San Fernando Valley light rail line and dedicated bus lanes along Sepulveda and Roscoe Boulevards.

Scott Wright, a Northridge resident and a landlord, said it feels “inappropriate” to bring that level of density to neighborhoods like his.

“ That kind of high density housing just stresses the resources of the community, stresses everything,” he said. “And it’s not the kind of housing that we moved out to this neighborhood for, and it’s just inappropriate.”

He added that developers already face major barriers in building affordable units.

“It’s very difficult to build here. It’s very difficult to invest here,” said Wright, who previously owned a seven-unit apartment building but sold it due to what he described as an increasingly hostile business climate. “The laws are so bad that my wife and I have decided we’ll never, ever invest in Los Angeles again.”

Tess Taylor, chair of the Greater Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council, said her board voted unanimously in March to oppose SB 79, citing concerns about unchecked densification and the erosion of local planning authority.

“Residents see through the fraud and fiction of what our largely bought-and-paid-for representatives try to sell to us,” she said. “It’s appalling for them to see how corrupt and backward SB 79 is, but ignore their duty to protect people of their district, and do permanent, irreversible damage to our communities.”

Mayor Karen Bass has also voiced opposition to SB 79 by writing an official letter to Newsom on Sept. 17 to request his veto on the bill— a move United Neighbors sees as significant.

“We hope the mayor is even more vocal than just asking the governor to veto it,” Kalban said. “We think she should stand up for her communities that stood up for her.”

Councilmembers John Lee, Monica Rodriguez, Traci Park, Imelda Padilla and Heather Hutt were among those who voted to oppose the bill in a recent council resolution.

But not everyone in the Valley opposes the bill. Tiffany Caldwell, president of the Northridge South Neighborhood Council, said she was one of two board members who voted against opposing SB 79 in August after a contentious meeting — a stance she stressed was personal, not on behalf of the board.

“ I don’t see the numbers in practice in delivering the number of units that would be required to maintain any amount of price relief essentially. And that because we live in a market economy, this is just what it looks like,” said Caldwell, who works as a professional planner. “You have to have enough supply in order to meet demand, and without that, prices are just going to become completely unaffordable.”

Caldwell acknowledged concerns about infrastructure and privacy but argued that resistance to density is often rooted in long-standing expectations about neighborhood character and land use.

“It’s tough because we live in the second-largest city in the country and it’s going be hard for us to meet all of our housing needs with so much of our allotted land use zoned as single family residence,” she said.

As of now, the fate of SB 79 rests with Gov. Newsom, who has not publicly signaled his stance.

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