Residents Push Back on Bill Permitting High-Density Housing Near Transit Hubs

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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.

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.”