California Legislature Passes SB 79, Despite Opposition in Fire Zones

The California legislature has passed SB 79, which would override local zoning laws to build dense housing near transportation hubs. But residents of fire zones worry it will be used to densify their neighborhoods.

The bill, authored by State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) — who is the author of many of California’s most radical pieces of legislation — is a response to the “yes in my backyard” (YIMBY) movement, which aims to accelerate housing development.

But residents of fire zones oppose the bill, which they fear will be used to exploit their temporary plight to build high-rises in areas once used for single-family homes.

CalMatters.org reported:

Senate Bill 79, authored by San Francisco Democrat Sen. Scott Wiener, would “upzone” neighborhoods immediately surrounding train, light rail and subway stations in many of the state’s most populous metro areas. That means apartment developers will be able to construct residential buildings — some as tall as 75 feet — regardless of what local zoning maps, elected officials or density-averse neighbors say.

In a legislative year teeming with controversial housing bills designed to kick-start more construction in California, SB 79 has been among the most controversial. Because it would override the planning decisions of local governments, the bill had to overcome opposition from a host of city governments and their defenders in the Legislature, while fracturing the Capitol’s reigning Democratic Party over questions of affordability, labor standards and who ultimately has the final say over what gets built where.

…

Susan Kirsch, founder of Catalysts for Local Control, a nonprofit that advocates for the preservation of municipal authority over housing policy, predicted that the legislation would have a “devastating impact” on California’s low-rise neighborhoods, describing “extreme seven-story buildings next to single-family homes with nothing that the community can do about it.”

In June, residents of the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire burn zones managed to convince Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to sign an executive order exempting fire-damaged areas from state densification laws. But residents of the fire zones are not convinced that an executive order is enough, and many have urged Newsom to veto SB 79.

However, the governor is expected to sign it, leaving residents unsure about their communities’ future.

Wiener has previously authored laws to make California a “sanctuary state” for transgender surgeries for children; to reduce penalties for statutory rape for gay men, ostensibly to bring punishments in line with those for heterosexual statutory rape; to decriminalize loitering for the purposes of prostitution (since repealed); and a bill to ban federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from using masks.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.