Big changes for housing

But as part of its Fast Track Housing initiative, the California Legislature passed even more bills that further upzone large swaths of urban areas and allow more exemptions to the California Environmental Quality Act — thereby accelerating the approval process.

“This was a historic year for housing,” said Michael Lane, state policy director at SPUR. “The Legislature has been really forceful in trying to address these issues.”

Perhaps one of the most consequential pieces of legislation passed this year was Senate Bill 79, sponsored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, which set a uniform standard for allowable height and density minimums within a certain distance of major rail stops, including Caltrain and BART stations. The upzoning would be implemented on a tiered basis and applies mostly in urban counties in the Bay Area, Southern California and Sacramento.

Effective mid-2026, nine-story developments will be allowed if they are adjacent to any Caltrain or BART stop, seven stories if they fall within a quarter-mile and six stories between a quarter- to half-mile. For smaller cities, the radius is confined to an eighth- to quarter-mile radius. The bill also allows local transit agencies to develop housing on land they own.

Legal challenges for new developments could also start declining on the Peninsula, as Assembly Bill 130 and Senate Bill 131 expanded exemptions for the 55-year-old California Environmental Quality Act law, which necessitates robust and often costly environmental reviews. Under the new policies, developments of up to 20 acres — among other criteria — could be exempt from the time-consuming CEQA process.

“CEQA reform is huge. People have said it’s impossible to do,” said Jeremy Levine, policy manager at the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County.

Other pieces of legislation, such as Senate Bill 479 and Assembly Bill 253, focus more on the permitting process.

“SB 79 works on the zoning, AB 130 and SB 131 works on the approvals and then once you have your approval, getting your permits can also be an issue at the local level and other agencies that can be involved,” Lane said. “There were a series of bills addressing that aspect of the process as well.”

Due to AB 253, more developers could start using third parties to obtain building permits. While some cities like Los Angeles already do so, none in San Mateo County currently use the practice, said Levine.

“Cities are short staffed. They’re struggling, and if a city is unable to turn around applications for a building permit in enough time, developers will have the option to hire third-party permitters,” Levine said.

There has also been elevated interest in converting office developments into residential uses. There have already been several development proposals in the county that plan to demolish the existing commercial structures to make room for housing — such as the Clearview campus and 1650 S. Amphlett Blvd. project, both in San Mateo — and a 12-story office building at 2121 S. El Camino Real will convert 156 apartments, not by building a brand-new structure but by converting the existing building into housing. Assembly Bill 507, passed this year and effective mid-2026, requires a more streamlined approval process for such conversions.

Senate Bill 9 — not to be confused with the other SB 9 passed a few years ago — will also exempt duplexes and accessory dwelling units from historic districting requirements as long as the project doesn’t involve demolishing the historic structure. Levine said the bill was partially inspired by the drawn-out historic district fight in San Mateo’s Baywood neighborhood.

States are also cracking down on housing law compliance, including the increasingly rigorous housing element cycle, the state-mandated process by which cities create multi-year plans on how they’re going to meet their housing goals. While Senate Bill 1037 — which increases civil penalties for non-compliant plans — already went into effect this year, others, such as Assembly Bill 712 and Senate Bill 786 strengthen enforcement mechanisms for cities that violate the laws.

“It was the biggest year in the history of housing legislation,” Levine said. “There are a lot of things to do. We still have to address the cost of construction, which has continued going up. We still have to figure out clean up on CEQA reform … but it’s been a big year.”