Law upzones areas near all Caltrain, BART stations

Nine-story developments are now 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.

The new policy will likely affect almost every jurisdiction in the county with a major transit stop, even those that have already upzoned much of their downtown and Caltrain-adjacent corridors, Jeremy Levine, policy manager at the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, said. Even cities like Redwood City and San Mateo, which recently upzoned its transit-heavy areas as a result of Measure T, will see changes.

“This covers a significant number of parcels that have not been rezoned,” Levine said. “This is going to create new opportunities in every city in San Mateo County.”

The new law, which underwent numerous iterations over the past several years, applies only to rail and high-frequency bus routes, and it is also not allowed to require demolition of rent-stabilized, multifamily housing.

Many housing advocates are also hopeful the legislation will improve fare revenue, especially for agencies like Caltrain and BART, which still struggle to regain pre-pandemic ridership levels and are facing major fiscal cliffs.

The bill offers some flexibility to local jurisdictions, allowing them in many cases to shift density standards from inside the transit stop radius to other parts of the city if approved by the state.

But Jason Rhine, senior director of Legislative Affairs at the League of California Cities, said via email that the legislation still defies local jurisdictions’ current initiatives that already plan for housing near transit, adding that there are “no requirements to force developers to actually build housing near transit,” and that residents “are demanding affordable housing, and this measure falls short.”

The city of Burlingame penned a letter opposing the bill, expressing concern over the lack of authority cities now have in their planning efforts, even among those jurisdictions that have successfully welcomed new development.

“We’ve felt like we’ve already been addressing the need for housing ... we’ve been very proactive and very smart about our planning,” Burlingame Mayor Peter Stevenson said. “It definitely strips away local control from our Planning Department and Community Development [Department].”

The bill comes on top of other legislation this year aimed at spurring housing development, including Assembly Bill 130 and Senate Bill 131, which among other provisions, exempts most residential and mixed-use infill developments from the California Environmental Quality Act.

“This is likely going to be the most impactful housing bill that has been passed in our lifetime,” Levine said. “This is a really meaningful change for San Mateo County that is going to complement a lot of the local planning efforts that cities have done.”