On October 10, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 79, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, marking a landmark moment in California’s housing reform landscape. The new law represents Senator Wiener’s third major attempt to advance statewide legislation that upzones land near public transportation, i.e., rail, subway, rapid bus. After prior efforts such as SB 827 (2018) and SB 50 (2019-2020) faced strong opposition and ultimately failed, SB 79’s passage signifies a notable breakthrough in the state’s ongoing pursuit of transit-oriented housing policy.
At its core, SB 79 provides that housing projects located within one-half mile of a major transit stop are allowed uses on any parcel zoned for residential, commercial, or mixed use. The law also extends streamlined, ministerial approval, via Government Code § 65913.4 (SB 35/423), to qualifying projects, while preventing cities from imposing certain development limitations such as restrictive height caps, density controls, and floor area ratio (FAR) limits.
One of the most significant aspects of SB 79 involves labor standards. Only projects over 85 feet in height are required to comply with prevailing wage and skilled-and-trained workforce, reflecting a new compromise on labor standards for housing established by the recent passage of AB 130 and SB 131 this last Summer.
The enactment of SB 79 underscores California’s growing state-level intervention into housing policy, particularly around transit corridors where local zoning has historically limited density. It also highlights Senator Wiener’s persistence in aligning housing and transportation goals – a policy vision that, after years of legislative resistance, has finally gained traction. In his Linked In post announcing the Governor’s signing, Weiner noted that “SB 79 was 8 years in the making,” and in addition to thanking the Governor, and giving a shout-out to his “colleagues in the Legislature for having the [political] courage to support [the bill],” he credited sponsors California YIMBY, Bay Area Council, Streets for All, SPUR, Greenbelt Alliance, Inner City Law Center, and Abundant Housing LA for helping secure the bill’s passage.
Miller Starr Regalia’s Land Use group will continue to track SB 79’s implementation, including how local jurisdictions interpret its zoning overrides, labor and other provisions. For a detailed legal analysis of the new law – including its CEQA-related aspects – and its broader implications, see our September 29, 2025 post on SB 79 here.
