LA City Council narrowly votes to oppose state bill allowing more housing near public transit

In a close vote following a pointed debate, a slim majority of the Los Angeles City Council voted to formally oppose a California bill that aims to put more housing next to train stops and rapid bus lines.

Eight council members voted to oppose Senate Bill 79, written by Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco. The bill would override local land-use restrictions and let developers construct apartment buildings up to six stories tall, as long as they are within a quarter-mile of a light rail station or a rapid bus stop.

Sacramento upzoning bills regularly have met resistance from local politicians in cities across California, including Los Angeles. In Tuesday’s council meeting, many L.A. council members again argued that state lawmakers were trying to wrest control from local leaders.

“Sacramento is hijacking local planning, stripping away neighborhood voices, ignoring safety and infrastructure, and handing the keys to corporate developers,” said Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes the Pacific Palisades and who introduced the resolution to oppose SB 79 alongside Councilmember John Lee of the San Fernando Valley.

Joining Park and Lee in voting to oppose SB 79 were councilmembers Heather Hutt, Ysabel Jurado, Tim McOsker, Imelda Padilla, Monica Rodriguez, and Katy Yaroslavsky.

‘Our actions have not met the moment’

Other council members said L.A.’s unaffordable rents and out-of-reach home prices prove new approaches are needed.

“We talk a lot about our housing crisis in this body, but our actions have not met the moment,” said Councilmember Nithya Raman, whose district stretches from Encino to Los Feliz. “The only times that they have met this moment are when Sacramento forces us to do something.”

Raman said she believes lack of housing growth currently is the city’s biggest problem. She noted that L.A.’s approval process for new housing regularly takes years, and the city recently has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees in failed efforts to kill 100% affordable housing projects.

Raman voted against opposing SB 79, along with councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Curren Price, Hugo Soto-Martinez, and Marqueece Harris-Dawson.

Two councilmembers — Bob Blumenfield and Adrin Nazarian — were absent.

Soto-Martinez, whose district includes much of Hollywood, as well as Silver Lake and Echo Park, had strong words for his colleagues who stood against the state bill.

“You can't have your cake and eat it, too,” Soto-Martinez said. “If you want the solution to these issues — the homelessness, permanent supportive housing sites — then build them in your district.”

State bill exposes fissures on the council

The vote was not split entirely along ideological lines. Jurado — whose district includes Eagle Rock, El Sereno, and Boyle Heights and who frequently allies with Soto-Martinez, Raman, and Hernandez on tenant rights and other housing issues — expressed concern that upzoning could lead to the redevelopment of older, rent-controlled buildings.

“I'm not willing to gamble losing Boyle Heights,” Jurado said. “That's a gamble I don't want to take considering the lack of clarity around the issues of tenant protections, how it may or may not impact my district.”

During the meeting, SB 79 opponents argued the city already is doing enough to spur the construction of more housing through its recent housing plan update.

That plan left areas zoned for single-family homes — representing 72% of the city’s residential land — untouched. An analysis from the advocacy group Streets for All, which supports SB 79, found that 45% of the land surrounding L.A.’s “high-quality transit stops” is zoned for single-family homes, duplexes, or parking lots.

Before Tuesday’s City Council vote, local opposition to SB 79 came from an unusual source: L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. In a letter she sent to a state senator in May, Feldstein Soto argued that local taxpayers would have to foot the bill for increased utilities, trash collection, and other services connected to the new housing.

Supporters of SB 79 have argued the new housing would help working- and middle-class Angelenos stay in the city and would help cash-strapped transit agencies boost ridership.

L.A. currently is falling far short of achieving its state-mandated goal of planning for nearly a half-million new homes by 2029. Last year, the city permitted about 17,200 new homes. More than triple that amount would be needed annually to meet the 2029 target.

LAist transportation correspondent Kavish Harjai contributed to this report.