State Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, was one of 21 senators on Tuesday who voted for a bill that would allow seven-story apartment buildings near bus and train stations.
The bill would have a profound impact on the Mid-Peninsula. Senate Bill 79 would allow for tall apartment buildings within a half mile of Caltrain stations in Mountain View, Palo Alto’s California Avenue, Palo Alto’s University Avenue, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos and Belmont. Local height restrictions wouldn’t apply.
The bill would also allow such buildings near bus stops that get service every 20 minutes.
Opponents said the bill would result in luxury housing and displace existing residents.
“This is a complete handout to developers,” said Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Fremont, who voted no on Tuesday. Wahab is chair of the Senate Housing Committee.
The bill also has a provision to allow transit agencies like Caltrain to ignore local zoning rules when developing their properties.
SB79 now goes to the state Assembly. If it’s approved there, it goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.
The city of Palo Alto opposed SB79, arguing that it would override thoughtful planning efforts.
SB79 “imposes a rigid, one-size-fits-all framework,” Mayor Ed Lauing said in a letter last week to the bill’s author, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco.
Becker said on Tuesday that he hopes SB79 will start a conversation about what is actually working to solve the state’s housing crisis, rather than more bills that anger the public and don’t show results.
Becker said he isn’t happy with the state’s 2023-2031 Housing Element process, which required cities to plan for thousands of homes and to establish programs for making housing easier to build.
For example, the city of Palo Alto was required to find locations for 6,086 units. To meet the quota, council decided to allow taller and denser buildings along San Antonio Road and El Camino Real.
“We told them, ‘Hey, you pick where you zone.’ And then here we are coming along and saying, ‘Hey and by the way, we’re going to choose for you in these areas,’” Becker said before Tuesday’s vote.
Becker said cities in his district spent $25 million working on the 2023-2031 Housing Element, sometimes 10% of their budgets.
Councils spent three years at countless hearings dealing with upset constituents and inconsistent direction from state housing officials, Becker said.
Yet housing still isn’t getting built because of high interest rates, Becker said.
Becker said housing advocates told him they are willing to abandon the existing Housing Element process.
“Clearly, there’s a lot of unhappiness,” he said.
Palo Alto Forward, a group of pro-housing residents, announced Wednesday that they are throwing a party for Becker on Sunday because he “took a big leap and voted yes” on SB79.
Wiener said on Tuesday that housing progress takes time. The state 10 years ago started making it easier to build backyard cottages or granny units, officially called accessory dwelling units or ADUs.
ADU laws took five or six years to perfect, and now ADU production is “exploding” across the state, Wiener said.
“We need every kind of housing in California,” Wiener said.
Supporters of the bill said housing near public transit will bring in more ridership, and the state still needs to do more to streamline housing developments.
So Becker wants it both ways. He votes for this pro-developer bill then he says he wants to have a “conversation” about housing quotas. How will his “yes” vote lead to such a conversation? It won’t. It’s just something he fed the paper in order to get people off his back.
Senator Becker’s District 13 population is 1 million, about 1/40 of California. So if RHNA cost district cities $25 million in administrative costs — basically paperwork mind you, not actually building anything — then RHNA 2023-31 has cost the whole state somewhere around $1 billion.
If all the other 200 non-RHNA State Housing Bills cost somewhere around the same amount, then the whole state “We’ll Take Over Your Housing” plan has cost Californians roughly $2 billion. Again just on paperwork, not on new construction. And there wasn’t any new construction; California’s housing production rate hasn’t changed in a decade. It’s like RHNA never existed.
Instead, how much actual housing could have been built with $2 billion? How many homeless could be under roofs today?
Mr. Becker and his colleagues blew $2 billion and got zilch for it. Only people who didn’t take math in high school, and apparently Palo Alto Forward, think this is a win. Yeah, so much winning.
The incompetence is staggering. What exactly are we paying these people for?
I am very happy to see Josh Becker doing the right thing and voting for housing! This is a courageous vote, and will be pivotal in changing the dynamics of the housing shortage if passed. Go Josh Go!
I think this is awesome; it often feels like renters have no voice in state politics and are completely at the whims of property owners preference for stationarity, while in the mean time top talent is draining from the state. With this momentum, I’m excited for the future of housing in California and our ability to attract young families and entrepreneurs.
The state legislature won’t be happy until they San Franciscoize our beautiful Peninsula and destroy the suburbs. Every time I turn around there is a new, crafty housing bill that urbanizes our suburban neighborhoods. It is time we vote these politicians out of office…including Josh Becker!!! He also voted yes on SB9, need I say more?
Thank you, Senator Becker! My #1 issue as a Palo Alto resident and voter is to build more homes. SB 79 will be a great step in the right direction.
Mr Becker’s vote guarantees him a steady flow of campaign funds while he blithely destroys our neighborhoods while doing nothing to reduce rents or housing prices since the cost of the land makes so expensive and discourages builders from building.
But he’ll always have the credulous believing that moves like this mean anything.
““We told them, ‘Hey, you pick where you zone.’ And then here we are coming along and saying, ‘Hey and by the way, we’re going to choose for you in these areas,’” Becker said before Tuesday’s vote.”
Given his own quote, how on earth did he vote for this new law? -especially as the Housing elements’ ink is barely dried-
This bill is basically the same stuff as the other 10 years of bills that didn’t change the dynamics of housing in California. Definition of insanity, etc.
A hallmark of dysfunctional governments is they fixate only on activity, and don’t care about results. A lot of officials can’t even tell the difference anymore.
Voters who can’t tell the difference between activity and results, they get the government they deserve. Other things, too.