San Francisco: proposed Affordable Housing. (Photo: HUD.gov)
Senator Wiener’s SB 79 Would ‘San Francisco’ all of California
This is forced density without local input and control
By Katy Grimes, October 2, 2025 9:24 am
Senate Bill 79 by Democrat State Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco, would force single-family neighborhoods to accept high-rise apartment buildings, overriding local zoning restrictions which ban dense development to favor “transit-oriented housing development.”
This favorite policy of Sen. Wiener goes back to 2019 when he authored the controversial housing/zoning bill SB 50, which would have stripped zoning and land-use requirements from any type of housing, meaning a four-plex or apartment building could be built next to your single-family home. His awful bill was killed in a bipartisan legislation killing, but that wasn’t the end of it.
Unable to accept the killing of his controversial housing/zoning bill SB 50, Sen. Wiener pivoted to a backdoor answer to reviving it: Wiener replaced the language in two other bills with most of his SB 50 via the gut and amend process.
Now, sitting on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk awaiting his signature or veto, is Wiener’s newest bill which “requires a housing development project within a specified radius of existing or currently proposed major transit-oriented development (TOD) stop, be an allowable use on a site zoned for residential, mixed, or commercial development, if the housing development meets certain requirements. This bill also allows a transit agency to adopt TOD zoning standards for district-owned land located in a TOD zone.”
To understand why California has a housing shortage, you merely need to look at Existing law which:
1) Requires, pursuant to State Density Bonus Law (DBL), each city and county to adopt an ordinance that specifies how it will implement DBL. Requires cities and counties to grant a density bonus when an applicant for a housing development of five or more units seeks and agrees to construct a project that will contain at least one of the following:
a) 10% of the total units of a housing development for lower-income (LI) households;
b) 5% of the total units of a housing development for very low-income (VLI) households;
c) A senior citizen housing development or mobile home park;
d) 10% of the units in a common interest development (CID) for moderate- income households;
e) 10% of the total units for transitional foster youth, veterans, or people experiencing homelessness; or
f) 20% of the total units for lower-income students in a student housing development.
g) 100% of the units of a housing development for lower-income households, except that 20% of units may be for moderate-income households.
Sponsoring SB 79, are Bay Area Council, California Yimby, Greenbelt Alliance, Spur (San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association), Streets for All, Ugly Marxist Housing For All – kidding.
Most of the sponsors are San Francisco Bay Area centric.
Sen. Wiener, who sees all policy through the grimy lens of San Francisco, is once again attempting to foist dense San Francisco housing on the entire state.
According to Sen. Wiener:
“SB 79 tackles the root causes of California’s affordability crisis by allowing more homes to be built near major public transportation stops and on land owned by transit agencies – bolstering transit use, slashing climate emissions, and supporting public transportation in the process. SB 79 allows more homes near transit in two major ways. First, SB 79 allows for upzoning land for multi-family homes up to 75 feet within a half mile of specified major train stations and bus rapid transit stops. This will ensure that transit oriented developments (TODs) are feasible and enhance access to transit. Second, SB 79 authorizes local transit agencies to develop at the same or greater density on land they own. All TODs under SB 79 are eligible for the streamlined ministerial approvals process under SB 423 (Wiener, 2023) if they meet the law’s environmental, labor, and affordability standards. California needs to build millions of new homes in sustainable locations to meet housing goals, slash climate emissions, and reduce the cost of living, but overly restrictive zoning codes make building such homes illegal. SB 79 allows building more homes near transit to lower costs for families while bolstering public transit use and supporting cash- strapped transit agencies.”
California needs more housing, but destroying established neighborhoods with density housing is not the way to do it. Politicians need to strip away their own building and permitting regulations in order to get actual “affordable” housing built.
“Upzoning land” makes it easier for cities to “upzone” from single-family zoning, to allowing for multiple unit buildings. This is not without controversy, and is supply-side progressivism. Leftists say aloud “low and moderate income families deserve to live in high-opportunity neighborhoods. It’s wrong to restrict them to communities where the affluent do not want to live.” This is “housing and environmental justice.”
With Wiener’s latest effort, SB 79, the caveat justifying building apartment housing on single-family streets is if a bus stop is within half a mile of the proposed apartment building.
In my old downtown neighborhood, there are bus stops along the main artery streets, all within 1/2 mile of every one of the 6,000 homes. So anyone could tear down a single-family home and build a 65 foot tall apartment building in its place.
In opposition to SB 79 are many California cities, including the City of Los Angeles which voted to oppose Wiener’s bill, which “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,” LAist reported. “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.”
This bill is solely about state control over local development and growth, because of a “housing crisis” created by the brain trust at the state: Never ending regulations, CEQA abuse, and “mitigation fees,” which are just additional taxes.
San Diego Supervisor Jim Desmond warned earlier this year, “Now, instead of fixing their mistakes, the politicians want to take it out on local communities. This is not smart growth — it’s forced density without local input and control. And it turns the very idea of property rights upside down.”
Desmond added, “We need to stop SB 79 before it turns every neighborhood in California into a political experiment.”
Is this why Gov. Gavin Newsom will likely sign the bill?
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.
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Scott Weiner is a puppet of the World Economic Forum. In 2024, San Francisco hosted the WEF Urban Transformation Summit.
WEF has been in the process of scrubbing their accounts of the infamous quote, “You will own, nothing and be happy.”
They will just repackage it as Weiner has done with bill SB 79.
These are not solutions they are about power and control!
https://www.weforum.org/press/2024/10/urban-transformation-summit-spotlights-pivotal-role-of-cities-in-driving-global-growth-and-stability/
Contact Governor Newsom telling him to VETO SB 79. PLEASE call, email, write, whatever.
You can keep it simple and just weigh in that you want a VETO on SB 79. If you wish to add anything to that, one of the things you might tell him is that signing SB 79 will be seen as a huge negative by the rest of the country if he wants to become a Pres candidate.
Contact the Governor:
https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/
VETO SB 79.
You can also ring the governor’s phone off the hook:
Phone
(916) 445-2841
Newsom has until October 12 to sign or veto all legislation on his desk.
NOTE: SB 79 is a NIGHTMARE. Scott Wiener dreams of killing the suburbs and has been trying to do so for a long time. In addition to the emotional excitement he would get out of seeing SB 79 made law, this would also help him fill up his campaign coffers from developers who would make out big from this nonsense. See, it appears he has designs on running for Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat, God help us.
As you all know, Scott Wiener is a menace. He doesn’t give a crap if his brain-fevered ideas create bloody eyesores of blight, total overcrowding and more traffic congestion, increases in crime and overwhelm of sewers, parking, street infrastructure, schools, noise, and you-name-it with this ill-thought-out stack-and-pack B.S. Wiener doesn’t care about “affordable housing.” His record shows it. There are lots of ways to streamline building not in on ANY OF IT. Wiener doesn’t give a crap about “transit oriented development.” No one with even an ounce of a sense of self-preservation takes transit in Southern California! Or in any other urban area. And as Katy noted, virtually all the suburbs have nearby transit. That no one takes because IT’S NOT SAFE.
What’s more, all of the six-story monstrosities next to a single family home will probably be LUXURY housing, no matter what is said by Wiener and Co. Good for the developers and bad for homeowners as you will soon see if SB 79 becomes law. Because whatever the apartment or condo makeup, doesn’t matter, when you have a towering SIX-STORY MONSTROSITY next door. And backed-up sewers, no parking, noise, nuisance, nightmare traffic, horribly overburdened infrastructure, etc. You know the rest. And if Newsom chooses to sign on to Wiener’s nightmare it will be a blot on his Prez Quest resume, count on it.
Save you time contacting the governor, that slime ball probably approves. . Gavin Newscum is a vile, lying, cheating, crooked pile of adamschitt snake-oil salesman. Never believe a word that comes out of that SOB dirt-bags mouth.
Everyone needs to contact Gavin Newsom ANYWAY about this. It won’t take a minute. PLEASE.
We can’t have this. See Contact the Governor info above, under the second comment.
Everyone who owns a home KNOWS exactly how they sweated and saved and clawed to be able to do it against the odds. No one handed us anything. It was the same “unaffordabiity” years ago as it is now as far as percentage of income is concerned. And we’re going to let that pervert Scott Wiener come in and steal it with his flea-brained greedy stack and pack? Just so Scott Wiener can benefit and his undeserved political career can be advanced? NO.
Just please take two minutes and contact the Gov’s office. Seems to me there’s a good chance it could mean a VETO if enough Californians do it and the inboxes are filled with email and the voice mail clogged.
Done. It doesn’t have to be complicated or long. He couldn’t care less about rational arguments anyway; for him, it’s all about lining his own pockets. Here’s what I wrote:
“I’ll keep this short and simple. You want to be President. Voters all over the country know it, and they are watching. If you sign this latest Wiener created catastrophe, SB 79, into to law, you’ll be flushing any chance you may have had at occupying the White House. Veto SB 79.”
This is great, John Dunlap. And you’re right, short and simple is sufficient. Staff is likely just adding up the “against” numbers.
This bill does not fix the housing crisis. It only makes it worse. People want single family homes in single family home neighborhoods. This bill destroys single family home neighborhoods, and does nothing to build more single family homes. The thought of raising a family in an apartment building is absolutely depressing for most people, and is the worst of the worst for living conditions. People don’t want to live like this.
Remember, the Democrats are all about destroying your quality of life. Republicans build it up.
That’s right! So well said, Protect Freedom.
Why to san francisco politicians assume that every city in California aspires to become the craphole that san fracisco is? San francisco is not that special.
Why do you think Newsome and Bass engineered the burning down of Pacific Palisades?
About 16k lived there and with the area being re-zoned for condos and apartments the area will end up with 35k and little parking forcing residents to use busses, walk or bicycle.
Smart City L.A. 2028, just in time for the Olympics broke L.A. and California cannot afford.
I’m sure you’re right about the January fires and I agree with you.
For the record, let’s not forget about the Eaton Fire lives lost and structures destroyed in addition to the Palisades lives lost and structures destroyed. Seems to me what’s been out there lately has only been about the Palisades Fire. And not much has happened in the Eaton Fire zone in nine months either thanks to our feckless local and state leadership. To your good point, I guess the powers are testing their patience and waiting them out. Which is completely shameful and disgusting.
Palisades Fire
Deaths: 12
Structures destroyed: 6,837
Structures damaged: 1,017
Burned area: 23,448 acres (9,489 ha)
Status: Extinguished as of January 31, 2025
Eaton Fire
Deaths: 17
Structures destroyed: 9,418
Structures damaged: 1,073
Burned area: 14,021 acres (5,674 ha)
Status: Extinguished as of January 31, 2025
Adam Carolla in his latest Youtube video returned to Malibu to check in on the rebuilding efforts nine and a half months after the 2025 fires, and he found little progress, just lots going up for sale and being sold to Chinese buyers (CCP?).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvmMLO1D9g0
wipe the mustard off.
I have been voting for CA GOP since 1992. I have family obligations that will keep me here for a few more years but if we can’t turn the tide by then and reverse CA DNC power…I will have to tap out despite being here my whole life. I have tried to keep the faith but little did I know in 1992 that the politics would KEEP MOVING in the wrong direction for the next 30+ years.
Maybe Hair-gel Hitler Newsom should consider that if he signs creepy Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB 79 into law, then it would be possible to build low-income high-rise apartment buildings near his multi-million dollar mansion in the ritzy Marin County city of Kentfield? Marin Transit operates Routes 22 and 228 in Kentfield that connect to the nearby College of Marin campus which acts as a transit hub. Kentfield meets the criteria for SB 79 and it’s ripe for up-zoning!
Kentfield is one of the wealthiest cities in California with an average annual income of $356K and the median home price exceeds $2.1 million. Kentfield’s white population is among the highest in California with 84% of residents identifying as white. Kentfield is overwhelmingly Democratic in its political leanings, with voter registration statistics showing that 62% of registered voters identify as Democrats.
The Newsom’s and their wealthy white Democrat neighbors in Kentfield should embrace and welcome all the diversity that low-income high-rise apartment buildings will bring to their Kentfield neighborhoods!
HairGel Hitler, I love it. Are you sure he still owns in Kentfield? The house he had there before becoming governor was sold to an Asian lawyer who worked for Obama. I thought he recently bought a $9 million ranchette with views of Mt. Tam of course. In any event, the Rich Liberal Mafia has Marin all locked up, not a chance any proposal would affect them and even if somebody tried the courts would block it or stall forever. That’s what they have done with the FREE property for affordable housing George “Star War” Lucas offered. In an “Only In Marin” episode after county officials refused to permit Lucas a small addition to his Skywalker Ranch, he donated 2,200 acres to a trust for affordable housing. Local courts and agencies have tied it up for decades, nothing will ever be built. No response from AG Big Boy Bonta who is obsessed with attacking Huntington Beach and Pasadena for daring to try and preserve their own legacy neighborhoods. The question of just how Newsom acquired his wealth remains uncertain, a clue may be found the “4 Families of California” video YouTube BANNED despite being 100% factual. Look it up on Rumble it’s only 6 minutes and tell more than anything ever permitted on the corporate networks. Auntie Nancy’s legacy going back to Baltimore is addressed as well.
Senator Wiener is projecting himself as the next Willie Brown of California. I wonder if a one bench bus stop qualifies for transit-oriented development. These guys are drunk on power. About a year ago while in Sacramento I went into Senator Wiener’s office. The door entering the office was plastered with posters for left leaning causes. the lobby was full of people laughing about something when I walked in. When they saw me for some reason they left the lobby. I said my piece to the attendant still left behind the counter and left. Condescending and arrogant is what best describes these folks.
This has UN Agenda 21 written all over it. Keep everyone in large groups, easier to control them that way.
If there weren’t several million illegals in California, there’d be several million more homes available, and prices would be proportionately lower.
There is the real problem, not housing or lack of it.
If Newsom signs SB 79, we need a referendum.
This would be a great issue for the Reps in 2026. Other than dedicated Leftists, very few, if any, Dem and NPP homeowners want a 7 story “stack and pack” apartment next to their homes. (Of course, the dedicated Leftists only want 7 story “stack and packs” next to other people’s homes.)
Where and in what style does Scott Wiener live? He probably lives in some sort of dacha or veritable chateau. If Wiener truly wanted to make housing affordable, he would work to roll back everything state, county and local governments does to jack up the cost of building and owning housing. On the other hand, Vladimir Lenin mandated that soviet apartments would be cheaply built and ugly as well,, maybe that’s Wiener’s guiding light.
Wiener is unmarried, openly gay, and has an apartment or condo in SF. He put thru a bill to decriminalize not telling anyone intimate partners about AIDS status. Isn’t that nice??
Clearly he has no interest in neighborhoods, families or their wants and needs. You can find photos of him in pink high heels and worse at various PRIDE events. He is a menace to society in general !