Senator Wiener’s Housing Opportunity Act, Ensuring Loopholes Don’t Prevent Multifamily Apartments, Passes Senate Governance and Finance Committee

SACRAMENTO - Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s housing legislation, Senate Bill 478, passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee by a vote of 4-1

SB 478, the Housing Opportunity Act, ensures that local zoned density and state housing laws are not undermined by hyper-restrictive lot requirements that make it practically impossible to build multifamily apartment buildings in areas zoned to allow them. Specifically, SB 478 sets minimum standards on floor area ratios (FAR) and minimum lot sizes, for land zoned for missing middle housing (from three to ten unit buildings). Excessively low FAR and excessively large minimum lot sizes are tools that numerous cities use to undermine their own zoned density — in other words, a city can zone for multi-unit housing, but extreme FAR or lot size requirements make that zoned density effectively impossible. As a result, cities are able to use these loopholes to prohibit multi-unit housing otherwise authorized by local or state zoning law.

Current state law already preempts local FAR regulations from hindering the production of ADUs; when building an ADU, local FAR standards are void. SB 478 would simply require an FAR of 1.0 on lots zoned for 3-7 units, and an FAR of 1.25 on 8-10 units, rather than completely nullify them, as is the case with ADUs. This legislation would apply in urbanized areas in multi-family residential or mixed use zones.

SB 478 will also provide that localities cannot deny a project solely on the basis that the lot size does not meet the local agency’s requirements for minimum lot size. Additionally, localities will not be allowed to impose a lot coverage requirement that would preclude a housing development from achieving the allowed FAR.

California is in the midst of a deep housing crisis, which is leading to mass migration out of the state, skyrocketing eviction rates, record levels of homelessness and poverty, and a growing class of low income and middle class super commuters unable to afford housing within several hours of their jobs. Many local governments in California are motivated independently to increase density in their neighborhoods, and others are required by state law to do so. However, due to the lack of adequate statewide standards and burdensome and outdated regulations, some California cities are able to avoid accountability and find loopholes to prevent denser housing from becoming a reality.

“California has a massive housing shortage, and we must ensure that planned housing can actually get built,” said Senator Wiener. “Abusive square footage limits and lot size mandates can effectively negate the zoning a city has adopted. When it comes to housing, cities should not be giving with one hand and taking with another. SB 478 is simply an accountability law that ensures cities allow the housing for which they've zoned.”