Sen. Wiener Wants to Abolish Single-Family-Only Neighborhoods in California

Scott Wiener is back with a new housing bill aimed at alleviating the state's housing shortage. The measure would eliminate building rules across California that limit neighborhoods to single-family homes in an effort to boost new housing construction.

The Democratic San Francisco state senator introduced the bill, SB 902, on Monday. It’s a follow-up to SB 50, a controversial proposal that would have allowed for taller apartment buildings in urban areas near transit and job centers, along with fourplexes throughout the state. That bill died earlier this year.

Wiener’s new bill would allow duplexes in cities with fewer than 10,000 residents, triplexes in cities with between 10,000 to 50,000 residents and fourplexes in cities with more than 50,000. Current building heights imposed by cities would stay the same under the bill, along with other local building rules, such as design guidelines.

“The beauty” of this new approach," said Wiener, “is that you can add a significant amount of new housing in a way that still fits into the neighborhood, in terms of the size of buildings.”

SB 50 had faced opposition from municipal leaders fearful of the state imposing a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Advocates for renters and low-income residents were also opposed to the bill because they said it wouldn’t result in enough affordable housing. Wiener called his new approach “a lighter touch.”

“It’s a lighter touch in terms of what is required,” Wiener said, adding that opponents of SB 50 should be less concerned because the buildings allowed under the bill would be much smaller.

Wiener also added a provision in his new bill allowing 10-unit apartment buildings along transit or job-rich areas that would not need to undergo environmental reviews. This provision – if cities choose to adopt it – would help municipalities meet new statewide housing construction targets, he said, which are now double and triple the requirements from past years.

“SB 902, I hope, will signal to cities that we are serious about giving cities more and more tools to make their lives easier in terms of zoning for and approving more housing,” Wiener said.

Oregon approved a similar bill last year allowing duplexes in cities with more than 10,000 people in areas zoned for only single-family homes. In the Portland metro area, the law goes even further, requiring cities and counties to allow fourplexes.

Last week, Wiener introduced another bill, SB 899, that allows churches, synagogues, mosques and nonprofit hospitals to build four- and five-story apartment buildings on their properties so long as the housing is restricted to low-income renters.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins have both said they want to see more legislation that boosts housing construction throughout the state. Both of Wiener’s bills, SB 899 and SB 902, are part of a package of bills expected to be introduced this year aimed at increasing the production of new housing, Wiener said.

“You don’t have to do it as one flagship bill,” Wiener said. “You can have a bunch of bills that collectively make dramatic change, and this bill will make significant change.”