The Week in Land Law - Governor Newsom signs SB 9 and SB 10
Less than 48 hours after surviving the recall, Governor Newsom signed SB 9 and SB 10 into law. YIMBYs rejoice. Local government staff, local elected officials, affordable housing advocates, and people who fled dense neighborhoods for more open space and comfortable living conditions panic.
I’ve written about SB 9 here here and here. SB 9 was slightly tweaked after my posts so I will write an update on how the law will work in practice. Essentially, it eliminates single family zoning throughout California.
SB 10 authorizes a city or county to pass an ordinance that is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to zone any parcel for up to ten units of residential density if the parcel is located in a transit-rich area or an urban infill site. It allows city councils and boards of supervisors to override voter-adopted initiative measures in exchange for higher-density housing. We will start seeing more YIMBY-funded candidates running for local office to override voters on housing matters (in other words, more developer-backed candidates will run for city council seats, and their interests may not be aligned with the community). As we saw with the easy passage of SB 9 and SB 10 in the State Legislature despite massive public opposition, developer money is a very powerful thing. It will be difficult for non-developer backed local candidates to compete. Whether or not SB 10 is constitutional remains to be seen, and I anticipate it will be tested shortly.
My prediction: The bills will have the opposite effect of what the YIMBYs sold Californians. Without affordability restrictions, upzoning land increases its value, sending housing costs higher. Newsom claims that SB 9 and SB 10 create “exits from homelessness” - but without any affordability mandates, I very much doubt that will be the case. Stay tuned as California’s housing policy goes national under Biden.
