A bill that would have thwarted local control in the interest of creating tons of new housing suffered sudden death at its first committee hearing last week.
Senate Bill 827 (Wiener) would have forced cities to allow apartments and condominiums near transit hubs, in spite of current zoning laws. It received little support from lawmakers and a torrent of opposition from neighborhood advocates and local governments.
The bill’s failure sends a powerful message to Sacramento, said Ethan Elkind of UC Berkeley Law School’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment.
“For them to just strangle it in the crib like that,” he said, “indicates that this relatively big approach to rein in local government isn’t going to fly anytime soon in California.”
Read more about the bill’s failure and what it could mean for the future of housing here.