By Bruce Coons / Special to the OB Rag
California needs more affordable housing. But the way we get there matters and today, Sacramento is pushing forward a series of bills that would destroy historic neighborhoods, disempower communities, and leave San Diegans with fewer tools to protect the places that tell our city’s story.
Three bills, AB 609, SB 607, and SB 79 are now advancing through the Legislature. They are marketed as housing solutions, but in reality, they are blunt instruments that would weaken environmental protections, silence local voices, and sacrifice California’s and San Diego’s historic built environment.
At SOHO, Save Our Heritage Organisation, we have long advocated for responsible growth that strengthens, not erases, our communities. We urge our elected officials and our fellow citizens to reject these short-sighted measures.
Assembly Bill 609, authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, would greatly expand exemptions to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). It would allow development projects up to 20 acres to proceed without meaningful environmental or public review, even if they involve demolishing historic resources. Under this bill, a developer could bulldoze significant historic structures without the community ever knowing until it was too late. Affordable older homes, modest historic neighborhoods, and irreplaceable cultural landmarks would be at risk with no transparency, no accountability, and no public say.
Senate Bill 607, from Senator Scott Wiener, strikes at CEQA’s “fair argument” standard, a safeguard that empowers ordinary citizens to require full environmental review when credible concerns are raised. Without it, local governments could dismiss real evidence about a site’s historic or environmental value, greenlighting demolition without a second thought. Communities that have historically fought to protect their heritage would lose one of the few tools available to them.
SB 79, also authored by Senator Wiener, would hand expansive land use authority to transit agencies, entities with no preservation responsibilities and no ties to local planning departments. The bill would permit construction of seven-story buildings near bus stops, with lower-height zoning reaching up to half a mile beyond. Historic districts would be among the first to fall.
And critically: none of these bills guarantee affordable housing. They simply remove public protections and fast-track market-rate and luxury developments under the banner of “housing.”
San Diego’s historic neighborhoods are among our city’s greatest assets. Places like Golden Hill, Sherman Heights, Logan Heights, North Park, and University Heights not only hold generations of history; they offer some of the most naturally affordable and walkable, housing we have.
Historic preservation is not an obstacle to building a better future, it is part of the solution.
Adaptive reuse, rehabilitation, and the conservation of existing housing stock are all sustainable strategies that promote affordability, reduce displacement, and support climate goals.
California should not have to choose between housing and heritage. We can and must build a future that honors both.
We urge our San Diego delegation Assemblymember Chris Ward, Senator Toni Atkins, Senator Steve Padilla, Senator Akilah Weber Pierson, and others to oppose AB 609, SB 607, and SB 79.
These bills would silence the very communities that housing advocates claim to serve and dismantle the protections that ensure we build a livable, equitable, and historically rich California.
San Diegans must make their voices heard. Tell Sacramento: our future includes our history.
Contact your legislators and tell them to vote NO on AB 609, SB 607, and SB 79.
Bruce Coons, Executive Director, of Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), San Diego’s leading historic preservation nonprofit since 1969. SOHO advocates for the protection, preservation, and celebration of the region’s architectural, cultural, and historic resources.
