July 22, 2025
To: California State Assembly Members, San Diego:
The Honorable Laurie Davies, District 74
The Honorable Carl DeMaio, District 75
The Honorable Dr. Darshana R. Patel, District 76
The Honorable Tasha Boerner, 77th District
The Honorable Chris Ward, 78th District
The Honorable Dr. LaShae Sharp-Collins, District 79
The Honorable David Alvarez, 80th DistrictT
Subject: Opposition to SB 79
Dear Assemblymembers:
The San Diego Community Coalition, which represents 25 San Diego communities and multiple community housing-related organizations, strongly urges you to vote NO on Senate Bill 79 (Senator Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco).
While Senator Wiener’s Fact Sheet (Updated 7-07-25) states the City of San Diego supports Senate Bill 79 (SB 79), San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria never announced any
endorsement, and the City Council never discussed the bill or sought public input. Rather, this misinformation originated from a two-page letter written on City of San
Diego letterhead and sent on June 3rd to State Senator Scott Wiener. The letter was signed by Sacramento lobbyist Moira Topp of Topp Strategies.
In truth, San Diego’s Legislative Platform not only emphasizes support of land use regulations that would be eliminated by SB 79, it supports retaining local control over state and federal regulations, in general. Any statement of support, implied or explicit, for SB 79 contradicts these principles.
The San Diego Community Coalition’s opposition is based on the sweeping nature of SB 79 that fails to acknowledge the diversity of California’s geography, topography, infrastructure, and planning needs. More specifically, it fails to consider San Diego’s abundant canyons, extreme wildfire risk, and the myriad far-reaching housing initiatives the City of San Diego has already set in motion. It would mean the loss of local control.
SB 79 would create unjustified chaos, and create far more problems than it would solve. More specifically, the San Diego Community Coalition’s objections to SB 79 are as follows:
- As mentioned, SB 79 undermines and conflicts with local planning efforts, which are much more precise in identifying and zoning areas for pedestrian and transit- oriented development. San Diego is already ahead of production goals for market-rate housing and has zoned for nearly three times as much housing primarily along transit corridors. SB 79 shouldn’t be imposed on cities that are already creating adequate opportunities for new housing based on a state-certified Housing Element.
- SB 79 is fundamentally flawed because it doesn’t measure the proposed one-half mile distance from transit as walking distance along a public pedestrian path of travel. Given San Diego’s canyon-covered topography, a one-half mile radial distance can result in walking distances of two miles or more to get around freeways and natural barriers.
- SB 79 bases transit stops on future transit plans that might never happen, particularly in the City of San Diego, where extreme budget deficits will be difficult to overcome. A far better solution to promoting transit options that would address climate change issues would be to have higher density residential development immediately adjacent to existing transit.
- Additionally, the footprint of SB 79 is too far spread out to achieve population densities needed to support transit adoption on commercial corridors. The zoning overrides of SB 79 should be limited to areas immediately adjacent to transit — not a half mile or more away.
- The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) voted on June 13, 2025, to oppose SB 79, with its Board of Directors Chair Lesa Heebner stating, “It would not be the right tool for many cities in our region and state. It’s too much, too dense, and too tall.”
- Demolishing existing naturally occurring affordable housing without meaningful replacement requirements will reduce the availability of housing that is most desperately needed in San Diego. Building more luxury and mid-market apartments doesn’t promote sustainability or affordability.
- In San Diego, “transit rich” areas are disproportionately lower resource areas, according to the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) opportunity map. A likely outcome of SB 79 is that it would target lower opportunity areas and spare higher opportunity areas, contrary to the Legislature’s obligation to affirmatively further fair housing.
- Due to the indiscriminate one-half mile distance from transit, SB 79 would create out-of-scale developments in single-family neighborhoods that lack the public infrastructure and commercial amenities needed to reduce automobile dependence. SB 79 should be restricted to areas that are already zoned for multi-family housing.
- SB 79 would increase home prices and make home ownership even less attainable to San Diego families. San Diego has already experienced sharper increases in the prices of for-sale single-family homes compared to the rest of California due to prospective homebuyers having to outbid investor-backed rental income properties.
- Last but not least, SB 79 ignores fire safety. Many areas in San Diego that SB 79 would make available for high-density development are on canyon rims in high fire hazard severity zones with inadequate fire lanes, cul-de-sacs that don’t meet legal standards for fire equipment clearance or turning radius, and fire hydrant spacings that don’t meet standards set for high-density multi-family zones. SB 79 does not include funding for cities to upgrade infrastructure and roadways in SB 79-eligible areas to meet those standards.
The San Diego Community Coalition stands in solidarity with the San Diego Community Planners Committee, Neighbors for a Better San Diego, and SANDAG in calling for your “NO” vote on SB 79. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.
Respectfully,
Bonnie L. Kutch, Member
San Diego Community Coalition
On behalf of Steering Committee Members:
Eric Becerra, Encanto
Lisa Becerra, Encanto
Scott Case, Middletown
Frank Gormlie, Ocean Beach
Trudy Grundland, Pacific Beach
Paul Krueger, Talmadge
Bonnie Kutch, University City
Eric Law, Point Loma
Michelle Schroeder, Clairemont
Thank you.
OUTSTANDING San Diego Community Coalition.