The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday is expected to direct city planners to start mapping which neighborhoods could see taller, denser apartments near bus and rail stops under a new state housing law—and to sketch out ways the city might delay or modify how that law takes effect.
The law, known as SB 79 or the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 10, and will take effect on July 1, 2026. It will require cities to allow multi-story apartment buildings within a half-mile of certain train stations and major bus stops, even in areas zoned for single-family homes.
A preliminary analysis by city planners identifies roughly 150 potential station areas where SB 79 could apply. Within those “transit-oriented development” zones—the half mile areas around qualifying rail and high-frequency bus stops—eligible projects could reach 5 to 9 stories, with higher density and floor-area ratios than many of today’s zoning rules allow.
On Tuesday, City Council members won’t be deciding on where new buildings will go — only whether planners should study which areas might be affected. They’re expected to approve a Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee recommendation directing the City Administrative Officer to identify up to $375,000 for City Planning’s mapping and modeling work — the technical analysis that will shape how Los Angeles responds to SB 79.
The analysis will help the city decide where SB 79’s new zoning should take effect as soon as the law begins, where Los Angeles might seek to delay its rollout, and whether to craft its own transit-oriented development alternative plan that redistributes new density differently than the state map.
SB 79 creates a new class of “transit-oriented development stops” divided into Tier 1 (heavy rail and very high-frequency commuter rail) and Tier 2 (light rail, bus rapid transit and some bus lines with full-time dedicated lanes). Around each qualifying stop, the law draws ¼-mile and ½-mile buffers where new base standards apply.
In Los Angeles, Tier 1 stops include stations on Metro’s B and D heavy-rail lines. Tier 2 covers light-rail stations and major bus corridors with full-time dedicated lanes, including the Metro A, C, E, K and G lines. Early mapping by the city Planning Department also identifies the G Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), planned BRT routes on Lincoln Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, the NoHo–Pasadena BRT, and potential eligible bus lanes on Sepulveda Boulevard, Venice Boulevard and Figueroa Street.
Within those zones, SB 79 guarantees minimum height, density and floor area ratio for projects. For example, buildings within a quarter-mile of major rail stations could be built seven to nine stories, while those between a quarter-mile and a half-mile could be built five to six stories. Those standards would apply across most residential, mixed-use and commercial zoning.
A September motion by Councilmember Traci Park — co-authored by Monica Rodriguez and John Lee and later amended by Nithya Raman and Bob Blumenfield — directs city staff to map every station area where SB 79 could apply and analyze how the law interacts with local conditions, including rent-stabilized housing, coastal and fire-risk zones, hillside streets, tsunami and evacuation routes, historic districts, low-resource neighborhoods and industrial sites.
The motion also asks staff to outline how Los Angeles could pursue delayed implementation or craft its own “transit-oriented development alternative plan,” and orders a separate, multi-department report on the infrastructure, utilities and emergency-service staffing needed to accommodate the housing growth SB 79 would spur. Those reports are due in phases through early 2026.
SB 79 gives cities several narrow ways to shape how the law takes effect:
One is “delayed effectuation,” essentially a temporary pause. If Los Angeles can show that certain areas already allow substantial housing; or fall in very high fire hazard zones or sea-level-rise zones; or are designated “low resource” — areas with fewer economic, educational and health opportunities; or contain locally protected historic sites, then the city can adopt an ordinance to delay SB 79 in those areas until about 2030, subject to state approval.
Another tool is a local “transit-oriented development alternative plan,” or Alt Plan. It lets the city redistribute density around station areas—lowering it on some parcels, increasing it on others, or carving out sensitive sites—as long as the total housing capacity across all SB 79 zones does not decrease. These plans require extensive modeling and must also be approved by the state.
City Planning’s Nov. 13 report lays out four options: let SB 79 take effect as written; delay it in certain areas; expand those delays by upzoning; or craft a local “alternative plan” that changes how density is applied around transit.
On Nov. 17, the PLUM Committee backed the latter two options, voting to fund Department of City Planning’s modeling work and directing staff to map where delays could be expanded and to develop a citywide framework for Alt Plans.
Neighborhood councils are split. Los Feliz opposes the motion unless the city drops its request for a confidential report regarding potential legal challenges to SB 79 and any effort to delay SB 79, arguing the city shouldn’t “threaten to spend taxpayer money on wasteful litigation.”
Mar Vista “strongly supports” the motion, citing its call for a full infrastructure analysis and a confidential review of potential legal challenges.
Greater Toluca Lake, which opposed SB 79 outright, urges the city to pursue any option that mitigate its “harmful impacts.” Its president Tess Taylor on Monday called partial delayed effectuation “the lesser of the evils.”
“None of the proposed choices were good,” Taylor added. “Just as with other intrusions into city zoning, we’re being held hostage by the best legislation money can buy.”
If the City Council approves the PLUM recommendations on Tuesday, the Department of City Planning will begin modeling where SB 79 applies, which areas might qualify for a delay, and how a local alternative plan could shift capacity. The findings are due early next year to allow any delay ordinance or Alt Plan to be drafted and submitted to the state housing department between January and March 2026, the period required for them to take effect before SB 79 begins on July 1, 2026.