SB 827: Part 2

"California state senator has revived a major effort to boost homebuilding near transit, a proposal he says is necessary to address the state’s housing affordability and climate change challenges that have only deepened since his initial bill failed earlier this year," reports Liam Dillon.

The new bill, Senate Bill 50, is modeled on last year's SB 827, which set the planning and housing Internet on fire but ultimately failed to achieve the political support necessary to proceed out of the California State Senate. SB 50 would allow new development density near rail transit stations and frequently used bus stops, according to Dillon.

As for changes from SB 827, Dillon provides the following explanation:

The legislation blocks developers from using the bill if they planned to knock down properties that renters had occupied within at least the previous seven years. It also allows communities facing pressures from gentrification and displacement to propose alternative plans to boost homebuilding instead of using the system outlined in the bill. And it loosens local zoning restrictions in communities with high median incomes, quality schools and short commutes to jobs, even if there isn’t access to transit nearby — an effort to push development into wealthier areas that might have previously resisted it.

For more information on SB 50, there's more explanation available in a blog post on Medium written by Sen. Scott Wiener.