Sacramento Just Took Away Local Control

Media
Oct 14
1 min read

The Governor just signed SB 79 — a new law that strips local communities of their ability to shape their own neighborhoods.

This law overrides local zoning and hands development decisions to Sacramento. It forces cities and towns across California to allow massive apartment and condo buildings—up to eight stories tall—around transit stations, even in areas currently zoned for single-family homes or small businesses.

In plain language: local communities will no longer decide what kind of housing belongs near their trolley or Sprinter stations. Sacramento politicians will.

This isn’t about thoughtful planning or community input. Cities have spent years developing local land use plans that reflect what works best for their residents. SB 79 tosses those plans aside.

This forces high-density development on communities that had no say. It opens the door to tall, dense apartment projects without regard for neighborhood character, infrastructure, or community vision.

This doesn’t help young families achieve the American Dream of owning a home. It’s just more apartments—fewer opportunities for people to build real wealth through homeownership.

We should be empowering cities and neighborhoods to plan responsibly, not imposing top-down mandates that erase local control.