Planning Commission Backs Local Pause on State Housing Density Law Near Metro A Line Stations

The Pasadena Planning Commission voted 5-1 on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, to recommend that the City Council adopt an uncodified ‘delayed effectuation‘ ordinance that would temporarily exempt designated historic sites and selected lower-density residential properties near the city’s six Metro A Line stations from Senate Bill 79 (SB 79), the state’s new transit-oriented housing density law.

The recommendation, scheduled to go before the City Council next Monday, would pause SB 79’s effect on certain properties until approximately 2031, roughly one year after adoption of Pasadena’s next housing element, or until the city adopts a longer-term Transit Oriented Development Alternative Plan (TODAP).

Senate Bill 79, formally titled the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, was introduced by California State Senator Scott Wiener on January 15, 2025, and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 10, 2025, according to Senior Planner Natalie Espinoza, who presented the staff report. The law takes effect on July 1, 2026.

SB 79 allows streamlined staff-level review and approval of residential and mixed-use development projects within a half-mile radius of designated transit-oriented development (TOD) stops. In Pasadena, those stops are the six Metro A Line stations — Fillmore, Del Mar, Memorial Park, Lake, Allen and Sierra Madre Villa — all classified as tier two stops under the bill.

Eligible projects under SB 79 must include at least five residential units, a minimum density of 30 dwelling units per acre, average unit sizes no larger than 1,750 square feet, and, for mixed-use projects, at least 66 percent residential use. Maximum heights, densities and residential floor area ratios are tiered by proximity to a transit stop, ranging from 85 feet and 140 dwelling units per acre for sites within 200 feet of a stop, down to 55 feet and 80 dwelling units per acre between a quarter and a half mile from a stop. Projects exceeding 85 feet in height trigger prevailing wage and labor requirements.

Under the staff recommendation approved by the commission, the delayed effectuation ordinance would apply in two layers.

Within all six Pasadena TOD zones, the pause would cover every site with a historic resource designated as of January 1, 2025, on a local register. Within only the Del Mar, Memorial Park and Lake TOD zones — the three station areas staff determined have enough existing zoning capacity to qualify for broader exemptions under the bill — the pause would additionally apply to sites with historic resources on the state register (which also covers nationally designated sites), all single-family residential and multifamily zones from RM-12 through RM-48, and sites within specific plan areas with a permitted density of 48 dwelling units per acre or less.

The Fillmore, Allen and Sierra Madre Villa station areas do not currently qualify for the broader exemption because their existing zoning does not meet the minimum capacity thresholds set in SB 79, staff said. As a result, single-family and lower-density multifamily properties in those three station areas will remain subject to SB 79 when it takes effect July 1, 2026.

“What this means is that the Del Mar, Memorial Park and Lake TOD zones have enough capacity to qualify for this exemption,” Espinoza told the commission.

Acting Assistant City Manager Jennifer Paige told commissioners that Pasadena would be only the second city in California, after Los Angeles, to pursue a delayed effectuation ordinance. She said staff is also studying whether to pursue a longer-term TODAP.

In her staff presentation, Espinoza said a TODAP would allow the city to permanently shift density between TOD zones, provided the total capacity is not reduced by more than 50 percent in any TOD zone and the overall capacity for all TOD zones is maintained. A TODAP could also permanently exempt sites with historic resources designated as of January 1, 2025, on the local register, provided those sites do not cumulatively exceed 10 percent of the eligible area of any TOD zone, and could ensure that the minimum density of individual sites is not less than 30 dwelling units per acre and the maximum does not exceed 200 percent of what is permitted, Espinoza said.

Commissioner Philip Burns cast the lone dissenting vote. Burns said he supported the staff recommendation in principle but believed the RM-32 and RM-48 multifamily zones should be excluded from the pause, since many such properties already contain rent-controlled units that would be ineligible for SB 79 projects under the bill itself.

“In general, those are areas where you already have three maybe four-story buildings and adding some five-story buildings to the mix I think is not really a problem,” Burns said. He proposed amending the motion, but the amendment was not accepted as friendly, and the commission voted on the original motion as presented.

Commissioner Michael Albrecht said he would have preferred excluding only the RM-48 zone from the pause but voted in favor of the staff recommendation. Chair Carol Hunt Hernandez disagreed with both Burns and Albrecht, arguing that RM-48 properties often border less dense neighborhoods. “I think it would be most inappropriate to have 87 units per acre” abutting those areas, Hernandez said.

Commissioner Julianna Delgado, who made the motion to approve, said the ordinance struck a balance between preserving historic resources and allowing dense housing elsewhere in Pasadena. “We’re not going to solve the whole housing crisis in California and certainly not by this bill because housing doesn’t exist either in a vacuum,” Delgado said. She added that “there’s so much available space in Pasadena now to build.”

Voting in favor were Hernandez, Vice Chair Lambert Giessinger and Commissioners Delgado, Albrecht and Jennifer Higginbotham. Commissioner Mic Hansen recused herself from the item, citing ownership of property near the TOD zone surrounding the Fillmore Station. Commissioners Beverly Sims and Jay Walters were absent and excused.

Three members of the public spoke on the item, and all three urged the commission either to reject the proposed pause or to narrow its scope.

P.A. Brown, who said he lives within the Del Mar TOD zone, said the recommendation sent “the wrong message” at a time when Pasadena’s own planning documents describe a housing crisis.

“A crisis demands an immediate and total response,” Brown said. He compared Pasadena unfavorably to Austin, Texas, which he said had expanded its housing stock by 30 percent since 2015 through deregulation, faster permitting and higher density, and had seen rents fall as a result. Brown said he would prefer that the city take no action and allow SB 79 to take effect as written on July 1, 2026.

Tom Boat, who said he has lived in Pasadena for 30 years, told the commission that the city’s housing shortage was creating hardship for the 60 percent of residents who rent and was driving young people out of the area. Boat said his 26-year-old nephew moved in December 2025 into Rosetown Apartments, a transit-oriented development at the Sierra Madre Villa station, and now commutes by rail to a job near the Fillmore Station without owning a car. Speaking of that arrangement, Boat said: “It would not be possible without the transit-oriented development. I think it really is the wave of the future.” He urged the commission to “follow the intent of SB 79 and give our young people a place to live.”

A third speaker, Thomas Tai, who participated virtually, linked Pasadena’s housing question to the financial position of the Pasadena Unified School District and to the city’s projected structural deficits. “Every parcel that we choose to exempt is an opportunity lost for several years while the crisis does not stop,” Pi said. He also urged the commission to “be bold” regarding the 710 freeway stub, a city-owned site within an SB 79 transit zone.

According to Espinoza’s staff presentation, SB 79 projects would still be subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the city’s certificate of appropriateness process for historic resources, applicable demolition and anti-displacement standards, design review, objective design standards, the city’s tenant protection ordinance, and all requirements of the building and fire codes. Projects at densities greater than 48 dwelling units per acre would be reviewed under the city’s objective design standards, while lower-density projects would be reviewed under City of Gardens standards.

SB 79 projects cannot be located on sites containing more than two rent- or price-controlled units to be demolished, where tenants have occupied those units within the past seven years, staff said. Hotels, motels and similar uses are not eligible under the bill.

Deputy City Attorney Caroline K. Monroy addressed questions from Commissioner Delgado about what “ministerial review” under SB 79 means in practice. Monroy said the term does not necessarily preclude design commission consideration. “Ministerial doesn’t, in and of itself, dictate the body that makes the determination,” Monroy said.

The ordinance must be submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) within 60 days of City Council adoption. HCD has 90 days to review it, and the city has 60 days to respond if HCD finds the ordinance out of compliance. If the city refuses to amend the ordinance or fails to adopt findings showing how it complies, HCD may refer the matter to the California Attorney General.

Earlier in the same meeting, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended that the City Council add a $500,000 Lower Arroyo Park Planning and Feasibility Study to the city’s adopted Fiscal Year 2027-2031 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Principal Planner Martin Potter said the study would evaluate water quality, habitat connectivity, ecological restoration, stormwater management, trail accessibility and public access improvements across approximately 37 acres of city-owned open space in the Lower Arroyo. Stormwater Program Administrator Don Petro said the city was awarded a $500,000 Measure A grant in March 2026 to fund the study. The City Council adopted the underlying Fiscal Year 2027-2031 Capital Improvement Program on May 4, 2026, with 28 new projects and 237 overall active projects, Potter said.

In a separate committee report, Commissioner Delgado told fellow commissioners that the Design Commission had reviewed two projects at its most recent meeting. The first was a preliminary consultation for a 22-unit multifamily project at 1072 East Villa Street with 22 parking spaces, which Delgado said had bought into the city’s 20 percent inclusionary requirement. The second was a unanimous approval of consolidated design review for a 100 percent affordable, 213-unit, five- to seven-story multifamily residential project at 2155 East Colorado Boulevard, which involved demolition of two existing buildings. Delgado said it was “probably the largest of all the 100% affordable projects we’ve seen” and noted the developer had indicated plans to look into a shared-car fleet for residents.

Acting Director of Planning and Community Development Jason Mikaelian told commissioners that the Planning Commission’s scheduled second meeting of May 2026 has been canceled. The next meeting is set for Wednesday, June 10, 2026, with agenda items expected to include two historic district designations, a sustainability information item, code amendments, and study sessions on data centers and police parking.