Dec. 16, 2020:
State Sen. Scott Wiener and his allies in the legislature on Dec. 8 reintroduced the two worst of their 9 Bad Bills from 2020, SB 1120 and SB 902 — now renamed SB 9 and SB 10. For a list of California land-use and housing bills proposed in early December for 2021, go here.
- The newly named SB 9 (previously SB 1120) is NOT a duplex bill. We’re talking to you, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union-Tribune, Cal Matters, and other media who did not sufficiently dig into and understand the fine print in SB 1120 before publishing.
SB 9, just like SB 1120, will allow 6 to 8 units where 1 home stands now. Not a duplex where 1 home stands now, as many media reported, nor two duplexes as some reported. SB 1120 allowed six to eight units of density where 1 home stands today, with no garage or yard. Just like the new proposed bill, SB 9.
SB 9 is an attack on homeownership, Latino suburbs, South L.A., the Inland Empire, all coastal cities, and a long list of working-class homeowner strongholds from Paramount to Lynwood to Alhambra. Corporate rental giants, rewarded by the egregious upzoning-and-demolition allowed by SB 9, will swarm communities.
As Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian (D-Van Nuys) testified against SB 1120 on Aug. 31, 10,000 homes in San Fernando Valley are now owned by rental corporations. SB 9 would open the floodgates. As Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager testified, South L.A. would be ripped apart by SB 1120, and NO families would go into the subdivision business, as its authors said.
- The newly named SB 10 (previously SB 902) is NOT a boost for local control. It’s a market-rate apartment bill that attacks local voters, the environment, CEQA, the working-class, and dirties the concept of “urban infill” to realize Wiener’s obsession with putting 10-unit luxury apartments almost everywhere.
In SB 10, Wiener brings back his SB 902 direct attack on California voters’ right to the initiative, letting any city council undo voter-approved ballot measures that protect open land, shorelines and other things Scott Wiener wants to pave over. How long before your city council seats are taken over by developers, under such an outrageous law?
In launching SB 10 on Dec. 8, Wiener repeated his fully-debunked claim, no longer cited by Gov. Newsom or fair-minded legislators, of a “statewide shortage of 3.5 million homes” to justify destroying communities via SB 10. Please see our page, 3.5 Million Lie.
The 3.5 Million Lie shows how elected officials fudge data in ways that reward their biggest donors, in this case market-rate housing developers who experienced a hugely lucrative 2020 in California, while so many Californians suffered.