Senate Bill 9 Could Impact Single-Family Zoning–Passes the State Assembly

Senate Bill 9, the California Housing Opportunity, and More Efficiency (HOME) Act, was passed by the California Assembly on Thursday, August 26, 2021.  Authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), Senate Bill 9 would allow homeowners to construct up to four units on their property in two ways: (i) conversion of a single-family home into a duplex and subdivision of the parcel into two, which would allow an additional duplex or single-family home to be built on the split-off parcel.

Senate President pro Tempore Atkins released the following statement regarding the Assembly’s 45-19 bipartisan vote to pass Senate Bill 9:

“This bill is about opening the door for more families to pursue their version of the California Dream—whether that means building a home for an elderly parent to live in, creating a new source of income, buying that first house, or being welcomed into a new neighborhood. It’s about giving parents the chance to pass on wealth to their children and giving neighbors the chance to make our communities more inclusive. In short, this bill is about opportunity, and I’m grateful the Assembly has given it the opportunity to move forward today. 

“SB 9 is the product of multiple years of collaboration and hard work. Today’s success was possible in large part due to the partnership and leadership of Speaker Anthony Rendon. I’d also like to thank Assemblymember Robert Rivas, who has been a champion of this bill and helped usher it through the other chamber. Finally, I want to express my deep appreciation for my coauthors, Senators Anna Caballero, Dave Cortese, Lena Gonzalez, Mike McGuire, Susan Rubio, and Scott Wiener, and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, as well as the members of the Senate Housing Lead Group, which includes Senators María Elena Durazo, Richard Roth, and Nancy Skinner, in addition to my coauthors. Each of these legislators are fervently dedicated to solving California’s housing crisis.”

According to a recent study by the University of California at Berkeley, if passed, Senate Bill 9 ultimate role in solving the state’s housing supply issues will be limited due to financial and geographic factors that will reduce its impact to just a small percentage of the state’s single-family homes.  Recent analysis by the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, at Berkeley, in partnership with MapCraft Labs, determined that relatively few of the state’s roughly 7.5 million single-family parcels would see any new home construction whatsoever as a result of Senate Bill 9. The study concluded that the bill would only enable about 110,000 new parcels to feasibly add new housing — just 1.5% of all single-family parcels statewide.

Despite the findings in the study, the bill has been one of the most controversial to come out this legislative session.  As a result, the bill attracted fierce opposition as bill opponents have claimed that the bill would lead to the destruction of single-family neighborhoods as we know them.