BUNGALOWS TO MID-RISE: SENATE BILL 79 AND ROCKRIDGE'S NEW SKYLINE?

Starting July 1, 2026, a new state law (SB 79) requires cities to allow taller, denser apartment buildings near major transit hubs like Rockridge BART. Because Rockridge cannot avoid these changes, Oakland City Council is updating local land-use plans, aiming to moderate the potential impact on residential neighborhoods by shifting new, denser residential development to existing commercial mixed-use corridors.

SB 79's approach is known as Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), which concentrates housing and jobs around transit hubs, increasing transit use, reducing traffic and emissions, and creating diverse, cohesive neighborhoods. The law also mandates that 7–13% of units are affordable for projects with more than 10 units, protects historic resources and requires prevailing wages for construction workers on structures taller than 85 feet.

Oakland has eight BART Stations and 38 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stops that are affected. The law allows housing to be built on any property within a half mile of a transit stop. For heavy rail stations, like Rockridge BART, height limits are increased to 95 feet (nine stories) within 200 feet of the station entrance, to 75 feet (seven stories) within ¼ mile and to 65 feet (six stories) within ½ mile.

The law's height and density targets apply the same standards, regardless of current density or land use. The impact perimeter of Rockridge BART's zoning includes a substantial portion of our lower density post-1910 residential neighborhood.

Oakland City Council is seeking exclusions for 44 of its 46 transit hub sites. These include "low resource" neighborhoods (such as those along the International Boulevard BRT corridor) and Specific Plan Areas (such as downtown), where current zoning allows at least 50% of the minimum densities required under the new law. The City says "alternative plans" for those sites will be developed by 2032 in the Housing Element Update.

Rockridge, MacArthur and Ashby BART station impact areas are all considered "high resource" areas and therefore are not eligible for these exclusions. Hence, the city council strategy of using the ongoing General Plan Update process to moderate the new law's impact on traditional residential neighborhoods in these transit hub zones. These plans are expected to be complete in 2027.

(See D1 Councilmember Zac Unger's Statement on SB 79 here.)

DENSITY CASE STUDY — Typical 4,000 sq ft lot within ½ mile of BART with mixed residential zoning:

Prior Zoning: Height 35 ft | 2–3 units

2023 Zoning: Height 45 ft | 2–5 units

SB 79 (½–¼ mi): Height 65 ft | 9 units

SB 79 (¼ mi): Height 75 ft | 11 units

Though the financial feasibility of investing in small-lot development may be questionable in the current construction cost and financing market, SB 79 opens avenues for smaller investors to get in the game of creating new housing "as-of-right," and yielding transformative change over time, a primary intention of the law.

Given the City's strategic decision, the process of updating the General Plan Land Use Element — currently underway — is the most critical path to shift some of this potentially dramatic change in residential areas into the mixed-use commercial corridors and large underutilized properties.

WHY DO WE NEED SO MUCH HOUSING?

Since the mid-70s, California's population has surged by 19 million, yet only 4 to 5 million new housing units have been built, leading to a chronic shortage of housing in the State and skyrocketing prices. During that same period, Rockridge home prices increased from an inflation-adjusted $300,000 to over $1.5 million.

While intense population growth fuels demand for housing, supply has been constrained by rising land, labor and material costs, lengthy planning approval processes and a scarcity of low-interest funding. A veteran of the Oakland Planning Commission recently said that, while clearing out his archives, he threw away thousands of units of "approved" housing projects that were never built.

SB 79 aims to address the planning approval process, but it will likely fail to create abundant and affordable housing without robust public tools like land acquisition, tax exemptions and concerted efforts to secure low-interest financing — whether public or private. Europe has many affordable housing development models that have succeeded for generations.

Regarding local housing capacity, the 2023 Oakland Housing Element and Zoning Ordinance Update has already identified sites in or proximate to Rockridge for 2,000 to 3,000 new units — a 20% to 30% population increase. Examples include the mixed use corridors along Broadway, College, Claremont and Telegraph avenues, as well as vacant underutilized parcels like the California College of the Arts site and The Ridge at Pleasant Valley and Broadway. It also assumes growth in accessory dwelling units and other increases in residential neighborhood densities as a result of modest height increases.

However, SB 79 treats housing solely as a commodity, rather than placemaking. It doesn't consider the context, character and quality of neighborhoods and the need for additional services, infrastructure and recreation space that intensified development might demand by focusing principally on the mobility systems that serve us.

The Rockridge Community Planning Council (RCPC) will soon publish the Community Vision Plan (CVP) with a presentation scheduled at RCPC's Annual Meeting on April 23. The CVP will provide a blueprint for advocacy in working with the City on multiple planning issues, and it is our hope that this will engage our neighbors and move us to an approach more responsive to the context of our neighborhood and by doing so, address some of the holes in SB79 and build a stronger community in the process.

The General Plan Land Use & Transportation Element for Oakland's General Plan framework comment period is March 9 to April 23.