A message from our friends at United Neighbors

5/30/26

Hi All,

LOCAL UPDATE:


Yesterday, the PLUM committee heard the Draft Implementation Ordinance for SB 79 that was approved two weeks ago by the Planning Commission. PLUM approved the draft ordinance plus the technical modifications (including ours) and took no action on 2B (Nithya Raman’s a big supporter of this higher density amendment). This now goes to the full City Council for a final vote.

We again mentioned at yesterday’s PLUM hearing the need to:
notify the public by mail.
account for pedestrian safety where SB 79 impacts neighborhoods that have no sidewalks or curbs address a loophole, we found, where a mezzanine level (which is not counted as a story) could be added to each allowable floor, making the building higher (70 feet) even though it is technically 4 stories. (42 feet high)
PLUM decided that all these issues could be addressed when the local alternative plan is prepared. Then public notification might occur by text, pedestrian safety will be evaluated, developments with mezzanines will be dealt with if they occur.
We feel this draft ordinance is pretty much a done deal. We got our rear setback concerns addressed. We will continue our engagement with Planning and our Council Offices as the local alternate plans are prepared. Abundant Housing and YIMBY and Raman’s office will bring up 2B again at the full Council meeting that should happen fairly quickly.

STATE UPDATE:

Thank you for all the letters sent to our LA Delegation to Sacramento. They received several hundred. Only one bill was voted on after our letters went out. That was AB 1751. SB 1116, AB 2005 passed before we sent letters.

  • SB (Senate Bill) 1116 passed with (37ayes) (0 no) (3 NVR); (no vote registered, basically a polite no)
  • AB (Assembly Bill) 2005 passed with (66 ayes) (1 no) (13 NVR). LA Delegation voting NVR: Muratsuchi-Celeste Rodriquez-Schiavo. If these are your reps, they get a gold star.
  • AB 1751 passed the floor vote (after our letters were sent) with (47 ayes) (0 no) (33NVR). 12 of our 24 LA members voted NVR : They are Calderon, Caloza, Gibson, Mark Gonzalez, Lackey, Muratsuchi, Celeste Rodriquez, Michelle Rodriquez, Schiavo, Schultz, Solache, Zbur. If your rep is listed, they get a gold star.
  • AB 1740 was amended significantly last week and we will step back from the bill.

These bills now go to the opposite house for another round of committee hearings and a final floor vote there. We have our work cut out for us. Our next step is to get out position letters to the committee hearing the bills. We will send you those letters and instructions on how to post them sometime in the next two weeks. Our LA delegation is now aware of our concerns on these bills. We need to keep communicating with them so they all get a gold star when they vote. As you can see from AB 1751 communicating with legislators is important. If you don’t know your representative, find them here: https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

FINAL WRAP UP:

We will focus on the state bills this coming month. SB 1116, AB 2005, and AB 1751. We must get significant amendments or get these bills defeated. These bills will make a huge impact on all our neighborhoods if they pass without significant change. We need to fight these.

Again, many thanks for all your letters and your involvement. We will start again after a brief pause to catch our breath.

Best regards,
Maria, Cindy, Jeff, Marc