Santa Monica Upzones 89 Pico Lots 4-2 to Pause Taller State SB 79 Rules

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Santa Monica SB 79 politics landed on Pico on Tuesday night. The City Council voted 4-2 to raise development limits on 89 single-family lots near the Expo/Bundy transit station, a move officials said is needed to temporarily exempt the surrounding transit zone from a state law that allows taller, denser housing near transit, according to Santa Monica Daily Press.

Mayor Caroline Torosis and Councilmembers Ellis Raskin, Dan Hall, and Barry Snell voted yes. Councilmembers Lana Negrete and Natalya Zernitskaya voted no. Councilmember Jesse Zwick was not recorded in the roll call for the second-reading adoption reported by SMDP.

What the ordinance changes on the map

The ordinance applies to R1-zoned parcels in the Pico neighborhood, bounded by Interstate 10, Dorchester Avenue, Exposition Boulevard, and Centinela Avenue. Projects there may now reach a floor-area ratio of 1.25 and a density of 40 units per acre, but only if they build to that maximum density. The existing 28-foot height limit stays.

The Santa Monica SB 79 vote remains the key local test of how cities manage temporary transit-zone exclusions.

Santa Monica SB 79 housing context

The Santa Monica SB 79 debate centers on the temporary Pico exclusion and its limits for nearby housing. For residents, Santa Monica SB 79 decisions will shape how local zoning responds to state transit rules.

Under Senate Bill 79, a city can temporarily exclude a transit zone if enough parcels in the zone are zoned to meet state thresholds. Community Development Director Jing Yeo said the Expo/Bundy zone will be excluded starting Oct. 23. The exclusion lasts until one year after the city adopts its 2029-2037 housing element, which Yeo put at about October 2030. The city will send the ordinance to the state Department of Housing and Community Development for a 90-day review that can be extended 30 days.

Raskin noted that existing state laws already allow up to five units on a 6,500-square-foot single-family lot. He said SB 79 currently permits buildings of 55 to 60 feet in the zone, while the city ordinance caps height at 28 feet. “So this is essentially a downzoning,” Raskin said, framing the local upzone as a pause button against taller state defaults.

Pause language, fewer parcels, and dissent

Yeo said the city has received three preliminary SB 79 applications and advised council to “close the window as quickly as possible because nothing stops us from continuing to work on something else.” Raskin called a newspaper report on incoming projects “Exhibit A as to why we need to hit pause right now.”

Council also directed staff to return with options for upzoning fewer parcels, weighing displacement risk and looking beyond parcels nearest the station. The Neighborhood Taskforce, a nonprofit, says a Santa Monica-only calculation requires only 52 parcels, citing staff figures. Torosis, who proposed that direction as an amendment, said the council should “make a policy determination that we should upzone fewer parcels and assume the risk,” while also saying officials are “not trying to destroy neighborhoods.”

Zernitskaya said she voted no because of the amendment, arguing it gives “false hope” that the parcel count will shrink. Negrete said the city has to look “beyond a map” and at historical harms. Hall cautioned critics not to assume Tuesday’s ordinance will quickly unwind. When council introduced the measure Sept. 8, it asked whether Los Angeles-side parcels could count; on Sept. 17, state housing officials told staff jurisdictions may consider only parcels within their own boundaries.

Readers tracking California housing fights in Never Late News coverage of the SANDAG SB 79 Oceanside and Solana Beach lawsuit, Costa Mesa’s Fairview framework for about 2,300 homes, Los Angeles Homes for LA $467M NOFA rental housing, and San Jose’s local-control zoning debate will see Santa Monica’s Pico vote as a city-scale exclusion scramble, not a regional lawsuit rematch.

Why this matters

An 89-lot upzone becomes Discover news when the real target is pausing taller SB 79 rules in a half-mile transit zone through about 2030. Pico homeowners face higher local density even with a 28-foot height cap. Renters and displacement advocates will watch whether the “fewer parcels” study becomes a real rewrite or stays aspirational. Housing builders watching the three preliminary applications will measure Oct. 23 exclusion timing against HCD’s review clock.

For readers outside Santa Monica, the pattern travels. California cities are rewriting local maps to qualify for temporary SB 79 exclusions, then arguing in public about who bears the parcels. Yeo warned that if state law stays the same, every parcel in the city’s transit zones will eventually have to allow at least half of SB 79’s standards after the exclusion ends.

How Never Late News reported this

Never Late News based this report on Santa Monica Daily Press coverage by Maaz Alin (published Sept. 25, 2026), including the 4-2 second-reading vote, the 89 Pico R1 parcels near Expo/Bundy, the FAR 1.25 and 40 units-per-acre limits with the 28-foot height cap, Yeo’s Oct. 23 exclusion through about October 2030, HCD review timing, the roll-call names, Raskin’s downzoning framing, three preliminary applications, the fewer-parcels staff direction, and Negrete’s and Zernitskaya’s dissent. Primary source: SMDP on Santa Monica upzoning 89 Pico-area lots. We did not invent quotes or independently audit the parcel map for this draft.

Corrections and reader feedback

If you spot an error in vote tallies, parcel counts, density or height figures, exclusion dates, names, or SB 79 descriptions, email editor@neverlatenews.com with the correction and a source link. Never Late News corrects factual mistakes promptly and notes substantive updates when Santa Monica or HCD revises the ordinance path.

About Never Late News: Never Late News is a US local and civic news site covering budgets, taxes, schools, housing, and public services with people-first reporting. Articles carry the byline Mike Joe. We prioritize timely, sourced civic coverage over clickbait.