California Upzoning....what do you think?

Question

California bill SB9 effectively bans single-family zoning across the state, allowing severances and up to four units on most residential lots.

Of course as an investor you want to love this, allowing ADUs or replacing a single family with a 4plex.

But of course I don't want it in MY single family neighborhood...I don't want a 4plex with cars, noise, and all the other issues that come with multifamily next door to me.

What do you think?

Jon Schwartz · Answer

Well, you gotta look a little deeper than the headline.

SB9 has a three-year residency requirement. If you want to divide your parcel or build a second home, you have to live there for three years. This will stop nearly all developers from buying a single-family parcel just to subdivide and build two duplexes.

Additionally, SB9 applies only to urban areas and urban clusters as defined by the Census Bureau, so we're talking about areas that already have a fair amount of traffic and noise. Don't forget that California is home to three of the ten biggest cities in America. One out of every eight Americans lives in CA!

So NIMBYism will survive.

What we're more excited about here is SB10, which upzones small multifamily to larger multifamily along rapid transit routes in cities. This'll really help with our housing shortage.

Anyway, enough educating Texans about California real estate. Don't you guys have some sleuthing to do for a new statewide bounty your government just enacted?

Best,

Jon