SB 79 & the Housing Transformation of South Palo Alto
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Palo Alto is confronting a housing mandate of 6,086 units by 2031 — and the arrival of SB 79 on July 1, 2026 is dramatically raising the stakes. One of the primary concerns for city officials is the numerous historic sites in the SB 79 "splash zone," such as the Eichler neighborhoods near the San Antonio Caltrain station and Old Palo Alto near the downtown and California Avenue stations — and under SB 79, only 10% of the total rezoned area can be protected through a local historic resource ordinance. The city is racing to adopt an emergency ordinance before July 1. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Road Area Plan — the city's biggest near-term housing bet — is running into economic headwinds: a new analysis from city-hired consultants at Strategic Economics found that the real estate market favors smaller townhouse developments over the large apartment complexes the City Council envisions for the 275-acre planning area. And the transportation problem is casting a cloud over the planning effort, with the city facing a projected budget deficit of $14.9 million while needing to fund major road, bike, and transit infrastructure to support thousands of new residents.
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Related cause: Housing affordability
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