Terner Center and ABAG Present: Best Practices to Implement SB 9 and Missing Middle Housing in the Bay Area

Senate Bill (SB) 9, one of California’s most sweeping zoning reform bills, became law on January 1, 2022. By allowing single-family owners to create up to four housing units on their property, the law effectively ends single-family-only zoning throughout the state. A 2021 Terner Center analysis of this bill estimates that it may enable over 700,000 new market feasible homes throughout the state. While the bill’s reach is significant, it is unclear how its implementation will play out at the local level.

How are cities, property owners, and developers responding to SB 9? What can we learn from the initial half-year of implementation? How can cities use the impetus of SB 9 and missing middle housing to create more equitable, affordable, and resilient neighborhoods? These panel presentations discussed effective strategies for creating small-scale housing development that advances equity goals.

Panels included:

Making It Feasible: Innovative Zoning and Land Use Approaches from the Bay Area and Beyond

• Raynard Abalos – Deputy Director, Department of Land Development Review Division, Development Services Department, City of San Diego
• Jordan Klein – Director, Department of Planning & Development, City of Berkeley
• Rammy Cortez – Founder, Rammy Urban Infill
• Moderator: Bill Fulton, Terner Center Fellow, Publisher, California Planning & Development Report

Making It Easy: New Ideas for Improving Planning Processes

• Renée Schomp, Director, Napa Sonoma ADU Center
• Annie Fryman, Director of Cities, Abodu
• Avery Stark, Associate Planner, City of Milpitas
• Moderator: David Garcia, Terner Center Policy Director

Making It Count: Strategies to Receive Credit for Missing Middle Housing for Housing Element Submissions

• Megan Kirkeby, Deputy Director of Housing Policy Development, California Department of Housing & Community Development
• David Driskell, Principal at Baird + Driskell Community Planning
• Moderator: Ben Metcalf, Terner Center Managing Director

Find the full video on the ABAG website here.

Video Time Codes for Each Panel:

• Introduction by ABAG Board President and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín (starts 5:44)
• Making It Feasible: Innovative Zoning and Land Use Approaches from the Bay Area and Beyond (starts 9:58).
• Making It Easy: New Ideas for Improving Planning Processes (starts 1:14:47).
• Making It Count: Strategies to Receive Credit for Missing Middle Housing for Housing Element Submissions (starts 2:12:45).