With the passage of Senate Bill 79 (SB 79), the City of Los Angeles has decided how to implement the new legislation. The law’s provisions are slated to go into effect July 1, 2026, but municipalities are given options to delay effectuation or create alternative plans of their own.

Los Angeles’ City Planning Department, under direction of the City Council, is recommending adoption of a new Low Rise Ordinance, which will allow the construction of 2-to-4 story multifamily buildings at 55 station areas across the city. Through this new incentive program and other criteria for delay, Los Angeles is able to to delay effectuation of the SB 79 citywide until approximately 2030.

In November 2025, the Planning Land Use and Management (PLUM) Committee deliberated on how the City of Los Angeles should implement Senate Bill 79, the most contentious housing bill of 2025. City Planning presented four “approaches” for implementing SB-79. On February 24th, 2026, City Planning returned to PLUM with additional analysis and three “options” for Approach C that would create new development incentive areas in order to temporarily delay SB-79 citywide.

The PLUM Committee did not reach consensus on which option to pursue, but forwarded the item to the full City Council without recommendation.

Since that meeting, public comment was largely divided into two camps. Some housing and anti-gentrification advocates supported Option C3, which allowed larger development at 55 “high opportunity” stations, while other housing and neighborhood advocates coalesced around Option C1, which proposed more modest incentives in those areas.

On March 24th, 2026 the City Council made a formal motion to pursue option C1, but explicitly excluded HPOZs from these added incentives. The Council also passed motions aimed to update and amend the Corridor Transition Program, the zoning provision that Option C1 was modeled on.

In May 2026, City Planning released a new Low Rise Ordinance, which will update and replace the Corridor Transition Program. The new ordinance provides better incentives for projects containing family-sized units and better aligns to new state laws.

Based upon our analysis, the stark realities of SB 79, and community feedback, the Conservancy supported Option C1, with a key change: we strongly urged the City to exclude all HPOZs, regardless of when they were adopted. This more cautious approach better protects historic resources citywide, more evenly expands opportunities for compatible infill housing, and aligns with Los Angeles’ broader planning efforts, including ongoing Community Plan Updates in the San Fernando Valley and Westside.

We are pleased that this Option was selected by the City Council as the preferred approach.

The Conservancy continues to work with our statewide partners to address the language of SB-79 itself, which includes arbitrary provisions—such as cutoff dates, percentage thresholds, and exclusion of CA and National Register historic districts – that will likely harm historic places over the long term.

Please read our letter to the City Council for more info.

A quick guide to all six approaches is below. For additional information and interactive maps, please visit City Planning’s SB-79 Storymap.