August 2025

First, we would like to thank the Mountain View Voice for drawing attention to Senate Bill 79 (SB79), which if passed, could have profound consequences to our city’s downtown historical retail district and residential Mountain View neighborhoods.

The language of the bill is complex. Information received in answers to questions about its impacts from Senator’s Weiner’s office have not been entirely consistent. To understand the bill’s impact, it is imperative to consult the text of the bill itself. If it is passed into law, the text of the bill will be standard guiding its implementation.

SB79 is a threat to Mountain View’s Historic Retail District

In response to Livable Mountain View’s concerns that the bill could lead to the replacement of Mountain View’s downtown historic retail district (the 100-300 blocks of Castro Street), the Voice cites SB79’s provision for a local alternative plan. It is important to note that there are limitations set in the text of SB79 to what can be proposed in such an alternative plan. In particular, section 65912.161 (a)(2) reads:

The plan shall not reduce the maximum allowed density for any individual site on which the plan allows residential use by more than 50 percent below that permitted under this chapter.

Mountain View’s downtown historical retail district would be classified at Tier1 area under SB79:

“Tier 1 transit-oriented development stop” means a transit-oriented development stop within an urban transit county served by heavy rail transit or very high frequency commuter rail.

The SB79 text states that:

For a transit-oriented housing development project within one-quarter mile of a Tier 1 transit-oriented development stop, , … a local government shall not impose any height limit less than 75 feet.

For a transit-oriented housing development project further than one-quarter mile but within one-half mile of a Tier 1 transit-oriented development stop, … a local government shall not impose any height limit less than 65 feet.

Applying the rule that under a local alternate plan that the maximum allowed density will not less than 50% of what is permitted, means that heights permitted in the local alternative plan may not be less than 32.5 feet within ½ mile of the Caltrain station and not less than 37.5 feet within ¼ mile of the Caltrain station. These height limits imply a minimum allowance of 3-4 story residential buildings (6-8 stories with the state density bonus), where 1-2 story historical buildings exist now.  This puts Mountain View’s entire downtown historic retail district at risk.

SB79 Local Alternative Plans Explicitly Permit Impact Zones to be declared around Bus Stops

The Voice article states that SB79 “would not apply to bus lines in the city”. However, the SB79 Section 65912.161 (e) states:

A local transit-oriented development alternative plan may designate any other major transit stop or stop along a high-quality transit corridor that is not already identified as a transit-oriented development stop as a Tier 3 transit-oriented development stop.

The California Public Resources Code, Section 21155, defines a high-quality transit corridor as “a corridor with fixed route bus service with service intervals no longer than 15 minutes during peak commute hours.”  The Castro and Showers bus stops along El Camino have service intervals during morning and evening peak times of less than 15 minutes, and so could be included in an SB79 local alternative plan which seeks to add density to compensate for density lessened in other areas.

SB79 and Mountain View’s Historic Preservation and Register Update Do Not Contain Explicit Protections for the Historic Retail District

The Voice article quotes Vice Mayor Ramos, saying: “If it’s specific properties that have truly historic context then I don’t doubt that we can find ways to make that protected.” However, SB79 specifically (and purposely) contains no language stating that historic buildings will have any special consideration. Much of the debate around amendments to SB79 involves whether language protecting historic buildings will be added.

Mountain View is currently updating its Historic Preservation and Register Update. There is already a draft list of buildings being circulated for comment. But there is no city effort to provide special historic status to the entire historic retail district which encompasses the 100-300 blocks of Castro Street and the area between Bryant and Hope Streets. This means that even if a few buildings in the historic retail district are eventually qualified as historic before developers tear them down, others adjacent to them could be demolished and replaced with buildings which are a minimum of 3-4 stories and up to 14 stories, towering over the few remaining historical buildings leaving us with a sad reminder of who we once were and what we once had. 

Robert Cox and Louise Katz
For the Steering Committe of Livable Mountain View

FROM LIVABLE MOUNTAIN VIEW: PLEASE OPPOSE SB79

We are sending you this letter in opposition to Senate Bill 79, introduced by Senator Scott Wiener.

The city of Mountain View has consistently been an advocate for good development. We are one of the few cities in the region that has earned a pro-housing designation from the legislature. Our city has accomplished this with the participation of all stakeholders when it enacts housing policy.

SB79 would allow five to seven story buildings (10 to 14 with state density bonus) to be built 5 feet from a single-family home or small apartment building. We have these small buildings throughout our community. This proposed legislation, SB79, would not conform to the precise plans that we already have in place, which support increased density. SB79 fails to require any additional affordable and low-income housing, and does not require a single concession from developers.  It fails to protect any historical resource now or in the future. This bill could open the door to the destruction of all or part of Mountain View’s historic retail district (the 100-300 blocks of Castro Street), the heart of our community.

According to our Rental Housing Committee, Mountain View has a 12.5 percent vacancy rate for market-rate apartments built in the last eight years. The owners of these apartments are obviously willing to let housing sit vacant to keep rents high. Allowing five to seven story buildings that deny the occupants of neighboring buildings light and privacy will not change those high vacancy rates, and will not lower rental pricing.

Robert Cox, Louise Katz, Nazanin Dashtara, Muriel Sivyer-Lee, Toni Rath, Peter Spitzer, Maureen Blando, Jerry Steach, David Lewis, Carol Lewis, Hala Alshahwany, Carole Griggs, Leslie Friedman, Nancy Stuhr, Sean O’Malley, Diane Gazzano, Lorrie Wormald, Alice DeGuzman, Chuck Muir, Julie Muir, and Roger Noel

For the Steering Committee of Livable Mountain View

(We all live in your district.)

Mountain View Caltrain Station:  6-7 story buildings (12-14 stories with state density bonus)

San Antonio Caltrain Station:  6-7 story buildings (12-14 stories with state density bonus)

El Camino & Showers Bus Rapid Transit 522: 5-6 story buildings (10-12 stories with state density bonus)

SB79 Section 65912.161 (e): A local transit-oriented development alternative plan may designate any other major transit stop or stop along a high-quality transit corridor that is not already identified as a transit-oriented development stop as a Tier 3 transit-oriented development stop.

El Camino & Castro Bus Rapid Transit 522: 5-6 story buildings (10-12 stories with state density bonus)

SB79 Section 65912.161 (e): A local transit-oriented development alternative plan may designate any other major transit stop or stop along a high-quality transit corridor that is not already identified as a transit-oriented development stop as a Tier 3 transit-oriented development stop.

Whisman Light Rail Station: 5-6 story buildings (10-12 stories with state density bonus)

Middlefield Light Rail Station: 5-6 Story buildings (10-12 stories with state density bonus)

NASA Bayshore Light Rail Station: 5-6 Story buildings (10-12 stories with state density bonus)

DISCLAIMER: Impact zones were developed by Livable Mountain View after reading the text of SB79 and after consulting with people knowledgeable about the legislation. However, our organization does not include elected state officials, their staff, or real-estate attorneys. Ours is a good faith effort to map the impact of SB79, but the placement and size of the actual impact zones determined, should SB79 become law, may be larger or smaller than those depicted here.

NOTE: We have received word from people in communication with Senator Wiener’s staff that the impact zones around train and light rail stations should be larger. The half-mile radius is from ANY point in the transit center, not just the single point in the middle of the transit center.

NOTE: SB79 Section 65912.157 (d) explicitly provides for state density bonus to be applied on top of SB79 base allowances: A transit-oriented housing development project under this section shall be eligible for a density bonus, incentives or concessions, waivers or reductions of development standards, and parking ratios pursuant to Section 65915 or a local density bonus program, using the density allowed under this section as the base density.

SB79 opens the door to level our historic downtowns 

Between 8/18 and 9/12 the California Senate and Assembly will take their final votes on whether to pass Senate Bill 79 (SB79). This bill would permit housing in 6-14  story buildings BY RIGHT anywhere within a half mile of any Caltrain stop including neighborhoods and the many historic downtowns up and down the peninsula. There are no exceptions for historic buildings or districts. This means, for example, Mountain View’s Castro Street historic buildings which are adjacent to the Caltrain tracks in blocks 100-300 could be torn down and the Mountain View City Council would have NO ability to stop this destruction. All cities with homes and historic downtowns along the Caltrain line could face a similar fate. 

Furthermore, any neighborhood within one-half mile of train, light rail, or frequent bus stops will be rezoned to permit 5-14 story buildings BY RIGHT.

Mid-Peninsula residents can call Senator Josh Becker at (916)-651-4013 and Assemblymember Marc Berman at (650)-324-0224 and say “I live in your district and oppose SB79.”

Or write a short note with the title “OPPOSE SB79” to Senator Becker at https://sd13.senate.ca.gov/contact and Assemblymember Berman at https://a23.asmdc.org/contact. 

As this is a statewide bill, all California residents can help defeat SB79 by contacting their state legislators and say, “I live in your district and I oppose SB79” 

Robert Cox and Louise Katz
For the Steering Committee of Livable Mountain View  

SB79 opens the door to level our historic downtowns

Between 8/18 and 9/12, the California Senate and Assembly will take their final votes on whether to pass Senate Bill 79 (SB79). This bill would permit housing in 6-14 story buildings BY RIGHT anywhere within a half mile of any Caltrain stop including neighborhoods and the many historic downtowns up and down the peninsula. There are no exceptions for historic buildings or districts. This means, for example, Mountain View’s Castro Street historic buildings which are adjacent to the Caltrain tracks in blocks 100-300 could be torn down and the Mountain View City Council would have NO ability to stop this destruction. All cities with homes and historic downtowns along the Caltrain line could face a similar fate.

Not only will we lose irreplaceable historic resources, SB79 also weakens the state’s own requirements for affordable and low-income housing and will cancel out local community developed precise plans.  These already include significant upzoning and increased density in our cities that provide housing far beyond that required by our state.

Furthermore, any neighborhood within one-half mile of train, light rail, or frequent bus stops will be rezoned to permit 5-14 story buildings BY RIGHT.

Mid-Peninsula residents can call Senator Josh Becker at (916)-651-4013 and Assemblymember Marc Berman at (650)-324-0224 and say “I live in your district and oppose SB79.”

Or write a short note with the title “OPPOSE SB79” to Senator Becker at https://sd13.senate.ca.gov/contact and Assemblyman Berman at https://a23.asmdc.org/contact.

As this is a statewide bill, all California residents can help defeat SB79 by contacting their state legislators and say, “I live in your district and I oppose SB79”

Robert Cox, Louise Katz, Nazanin Dashtara, Muriel Sivyer-Lee, Toni Rath, Peter Spitzer, Maureen Blando, Jerry Steach, David Lewis, Carol Lewis, Hala Alshahwany, Carole Griggs, Leslie Friedman, Nancy Stuhr, Sean O’Malley, Diane Gazzano, Lorrie Wormald, Alice DeGuzman, Chuck Muir, Julie Muir, and Roger Noel

For the Steering Committee of Livable Mountain View

To all who care about the future of Mountain View’s historic downtown:

Senate Bill 79 (SB79) threatens the existence of Mountain View’s historic downtown. If passed, it would permit the demolition and replacement of any or all of the historic buildings in the 100-300 block of Castro Street BY RIGHT (WITHOUT ANY CITY COUNCIL VOTE) just because they are within one-half mile of the Caltrain station. Other downtowns along the Caltrain line are similarly threatened.

If you care about the preservation of our Bay Area historic downtowns, please call Senator Becker and Assemblyman Berman TODAY and say “I live in your district and OPPOSE SB79”. Key votes will take place between August 18 and September 12. Please act now! Contact info is in the graphic below.

You can email livable.mountain.view@gmail.com if you have any questions about SB79 or what is in this email.

Robert Cox

For the Steering Committee of Livable Mountain View

To those preparing the Draft EIR for the R3 zoning update project,  

 Livable Mountain View thanks Mountain View city staff for this opportunity to comment on the scoping of the Draft EIR for the R3 zoning update project.  We also thank Advance Planning Manager Eric Anderson for hosting a Q & A session with our group on this subject. Mr. Anderson urged us to summarize our comments in a formal letter, so we are doing that here:

1.      We ask that the those preparing the Draft EIR consider the state density bonus when determining the impacts of the R3 project. In particular, since Mountain View has a 15% inclusionary affordable housing mandate, developers will meet the 50% density bonus requirement simply by following the Mountain View mandate. This is why projects like Chase Bank redevelopment are opting for the 50% state density bonus. Furthermore, by providing another 5% of affordable housing, a 100% density bonus would be permitted. The Draft EIR should NOT ignore this by studying only the base density.

2.      We ask that the Draft EIR be delayed until after September 12, 2025, so that the results of the California Assembly vote on SB79 are known. SB79 would permit BY RIGHT 5-7 story buildings (up 10-14 stories with the state density bonus) within one-half mile of train, light rail, and frequent bus stops. This would significantly alter the permitted zoning in our city. It is best to undertake the Draft EIR AFTER the SB79 vote in taken.  

3.      We ask that impacts on infrastructure needs, in particular water usage, the effects on climate change, and greenhouse gas emissions be adequately considered. 

4.      We ask that the cumulative effect of background projects, for example, the Moffett Precise Plan and frequent gatekeeper project approvals, be considered. 

5.      We ask that the Draft EIR make specific positive recommendations that will mitigate the effects of the R3 upzoning project. It would be greatly disappointing if this Draft EIR ends up being just a legally mandated but practically meaningless exercise.

Thank you for listening to our recommendations on this important topic. 

Robert Cox, Louise Katz, Peter Spitzer, Maureen BNlando, Hala Alshahwany, Chuck Muir, Julie Muir, Muriel Sivyer-Lee, Nancy Stuhr, Toni Rath, Natalie Solomon, Jerry Steach, Lorraine Wormald, and Leslie Friedman

For the Steering Committee of Livable Mountain View