Senate Bill (SB) 79 was signed by Governor Newsom on October 10, 2025 and went into effect on July 1, 2026. The bill, called the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, establishes new development standards for qualifying residential projects within a half mile of eligible transit stops. View the complete bill text on the California Legislature's website.
The City Council adopted the interim standards ordinance at their regular meeting on May 26, 2026. The ordinance, now in effect, sets multi-family standards for SB 79 projects in areas zoned R1 or R2 and defers effectuation for historically recognized properties.
In addition to the interim standards ordinance, the City Council previously gave direction to pursue a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Alternative Plan. The Alternative Plan allows the City to redistribute the total density created by the legislation, as long as each individual site retains a minimum of 50% of the new density created by the bill or receives a maximum of 200% of the allowed density. The goal of Culver City's Alternative Plan is to concentrate density in areas that have the best possibility of redevelopment in order to provide as much transit-accessible housing as possible.
The Alternative Plan project kicked off in Summer 2026 and is anticipated to take approximately 10 months. See below for ways to get involved.
Join the SB79 team for an open house to learn more about the legislation and the alternative plan.
Tuesday, September 22nd from 6-8pm in the Patacchia Room at City Hall, 9770 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232.
City staff attended Fiesta La Ballona with information on the SB79 alternative plan and the Hayden Tract Specific Plan.
SB 79 defines two tiers of “transit-oriented development stops.” Tier 1 includes heavy rail transit stations, which do not impact Culver City. Tier 2 includes light rail and other qualifying Major Transit Stops. The Southern California Association of Governments released their final map for 2026 on July 1, based on their mapping approach and methodology. Culver City has three Tier 2 zones - La Cienega/Jefferson and Culver City Metro E Line stations, and bus stops at the intersection of Venice and Overland Boulevards. View Culver City's SB 79 map.(PDF, 1MB)
SB 79 does not change the underlying zoning, however it does allow new development standards for qualifying transit-oriented development projects, which are residential projects with at least 5 units and a minimum of 30 dwelling units per acre. The table below details the applicable development standards based on the distance from each stop. Note that local and state density bonuses do apply to densities in this table.
Advance Planning Division
advance.planning@culvercity.gov
(310) 253-5740