Santa Clara task force briefed on SB 79 and BART parking‑lot TOD options

City staff and regional transit partners briefed the Station Area Task Force on Nov. 20 about the implications of California Senate Bill 79 and presented two conceptual transit‑oriented development (TOD) schemes for the BART parking lot adjacent to the station.

The briefing focused on SB 79's zoning requirements near qualifying transit stations and on conceptual fit‑tests by VTA/BTA and SiteLab showing how housing and office development could be accommodated on the BART parking‑lot parcels while maintaining BART patron parking in the short term.

City staff summarized SB 79 as intended "to increase the supply of affordable housing, specifically around train stations," and said the law requires mandatory upzoning near rail stations and rapid bus corridors with different requirements tied to distance from stations. Staff noted SB 79 does not change CEQA procedures, but that projects qualifying under SB 35 or SB 423 could use exemptions those laws provide. Staff also said the state Housing and Community Development (HCD) department will develop maps and guidance, and cities may propose an alternate TOD plan that HCD will review (staff said the HCD review period in the bill is 120 days). SB 79’s effective date was stated as July…