Senate Bill 35 — one of Wiener’s signature achievements — shook up the state’s building process when it was passed in 2017, and sparked intense pushback from some city leaders and residents who contended it gave Sacramento too much control over what kind of housing is allowed in their neighborhoods.

But it also helped thousands of new homes make it through an approval and permitting process that can otherwise be so difficult that projects are stymied. Now, Wiener wants to make the changes permanent by removing the sunset provision on SB 35, which is set to expire in 2025. He’s also proposing changes that would expand the law’s reach.

Members of the Northern California Carpenters Union take part in a press conference with Senator Scott Wiener on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, in San Francisco, Calif. Wiener announced new affordable housing legislation. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

“California needs millions of new homes, and we must give cities and builders every tool to make those homes a reality,” he said in a news release.

Under SB 35, cities must grant streamlined approval to certain projects that include affordable housing — and those projects are immune from environmental lawsuits often used by opponents to halt or delay construction. The law applies only in cities that have not approved enough housing to meet state guidelines — which includes most California cities.

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Wiener’s new bill is sure to meet swift backlash from community members worried that it will allow apartments and other multi-family dwellings they might view as eyesores in their cherished single-family neighborhoods.

Susan Kirsch, who has spent years advocating against fast-tracked housing development, fears Wiener’s latest will further prevent communities from getting a say in what gets built.

“There’s already been such a reduction of local control,” said Kirsch, who founded advocacy group Livable California and now heads Community Catalysts for Local Control. “And we don’t see that communities are looking more beautiful. We don’t see that they’re more able to manage homelessness.”

Affordable housing advocates, however, say this type of legislation is necessary to help California build its way out of a dire housing shortage.

SB 35 helped developers move forward with plans to turn the defunct Vallco Mall in Cupertino into 2,400 housing units — half of which are intended to be low-income — 429,000 square feet of retail space and 1.97 million square feet of office space. After years of litigation and opposition, developers now are seeking tenants for the yet-to-be-completed project.

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Between 2018 and 2021, developers proposed 18,000 housing units under SB 35 — including 13,000 low-income units, Wiener’s team said, citing preliminary data from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation. Of those, more than 11,000 were approved. San Francisco alone added nearly 2,000 units under the law.

“SB 35 is an essential tool for streamlining housing in California,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a news release. “It has helped San Francisco build affordable housing projects quickly in neighborhoods across the City, and more importantly, it has helped us to create safe homes for people who need them.”

Members of the Northern California Carpenters Union gather for a press conference with Senator Scott Wiener, center, on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, in San Francisco, Calif. Wiener announced new affordable housing legislation. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)