REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Introduce an Ordinance of the City of Sunnyvale amending Chapter 19.96 (Heritage Preservation) of Title 19 (Zoning) of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code temporarily excluding the Murphy Station Heritage Landmark District located at the 100 block of South Murphy Avenue and surrounding parcels that make up the Heritage Landmark District, a historic resource on the local historic register, from applicability of SB 79 provisions, and amending the Zoning Map to add a note indicating this exclusion. (File No. PLNG-2026-0118)
Report
BACKGROUND
Senate Bill 79, the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, was authored by Senator Scott Wiener and signed by Governor Newsom on October 10, 2025 (Attachment 2). The law will take effect on July 1, 2026. SB 79 supersedes local zoning and allows housing on all sites currently zoned for residential, mixed-use, or commercial development within one-half mile of certain transit stops and establishes maximum densities, heights, and FAR that a local agency must allow through a non-discretionary permit. SB 79 applies to counties with more than 15 passenger rail stations, and in the Bay Area this includes Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties.
SB 79 allows local agencies to defer the application of the statute for sites with a historic resource designation as of January 1, 2025, until one year after the next Housing Element adoption. SB 79 also allows the exclusion of such sites through adoption of an alternative transit-oriented development (TOD) plan, so long as sites excluded from the density requirements of the legislation on that basis (historic) do not cumulatively exceed 10 percent of the eligible area of any transit-oriented development zone. The temporary exclusion and/or the alternative TOD plan must be adopted by ordinance in compliance with SB 79.
The Murphy Station Heritage Landmark Historic District was initially designated as a historic district by th...
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