Willow and Hearth

California lawmakers sent Governor Gavin Newsom two housing bills on September 8 that take direct aim at one of the most reliable ways to stall a housing project in court: telling a judge that a taller building is, on its own, a threat to the environment. If Newsom signs both by his September 30 deadline, the change could reshape how thousands of future housing developments move through the state’s Environmental Quality Act, the very law that has kept a 4,254-unit San Diego redevelopment stuck in litigation for three years.

Key Points

• Senate Bills 344 and 958 passed the Legislature on August 31 and were enrolled and presented to the governor on September 8.
• SB 958 applies statewide, barring “increased building height alone” from counting as a significant environmental impact under CEQA for qualifying infill housing projects, according to the official bill text.
• The bills follow a court loss for San Diego: the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled the city violated CEQA when it tried to lift a 30-foot height cap for the Midway Rising project, according to the court’s own opinion.
• The California Supreme Court refused to hear the city’s appeal, according to the state courts system’s own announcement, and only about 22% of California households could qualify to buy a mid-tier home this year, per the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The fight traces back to a 2022 San Diego ballot measure known as Measure C, which erased a decades-old 30-foot height limit in the Midway District so the city’s Sports Arena site could be redeveloped into roughly 4,254 apartments, at least 2,000 of them income-restricted, alongside a new arena and parkland. A local group called Save Our Access sued, arguing the city never actually studied what taller buildings would do to traffic, noise, air quality and wildlife before asking voters to approve the change.

They won. On October 17, 2025, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that San Diego’s environmental review leaned on an outdated 2018 study that had never examined buildings over 30 feet, and ordered a trial court to invalidate the city’s approval, according to the appellate opinion in Save Our Access v. City of San Diego. San Diego asked the California Supreme Court to step in. It declined, the court system confirmed in its own January 5 announcement, and by August 24 the city council had formally repealed Measure C rather than risk contempt fines, according to public broadcaster KPBS.

That is where State Senator Akilah Weber Pierson, whose district covers the Midway area, stepped in with SB 344 and SB 958. In her own August 19 announcement, she wrote that “at a time when San Diego is facing an affordable housing crisis, we need to think boldly,” and noted the project is aiming to break ground in 2027, leaving “a narrow window to keep this project on track.” SB 344 lets Midway Rising move forward once the city certifies a new environmental review, cutting off further claims that the review fell short. Its companion, SB 958, reaches wider: the enrolled digest would keep building height by itself from ever counting as a significant CEQA impact for qualifying infill projects statewide.

Newsom now has until the end of the month to sign, veto, or let both bills become law without his signature, per reporting on the legislative session. Housing advocates have pushed for CEQA fixes along these lines for years, arguing that lawsuits invoking the law have repeatedly been used to delay or kill projects that had already cleared local approval, regardless of the underlying merits.

For families who have spent years watching rent and mortgage payments climb faster than their paychecks, the numbers explain the urgency. Only about 22% of California households could qualify for a mortgage on a mid-tier home in 2026, down from 31% in 2019, and the typical mid-tier home now runs close to $775,000, more than double the typical price nationwide, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Every project stalled in court is, in practical terms, housing that never reaches the market for them to compete over.

Whether SB 958 becomes the broader precedent supporters describe or a narrower fix aimed mainly at Midway Rising will depend on how it is applied once signed, and on whether Newsom signs it at all. Either way, the bill sitting on his desk right now marks the most direct legislative response yet to a court ruling that housing advocates say has become a template for blocking density statewide.