1 ATTACHMENT 3
Position Letters & Major Issues
As of September 5, 2025
Attachment 3 includes City of Chino position letters on legislation and regulations submitted since the prior report. The attached letter(s) were submitted on behalf of the City during this reporting period.
EUNICE M. ULLOA KAREN C. COMSTOCK
Mayor CHRISTOPHER FLORES
MARC LUCIO
Council Members
CURTIS BURTON DR. LINDA REICH
Mayor Pro Tem City Manager
CITY of CHINO
13220 Central Avenue, Chino, California 91710
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 667, Chino, California 91708-0667 (909) 334-3250 • (909) 334-3720 Fax
Web Site: www.cityofchino.org
August 19, 2025
The Honorable Scott Wiener
Senator, California State Senate
1021 O St, Suite 8620
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 79 (Wiener) Transit-oriented Development, as amended July 17, 2025 - OPPOSE
Dear Senator Wiener,
The City of Chino writes to express our strong opposition to your bill, SB 79, which would disregard state-certified housing elements and bestow land use authority to transit agencies without any requirement to align development standards with local general plan and zoning requirements.
SB 79 doubles down on the recent trend of the state overriding its own mandated local housing elements. This latest overreaching effort forces cities in urban transit counties defined as “a county with more than 15 rail stations” to approve transit -oriented development projects near specified transit stops — up to seven stories high and a density of 120 homes per acre — without regard to the community's needs, environmental review, or public input. Similarly, cities in non -urban transit counties near specific transit stops would need to approve development projects by right, up to five stories high, with a density of 80 homes per acre.
Most alarmingly, SB 79 defies cities’ general plans and provides transit agencies with unlimited land use authority on property they own or have a permanent easement on or before January 1, 2026, within a half mile of a transit stop. Transit agencies would have the power to determine nearly all aspects of the development, including height, density, and design, without any regard for local zoning or planning.
The City of Chino appreciates the author’s desire to include an alternative transit -oriented development plan; however, as currently drafted, the local government has the option to do this through an additional analysis in the local government’s housing element or through the adoption of an ordinance with approval from the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). In the AB 650 Senate Appropriations Analysis, HCD has determined that it will cost $11.1 million annually and 52 new staff positions to provide more clarity in the housing element review process. SB 79 would add additional requirements for state review, increasing workloads, and making it more likely that local governments will not get their housing elements or ordinances approved promptly.
SB 79 (Wiener), as amended July 17, 2025
August 19, 2025, p.2
Finally, the local flexibility provided in the measure is minimal at best. The bill does not provide exemptions for cities that have adopted plans to promote taller, denser residential development near transit in consultation with the community , but fall short of the bill’s rigid minimum requirements.
The alternative plan would still be required to meet or exceed the required development near transit as determined by HCD across all transit-oriented development zones within the jurisdiction, without accounting for infrastructure constraints, environmental hazards, or community design goals unique to each jurisdiction. For example, a community may want to distribute density around the jurisdiction due to its infrastructure capacity. However, they must still me et the minimum requirements of the bill, regardless of whether they make sense for the community or the design of the jurisdiction. In short, the flexibility is about how to meet the state’s requirements – not whether those requirements make sense for the community.
The City of Chino appreciates and respects your desire to pursue a housing production proposal.
However, as currently drafted, SB 79 will not spur much -needed housing construction in a manner that supports local flexibility, decision -making, and community input. State -driven ministerial or by- right housing approval processes fail to recognize the extensive public engagement associated with developing and adopting zoning ordinances and housing elements.
California will never produce the number of homes needed with an increasingly state-driven, by-right housing approval process. What we really need is a sustainable state investment that matches the scale of this decades -in-the-making crisis. For these reas ons, the City of Chino continues to strongly oppose SB 79.
Sincerely,
Linda Reich
City Manager
cc: The Honorable Susan Rubio
The Honorable Michelle Rodriguez
The Honorable Phillip Chen
Laura Varela, League of California Cities, [email protected] League of California Cities, [email protected]
EUNICE M. ULLOA KAREN C. COMSTOCK
Mayor CHRISTOPHER FLORES
MARC LUCIO
Council Members
CURTIS BURTON DR. LINDA REICH
Mayor Pro Tem City Manager
CITY of CHINO
13220 Central Avenue, Chino, California 91710
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 667, Chino, California 91708-0667 (909) 334-3250 • (909) 334-3720 Fax
Web Site: www.cityofchino.org
September 4, 2025
The Honorable María Elena Durazo
California State Senate
1021 O Street, Suite 7530
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: Senate Bill 707 — Open meetings: meeting and teleconference requirements Oppose Unless Amended (as Amended September 2, 2025)
Dear Senator Durazo:
The City of Chino writes to express its opposition to Senate Bill (SB) 707. While we appreciate the intent to expand transparency and to encourage public participation in local government, several provisions in the bill would result in unintended operational consequences and impose additional fiscal burdens on local agencies. We oppose the bill due to the following provisions.
Implementation Timeline
SB 707 is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026, providing agencies with a short timeframe to implement significant operational changes. This timeline is not feasible for many jurisdictions , including Chino, which already has a significant workload that exceeds the capacity of our city clerk staff. Additionally, establishing compliance with this bill will require extensive technology upgrades, including procurement and installation of hardware, software licensing, internet enhancements, and facility modifications to integrate reliable audio-visual systems and ensure accessibility compliance.
Additionally, agencies will need to develop new policies and protocols, train their staff, and allocate additional personnel to manage remote participation during meetings. These operational and staffing impacts, combined with the fiscal constraints many agencies face, make the current implementation date unworkable.
These efforts are further complicated by procurement timelines that can take three to six months or longer. Compounding these challenges, the same staff responsible for implementing these requirements will also be administering the November 2026 election.
Hon. Maria Elena Durazo
September 4, 2025
Agenda Translations
The bill’s language translation requirements also present implementation questions. SB 707 requires agendas to be translated into all “applicable languages,” defined as those spoken by 20% or more of the local population with limited English proficiency. T his could require the translation of materials that may never be requested or used, resulting in significant costs and an administrative burden, and diverting resources from other critical needs within the agency. A request- based model, similar to other public records and accessibility accommodations, would strike a more effective balance between accessibility and feasibility.
SB 707 would also require local agencies to create and maintain translated versions of their public - facing webpages, with prominent links on the homepage for each applicable language. This poses practical challenges and requires technical capacity and administrative time, adding to the large and growing list of posting mandates when many users already rely on browser-based translation tools to navigate agency websites effectively.
Remote Public Participation
SB 707 mandates real-time remote public comment via two-way telephonic or audiovisual platforms for all open meetings of “eligible legislative bodies.” While we recognize the importance of expanding access, this requirement will significantly increase staffing demands, overtime, technology infrastructure, and security needs. Managing virtual participation can also present challenges such as inappropriate content and meeting disruption, which require additional oversight and planning.
Special meetings held at alternative locations, often organized to better serve community needs, could be especially challenging to support due to these technological requirements. In many cases, compliance is not as simple as bringing a computer to another site; agencies often rely on encoders, dedicated audio-visual systems, and other non- portable equipment. Hosting an entire meeting with these new requirements in a different location may therefore be very difficult.
Public-Submitted Translations
SB 707 allows members of the public to post their own translations of an agenda at the physical meeting location. While we understand that agencies would not be held liable for inaccurate postings, this could lead to potential confusion or the dissemination of inaccurate information.
Subsidiary Body Recommendations
The bill’s requirements concerning subsidiary body recommendations could interfere with existing legislative workflows. For example, requiring the governing body to discuss all advisory recommendations—regardless of relevance or scope —could reduce flexibility, create procedural inefficiencies, and raise questions about the proper scope of advisory bodies’ authority. In practice, Hon. Maria Elena Durazo
September 4, 2025
many advisory bodies make recommendations in real time and within a timeframe that aligns with the issue at hand; waiting for a delayed decision mechanism would not be practical and could undermine the purpose of the recommendation.
For these reasons, the City of Chino must respectfully oppose SB 707.
Sincerely,
Linda Reich
City Manager