By Jorge Casuso
January 20. 2026 -- The City Council last week repealed a housing-related measure, reapproved another and sent a third back to the Planning Commission for reconsideration.
Two of the measures -- which were opposed by slow-growth activists and many homeowners -- expanded State laws that allow multifamily units to be built in single-family neighborhoods.
The third measure updated high-rise building definitions, as well as provisions for single stairway multi-family buildings of up to six stories.
Tuesday's actions came after the State's top ethics watchdog determined Councilmember Jesse Zwick had a conflict of interest after being hired by a housing advocacy group in August.
One of the Council's votes will allow the public to weigh in again on a major hot-button issue approved by the pro-housing super-majority related to three State housing laws -- SB 9/450, SB 684 and SB 1123.
The Planning Commission will revisit the item next month that concerns implementing projects on small lot subdivisions under 10 units and those "consisting of duplexes and lot splits for parcels zoned for single-unit residential."
The Council on Tuesday directed the Planning Commission to "re-start the Zoning Amendment process" without dictating to the Planning Commission "what their recommendation for the proposed changes would be," according to staff.
The amendments to the zoning ordinance -- which were seconded by Councilmember Zwick on August 12 -- expanded the State law and require the Council to vote once again.
Another measure directed staff to align the building and fire code definitions for high-rise buildings to be consistent with State code.
It also authorized staff to "implement an updated Alternate Materials and Methods Request (AMMR) process for single-exit stairway multi-family residential buildings of up to six stories in height."
Since the Council voted to provide the same direction to staff as it had on September 12, the AMMR will continue and no amendment to the Building Code update is necessary, staff noted.
The Council also voted last Tuesday to repeal an Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance that expanded SB 1123, which took effect last July and leaves the inclusion of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to the discretion of each local jurisdiction.
On August 12, Zwick joined a 6 to 1 vote to direct the Planning Commission to "initiate the process of formally amending the Zoning Ordinance" to allow ADUs, which are not counted as residential units when implementing the law.
The Council's vote to repeal the emergency ordinance comes after no project had been submitted utilizing the provisions of the emergency ordinance.
The votes on the agenda items were taken after the State's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) concluded that Zwick is disqualified from participating in "housing production decisions" made by the Council ("Zwick Can't Vote on Housing Development Issues, FPPC Rules," December 19, 2025).
"In light of the advice from the FPPC and timing of the employment, staff recommends, out of an abundance of caution, that Council consider the prior housing-production related votes that were taken by the Council between August 12 and September 30, 2025," staff wrote in its report to the Council.
The report notes that the commission's advice issued on December 8 does not cover past actions and that the commission did not find Zwick had "acted improperly, violated the law, or failed to disclose his employment."