CP&DR News Briefs February 17, 2026: L.A. Missing Middle; Leases of Federal Land; S.F. Planning Restructuring; and More

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Los Angeles Seeks to Promote "Missing Middle" Housing

The Los Angeles Department of City Planning launched the Missing Middle LA program to expand housing options by making it easier to build smaller, neighborhood-scale homes such as accessory dwelling units, duplexes, townhomes, and other “missing middle” housing types across the city’s residential zones. The median home cost in Los Angeles is over $1 million, and only 36% of Angelenos own a home. Missing Middle attempts to address the rising cost of living by creating infill housing. The initiative will implement targeted zoning code amendments organized around three pillars: updating rules to allow the sale of ADUs and implement state two-unit provisions, revising small-lot subdivision regulations to enable a range of ownership models, and creating objective design standards. Draft ordinances are expected to be released for public review, with community outreach planned to gather input and refine proposals before formal hearings and adoption.

Federal Government Releases Details on Leases of Over 1 Million Acres for Extraction 

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is proposing to lease 1 million acres of public land in California to oil and gas developers. The report claims that the environmental impact is minimal, though The Center for Biological Diversity sued the federal agency over similar previous proposals, leading to a settlement in 2022 and agreement that development would be halted until an additional environmental review. Despite this agreement, the new report analyzed no new alternatives, and attorneys for the Center say the science used in more recent reports is out of date. The proposal seeks to lease over 400,000 acres of surface land throughout central California, plus over 1 million acres of underground mineral estate. The proposal could include acreage in parks and conservation areas, including Pinnacles National Park and Mount Diablo State Park.

San Francisco to Merge Development-Related Departments

San Francisco plans to consolidate its Department of Building Inspection, Planning Department and PermitSF into a single entity. San Francisco is one of the few large California cities that currently keeps building inspection and planning fully separate. The merger is targeted for completion by mid-2027, but will first require changes to the city charter and approval by voters. The move comes amid long-standing issues with the Department of Building Inspection, which has been working to overcome past corruption scandals and challenges posed by outdated software systems that are incompatible with other departments. The proposed consolidation of building and permitting into one entity reflects broader efforts within San Francisco to keep up with housing mandates by helping move stalled development projects forward and shortening lengthy permitting timelines.

Pro-Housing Groups Sue to Compel San Francisco to Upzone

YIMBY Law, California Housing Defense Fund (CalHDF) and Californians for Homeownership filed a lawsuit against San Francisco regarding the recently adopted Family Zoning Plan. The lawsuit argues that the city is in violation of state housing requirements in their failure to zone enough land to meet its legal obligation to enable at least 36,000 new homes, instead adopting a plan that would produce far fewer units. The law also creates new constraints on unit size, parking, and curb cuts for new developments, which the plaintiffs claim will slow housing production further. The lawsuit alleges that the city is also out of compliance with density standards and non-residential use limits for lower-income housing.

Two Housing Bills Advance in Congress

The House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Housing for the 21st Century Act by 390-9. The bill aims to speed up housing development, sharing many similarities with last year’s Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act. It also directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create guidelines for local officials in zoning and to create preapproved designs to streamline permit approval. The bill also revises the definition of manufactured housing, removing the previously required steel chassis. The two measures are expected to be combined before being sent to the president in a few weeks. While the Trump administration supports the bill’s general direction, it noted the absence of a proposal to restrict large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. Another bipartisan housing bill known as The Build Housing, Unlock Benefits and Services Act (Build HUBS) was introduced in Congress with aims to encourage development near transit. It would make TIFIA and RRIF more available for transit-oriented development (TOD) projects by extending their authorization through 2031 and clarifying what qualifies as TOD. The bill also aims to accelerate review timelines, implement a lending model that retains federal oversight while utilizing private involvement, and waive certain environmental review requirements for specific infill and conversion projects.

CP&DR Coverage: Affluent Communities Still Fight Builder's Remedy Projects

Builder’s remedy projects continue to generate controversy in affluent communities around the state – and the whole process has now received national publicity. Much of the debate is focused in the expensive but traditionally low-rise communities in Silicon Valley. Most recently, Mountain View approved a 15-story builder’s remedy project. Meanwhile, Menlo Park has – so far – rejected a builder’s remedy project on the iconic Sunset Magazine headquarters site because, the city says, only 61% of the site is devoted to residential, rather than two-thirds. In Beverly Hills, the planning commission rejected a 26-story housing project but the developer has appealed to the city council, saying the city has no choice but to approve the project because it did not have a valid housing element at the time the project was submitted.

Quick Hits & Updates

California Forever signed what it describes as the largest construction labor agreement in history, a 40-year deal with the Napa/Solano Building Trades Council and the Northern California Carpenters Union covering nearly 70,000 acres in Solano County. The pact mandates that most construction on the site, including infrastructure, public works, major commercial, office, retail, industrial, defense and energy projects, will be done by union labor under project labor agreements. (See related CP&DR coverage.)

The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California has purchased 10,000 acres north of Lake Tahoe from the city of Santa Clara for $6 million, 175 years after the tribe was forced to leave the lands in the wake of the Gold Rush. The Wildlife Conservation Board contributed $5.5 million toward the deal, with the rest of the funding coming from private donations with fundraising efforts aided by the Northern Sierra Partnership and the Feather River Land Trust.

California’s fire safety regulators are more than a month late in delivering a state-mandated study on whether mid-rise apartment buildings can safely be built with just a single staircase. The report was ordered to help assess whether relaxing the current requirement for two staircases in buildings over three stories could expand housing options on tight urban lots. Calfire's assistant deputy director of legislation has said that the report is still under review, but did not provide an expected release date.

A California appeals court has ruled in favor of the town of Tiburon in a legal challenge over its environmental review of an updated housing plan and general plan. The case centered on whether Tiburon’s program-level environmental review under CEQA needed to include a detailed, site-specific analysis for a 9-acre parcel rezoned for higher-density housing, which local opponents argued was required. The court found that because no specific housing project has been proposed for that parcel yet, the town’s broader environmental review was appropriate and that detailed review can wait until a concrete development is planned.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors adopted phase two of three of a set of new zoning ordinances including increasing the residential area height limit to 45 feet and a density of 20 units per acre, creating specific design exceptions for ADUs, and increasing the required open space for some projects.

A federal bankruptcy judge approved a bankruptcy exit agreement for downtown Los Angeles's Oceanwide Plaza skyscraper known as the "Graffiti Towers," bringing the property one step closer to a sale. The agreement resolves disputes among creditors, sets repayment terms, and establishes a framework for selling the $1 billion mixed-use complex. Construction on the Oceanwide Holdings project was halted after the company ran out of money; they also planned to build two skyscrapers in San Francisco’s financial district, but construction was halted for the same reason in 2020.

The Beverly Hills City Council granted a developer’s appeal for a Builder’s Remedy housing project at 9229 Wilshire Boulevard, sending a revised proposal back to the Planning Commission for review. The original 14‑story plan would include 116 apartments, 24 of which are affordable, a 60‑room hotel, retail space, and parking. The applicant is now pursuing a larger 26‑story version with more units and parking.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development launched the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Data Tracking Program & Dashboard, a statewide initiative established through AB 653. The program requires all public housing authorities in California to report key data metrics on tenant-based Housing Choice Vouchers and for HCD to make the reported data publicly available.

Los Angeles's top budget official proposed fee relief for all types of properties that were damaged in the Pacific Palisades during the January 2025 wildfires. The revised plan expands relief from just single-family homes to include condos, apartments, townhouses, and commercial buildings. (See related CP&DR coverage.)