SB 9 could help ease racial wealth gap, housing crisis

For years California lawmakers have grappled with how to allow more residential construction to combat a housing shortage that has pushed home prices up to inconceivable levels and accelerated the racial wealth gap, segregation and homelessness. This year, SB 9 — a bill that would allow homeowners to build a duplex on a single-family zoned parcel — has become the center of the debate over whether policymakers can succeed in addressing California’s housing crisis.

By allowing homeowners to subdivide their lot, SB 9 would unlock opportunities for fixedincome homeowners to construct one or two units in their backyards, which could then be rented or sold. If passed, the bill could open an important avenue for homeowners to access the equity of their home without having to sell off their primary residence, while also creating new housing.

However, many critics of the bill falsely frame it as the end of single-family suburbs in California. Many arguments against SB 9 echo harmful ideas that have been used to preserve all-White communities — warning of overcrowding and declining property values to stoke coded fears of Black neighbors. An op-ed published in the Los Angeles Daily News called SB 9 and similar bills the “sovietization of California housing,” playing into a tired red scare trope used against public housing in the 1950s.

In reality, SB 9 will lead to only a gentle increase in new units, according to a recent study released by UC Berkeley’s Terner Center. The study showed that only 5% of single-family lots would be developable under SB 9. By opposing bills like SB 9, homeowners in wealthier White communities continue to pull up the ladder to homeownership for first-time homebuyers across California.

In the Bay Area, the failure of housing policy can be summarized by a common phrase used by real estate agents: “drive until you qualify.” Unable to afford homes in many communities in the East Bay, homebuyers are pushed farther out from jobs and their communities. Under the constraints of systemic racism, Black homebuyers have been the most impacted. Since 1990, the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont region’s Black population has decreased 37%, according to UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute.

As the executive director of the Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, I’ve seen how homeownership can unlock wealth-building opportunities for Black families. By assisting homeowners to construct accessory dwelling units in Oakland, our organization aims to provide longtime homeowners with new income and to create badly needed housing in lower-income neighborhoods — helping to fight the continuing displacement of historically Black communities in the East Bay.

Despite the life-changing opportunities ADUs provide, many hurdles still prevent low-income homeowners from being able to build one. SB 9 would help lower the barrier to adding additional units to a property.

By giving homeowners the ability to subdivide, SB 9 may be a powerful tool to overcome the current ADU financing barrier and create a legacy wealth-building strategy. An older couple could, for example, give a subdivided property to their children to build a new home. Ideally, SB 9 could promote the kind of intergenerational housing that would help prevent displacement in communities that have been most impacted by the failures of housing policy.

Lawmakers must work to ensure the bill’s benefits extend to historically neglected neighborhoods and extend financing options to moderate- and low-income owners who wish to add new units to their properties. While zoning changes that move us away from exclusionary zoning are a necessary first step toward addressing the housing shortage and racial wealth gap, it’s not a

comprehensive solution. Still, SB 9 would be one crucial step in the right direction.