We took Sausalito out of a state law that would have devastated the historic district.
Sausalito's Historic District is one of only twelve certified historic districts in California — A treasure worth protecting.
Exempt Sausalito's certified historic district from state legislation that would have forced 55-foot buildings across it.
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One line on a state map reached every block downtown.
SB 79 set housing heights by right near transit, scaled to a city's size — taller in large cities, lower in small ones. Sausalito's tier worked out to 55 feet. The catch was the map: the bill counted our small ferry terminal as a major transit hub and drew a half-mile circle around it. That circle fell across nearly the entire historic district — so a rule written for rail-served city centers would have allowed 55-foot, by-right teardown-and-rebuild over a 19th-century waterfront town.
Sausalito is one of just twelve certified historic districts in California.
That designation exists because the place is irreplaceable — the scale, the storefronts, the working waterfront that grew up over a century and a half. By-right development at 55 feet, approved with no hearing, could have replaced that fabric block by block. A statewide formula shouldn't quietly erase one of the twelve places the state itself set out to protect.
The answer wasn't to fight alone — it was to work in a statewide coalition
Sausalito is small, and small towns don't move a state legislature by themselves. So SOS joined a statewide coalition of communities and preservation organizations — the California Preservation Foundation and the Los Angeles Conservancy among them — and carried its share: a Sacramento advocate working with legislators and the Governor's office, and more than a hundred calls from residents to our own representatives. Together, the coalition got valuable changes to the bill including removing the transit-hub definition that hurt Sausalito. When the Governor signed SB 79 in October 2025, the change protected not just Sausalito but historic and waterfront communities across California.
The case
Why it mattered
It would have allowed 55-foot buildings by right.
SB 79 scaled transit-hub housing heights by city size; Sausalito's tier put 55-foot, by-right buildings across the historic district — because the bill counted our ferry terminal as a major transit hub.
We worked as part of a statewide coalition.
Our strength was joining forces — cities and preservation groups across California, a retained Sacramento advocate, and 100+ calls from residents to our own legislators.
Sausalito was removed entirely.
The coalition got the transit-hub definition struck from the final bill — protecting Sausalito and similar communities. It is now state law.
SB 79 Timeline▸
The record
From threat to protective law
June 2025
SB 79 clears the State Senate
The transit-housing bill passes the Senate and heads to the Assembly. Its half-mile transit-hub radius would reach across Sausalito's historic district.
June 2025
Residents make the calls
A call drive to Assemblymember Damon Connolly's office logs roughly a hundred calls in two days, urging amendments to protect California's historic districts.
July 2025
SOS Hires Sacramento Lobbyist
SB 79 was an existential threat to the Historic District. We needed to do everything we could to save it.
July 2025
SOS joins the statewide coalition
SOS forces with preservation groups and communities across the state — the California Preservation Foundation among them — to press for amendments.
August 2025
SOS supporters seek help from Governor's office
SOS supporters met the Governor and asked for help to protect the Historic District. SOS followed up.
August 2025
The City weighs a formal position
The City Council takes up whether to send Sacramento a letter requesting amendments to protect the historic district.
September 2025
Sausalito removed from SB 79
We were successful in making our case and the "tier 3" transportation hub was removed as a definition, exempting the Historic District from SB 79.
October 2025
Governor Newsom signs the amended bill
SB 79 becomes law with the Tier 3 transit-hub definition removed. Sausalito — and similar communities statewide — are no longer swept in.
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