Logo courtesy of the City of Rancho Cordova

RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Rancho Cordova city officials kicked off the new year’s Jan. 5 council meeting with a briefing on state laws taking effect in 2026. City Attorney Adam Lindgren told the City Council the annual overview is meant to flag major trends and prepare staff and elected officials for compliance.

“We started doing this a while ago to highlight the list of new laws for council, staff and others to think about the things of interdepartmental interest,” Lindgren said. “This item will assist the council and staff to comply with newly enacted state laws on a range of topics critical to the city.”

Housing dominated the discussion, reflecting Sacramento’s continued effort to address California’s housing shortage by limiting cities’ discretion. Lindgren said many of the new laws “create additional opportunities to fix the housing crisis in California,” while also “taking away local control and giving more authority to the state to mandate housing in certain places.”

Deputy City Attorney Anthony Amara outlined several new housing measures, starting with AB 507, the Office to Housing Conversion Act, which takes effect July 1. The law allows office and other commercial buildings to be converted to affordable housing “by right,” meaning cities cannot require discretionary approvals.

To maintain some influence, Lindgren said Rancho Cordova may develop a local ordinance governing adaptive reuse projects.

“Adopting a local ordinance will help in a couple ways,” Lindgren said. “It will help with the discipline of looking closer at whether there are remaining objective standards that we want to shift to objective rather than subjective, and it will give us on balance more local control.”

Councilmember Linda Budge pointed to a specific site that could be affected.

“A property that comes to mind immediately is the vacant lot close to Kaiser,” Budge said. “This would facilitate that.”

Councilmembers generally agreed the law aligns with ongoing planning efforts but emphasized the importance of public input.

“This doesn’t contrast much to what we have been interested in,” City Manager Micah Runner said. “We still want to make sure there is enough local conversation around what that looks like.”

Another major housing law, SB 79 by Sen. Scott Wiener, establishes statewide minimum zoning standards to allow higher-density housing within a mile of major transit stops. Cities must adopt an implementing ordinance or an alternative plan that achieves the same increase in housing near transit and receive approval from the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Enforcement is also tightening. AB 712 increases penalties for cities that violate housing laws to $10,000 per unit, or $50,000 per violation for smaller projects, after a 60-day notice to cure. Lindgren said the city’s next step is ensuring compliance during project review.

AB 648 exempts community colleges from local zoning rules for housing built on land they own or lease within a half-mile of a campus. In Rancho Cordova, that could allow increased density near Folsom Lake College without city approval. Staff said the city may collaborate with the college to address student and faculty housing needs and engage nearby neighborhoods.

Outside of housing, the council reviewed changes affecting short-term rentals, logistics development and local governance. SB 346 allows cities to require platforms like Airbnb to share information to improve enforcement of transient occupancy taxes.

SB 415 clarifies rules for logistics projects near “sensitive receptors,” adding exceptions that include land near airports such as Mather.

One of the most significant governance changes comes from SB 707, which modernizes the Brown Act. City councils must now allow virtual participation and translate agendas into languages spoken by at least 20% of the population.

“It’s part due to accessibility, and the other second part of that is transparency,” said City Clerk Stacy Leitner.

Councilmembers raised concerns about public access and privacy.

“I would want everyone to have access to that so everyone can chat back,” Mayor Garrett Gatewood said.

Councilmember David M. Sander, PH.D. asked whether there are privacy protection for residents contacting the city.

Stacy responded, “We can’t require identification, but chats do become public records.”

Runner emphasized that further discussion and workshops are necessary to develop a formal workable policy that clearly outlines how virtual participation will function.

Lastly SB 42 by Sen. Thomas Umberg would allow cities to offer or expand public campaign financing for local candidates if approved by voters in 2026. The proposal is intended to reduce the influence of wealthy donors and special interests and lessen the advantage of incumbency, but city staff said it could also place financial and administrative pressure on local governments.

“It’s probably going to be a good idea to consider very carefully support or opposition to the law,” Lindgren said.

City staff plan follow-up workshops and ordinances throughout the year as Rancho Cordova adapts to the changing legal landscape.