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Contact us

Council of Infill Builders
1331 T Street
Sacramento, CA 95811

916-443-1033

June 8, 2025: Board chair Mott Smith is quoted in this CoStar article on Los Angeles development policies: “Our approvals process … is the result of early-20th-century thinking … supplemented by a political culture that favored preservation over growth,” said LA housing development veteran and Civic Enterprise Principal Mott Smith. “In Los Angeles, the bureaucracy is driven by fear of getting in trouble for saying yes.”

May 8, 2025: Read board chair Mott Smith’s interview with The Planning Report about how Measure ULA (a City of Los Angeles transfer tax on sales of properties over $5 million) has stifled apartment building and commercial infill construction while reducing tax revenues and funds for affordable housing.

April 23, 2025: Senate Bill 79 (Wiener) would make a meaningful difference in increasing multifamily infill housing production in transit-rich, high-opportunity areas. The bill would create minimum zoning standards to legalize more of this development. Read our new support letter.

March 11, 2025: We are pleased to support SB 677 (Wiener), which makes improvements to Senate Bill 9 (Atkins, 2021) and Senate Bill 423 (Wiener, 2023), including making it easier for property owners to build duplexes and modifying some affordability restrictions that make multifamily housing projects financially infeasible in communities that are failing to meet their state-mandated housing goals. Read our support letter.

March 10, 2025: We are pleased to co-sponsor AB 6 (Ward), which would convene a working group to research and recommend amendments to state building standards to encourage construction of more multifamily residential developments. Read our new sponsor letter and read more on the AB 6 fact sheet.

February 6, 2025: On average, it takes approximately nine months to obtain a
building permit for a fully-entitled apartment building with five or more units. That is why we support Assembly Bill 253 (Ward), which would speed up this process by allowing home builders to hire a licensed and certified third-party reviewer, if the local government cannot complete permit review within 30 days.

February 6, 2025: Read our coalition letter encouraging the San Diego City Council not to repeal the city’s ADU Bonus Program, which has been tremendously successful at building middle income housing without public subsidies.

January 24, 2025: “I think it’s going to fall off pretty precipitously. I just don’t think you’re going to see much in the way of new starts.” Board member Jonathan Fearn quoted in today’s San Francisco Chronicle on the statewide downturn in housing production.

January 17, 2025: We are pleased to support AB 6 (Ward), which would convene a working group to research and recommend amendments to state building standards to encourage construction of more multifamily residential developments. Read our support letter.

January 15, 2025: In the wake of the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles and calls by city leaders for policies to assist in rebuilding and housing those who are displaced, we surveyed our members for options that could address these needs affordably, sustainably and equitably. Read our letter to Mayor Bass and members of the city council.

See past news items on our press page.