WEHOonline Got the Draft Rules for the SB 79 Map. West Hollywood May Dodge a Deadline

Residents stayed until 12:30 in the morning Monday waiting for a vote on TODAP. They didn’t get one. Vice Mayor Danny Hang said he needed to see the SCAG maps first. “We could be having this meeting all for nothing,” he said. Most of the room didn’t buy it.

A draft methodology document the Southern California Association of Governments put out Friday suggests he may have had a point. WEHOonline obtained a copy. It’s dated May 22 and stamped DRAFT on every page. City Staff were unavailable for comment over the Memorial Day weekend. We reached out and will update the story when a response comes through.

Based on the draft methodology, West Hollywood’s future K Line stations look unlikely to appear on the July 1 SCAG map. If the methodology holds as written, SB 79 may not apply to the City when the law takes effect. If the law doesn’t apply here then developers can’t use SB 79 to bypass local zoning near the planned K Line stations. 

It’s a draft. SCAG brings it before its Regional Council for formal adoption at a special meeting in June. Could it change? Yes. But the agency made a deliberate choice here — going stricter than the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) own guidance and putting that decision in writing. Agencies don’t typically walk back documented positions without pressure from above.

HCD could still weigh in before the June vote. The agency is the enforcement authority on SB 79 and its advisory guidance took a broader view than what SCAG adopted. But HCD’s guidance was advisory, not mandatory, and SCAG’s stricter reading doesn’t undermine the law’s core purpose — the existing Metro rail network still triggers SB 79 across LA County. A conservative approach to unbuilt future stations is unlikely to be the fight HCD picks.

The Two Tests West Hollywood Doesn’t Appear to Pass

SCAG set a two-part bar for planned projects. A station needs completed environmental clearance, state and federal where required. And it needs committed construction funding in the Federal Transportation Improvement Program.

“SCAG will treat a planned project as having sufficient certainty where the project has completed full environmental clearance under CEQA and, when required, NEPA,” the document states. “Additionally, SCAG will map projects identified in the FTIP only when they include committed construction funding.”

City Staff confirmed the analysis after publication. “In short, the proposed methodology would mean that K Line North stations will not appear on the official SB 79 map until the project has completed full environmental clearance under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and, when required, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),” Staff said.

The K Line Northern Extension doesn’t appear to clear either one. Metro’s draft environmental review came out in 2024 and isn’t finished. No committed construction funding exists in the FTIP. The EIFD vote West Hollywood’s Council took in April was a local financing step. That’s not what the document is describing.

Monday night, City Staff acknowledged where this was always headed. The K Line is “the type of project and the type of stations that SB 79 would trigger,” Staff said. The question was never if, Staff said, but “at what point in the process.” Based on the draft methodology, the K Line’s three planned West Hollywood stations don’t appear to meet the bar for the July 1 map.

WEHOonline is also seeking confirmation on whether any bus service in West Hollywood qualifies as a TOD stop under SB 79. The document requires full-time dedicated bus lanes with 15-minute peak frequency to qualify. West Hollywood has no full-time dedicated bus lanes. If that holds, the K Line analysis is the only relevant trigger for the City.

Not So Fast

HCD told the mapping agencies to put stations on the map if the project has an approved locally preferred alternative and didn’t say anything about needing completed environmental review to do it. The K Line got its LPA from the Metro Board in March, so under HCD’s own guidance West Hollywood might have made the cut. SCAG read all of that and went stricter anyway. The methodology document notes the difference between the two approaches, and it’s the kind of gap that tends to attract lawyers. Jonathan Finestone, president of the West Hollywood West Residents Association, said SCAG got it right. “We appreciate SCAG’s careful consideration of all of the facts and their recognition that future train stops are not truly ‘planned’ until they have gone through a meaningful environmental, funding, and planning process,” Finestone said. “We believe this measured and thoughtful approach is the correct one, and ultimately we expect SCAG will determine that the proposed K Line Northern Extension stations in and around West Hollywood do not currently meet all of the requirements contemplated under SB 79.”

Heilman raised a related question ahead of Monday’s meeting, asking Staff to seek clarity from state legislators on whether West Hollywood is even subject to the July 1 deadline given the LPA was approved after SB 79 was signed but before it kicks in. Friday’s document doesn’t answer that legal question directly but it does show SCAG treating the K Line as not map-ready either way.

What Changes, What Doesn’t

Council meets again June 15, the last meeting before July 1. The TODAP question doesn’t go away because of Friday’s document. Eventually the K Line finishes environmental review, locks in federal funding, and West Hollywood lands on the map. SB 79 follows. The argument for starting a TODAP now is the same as it was Monday night. These things take years to develop.

SCAG’s Community, Economic, and Human Development Committee takes up the methodology at its June 4 meeting. It then goes to the SCAG Regional Council at its regular meeting on July 2 — one day after the law takes effect.

SCAG brings the final map to its regional council at a special meeting in June, before the June 15 West Hollywood Council meeting. “As we look toward the June 15 City Council meeting, residents expect the Council to be more responsive to community concerns and focused on protecting the rights of homeowners, renters, and neighborhoods alike,” Finestone said. “We believe a balanced TODAP process running in parallel with the ZIP program is the fair and measured path forward — one that protects residents while allowing thoughtful planning to occur — rather than the rush to judgment that some members of the City Council appear eager to pursue.”

The clock everyone thought was running may have just stopped.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include confirmation from City Staff received after publication.