If you're writing an offer this fall on a pre-1970s house near Mountain View's downtown Caltrain station, look the address up in a city spreadsheet before you look at the comps. That spreadsheet lists 99 properties eligible for the city's historic register, and 57 of them are single-family homes. Council is scheduled to adopt the final list at a hearing tentatively set for Dec. 8, 2026. Under the rewritten ordinance, owners will no longer be able to opt off on their own.
This decision matters more now because of a state law that took effect on July 1. SB 79 gave the biggest new development rights in Mountain View's transit zones to small residential lots, the kind of lot most of those 57 houses sit on. Over the next few weeks, the register will settle which of those lots keep all of that new potential.
Where SB 79 adds the most
SB 79 lets qualifying housing projects override a city's own limits on density, height and floor area ratio if they're near major transit stops. The California Department of Housing and Community Development says the law covers sites zoned residential, mixed-use or commercial. Mountain View has five qualifying stops. Two are Caltrain stations, Downtown and San Antonio. Three are VTA light rail stations, Downtown, Whisman and Middlefield. Part of the zone around the Bayshore/NASA light rail stop also falls inside city limits. In a January 27, 2026 staff report, city staff estimated these zones cover about 21% of the city's land.
The allowances get larger the closer a parcel is to the station:
| Distance from stop | Caltrain height | Caltrain density | Light rail height | Light rail density |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Within 1/4 mile | 75 ft | 120 units/acre | 65 ft | 100 units/acre |
| Within 1/2 mile | 65 ft | 100 units/acre | 55 ft | 80 units/acre |
| Within 200 ft of the stop | add 20 ft | add 40 units/acre | add 20 ft | add 40 units/acre |
The law also leaves certain sites out. Projects can't use SB 79 on a site with more than two units if the project would demolish rent- or price-controlled housing that tenants have lived in within the past seven years. In Mountain View, city staff say that generally means apartment buildings with three or more units built before 1995 that are fully covered under the Community Stabilization and Fair Rent Act.
With many of the older apartment buildings near the stations excluded, the biggest change falls elsewhere. The staff report says single-family and duplex areas, "such as large portions of the Old Mountain View and Monta Loma neighborhoods," will see the largest change in allowed uses, density, height and floor area. The downtown Caltrain zone alone reaches into Old Mountain View, Shoreline West, Moffett, Willowgate, Jackson Park, Rex Manor, Stierlin Estate and Slater.
The second list cuts into the first
The historic register is where SB 79 gets narrowed. On Oct. 13, 2026, Council voted 7–0 to adopt two ordinances on second reading. The first rewrites the city's historic preservation code. The second amends the zoning map so that properties on the Mountain View Register of Historic Resources before Jan. 1, 2025 don't fall under SB 79's state standards. At the September 22 hearing, planning staff said that exclusion would expire one year after the city adopts its next Housing Element, probably in 2031. Staff also said the amendments take effect in November.
The 1/1/2025 cutoff splits the draft register into two groups. Of the 99 resources, 41 are already listed and 58 are proposed additions. The 41 older listings fall under the SB 79 exclusion. The 58 additions don't, because they'd be listed after the cutoff. They come under the new ordinance's permit tiers instead. Staff described four levels of review: exempt alterations, minor historic preservation permits, major permits for work that affects visible character-defining features, and Council approval with findings of overriding considerations for demolition or a substantial adverse change.
Listing can also change how a project gets environmental review. A separate 2025 law, AB 130, created a new CEQA exemption that the January staff report says will likely cover most SB 79 projects. According to that report, a project may not qualify for the exemption if it demolishes a structure already on a national, state or local historic register when the preliminary application is filed. So the register vote can change how a later redevelopment proposal is reviewed for the same lot.
Who stayed on the draft list, and why
Owners pushed back. The Mountain View Voice reported that about two dozen property owners said they would rather not be listed. In the city's eligibility table, 26 entries carry a "do not list" owner comment. According to the Voice, one owner told Council that designation would strip property rights and "cause serious financial harm by devaluing our biggest financial asset." The same owner linked that harm to SB 79.
Council followed one sorting rule. If a property wasn't already on the local register, wasn't eligible for the state or federal registers, and its owner objected, Council told staff to remove it. Properties eligible for the state or national registers stayed on. The Voice noted that properties already on those registers have to follow certain regulations and permitting processes under CEQA, and Council wanted the local list to match the state and federal ones. Council member Chris Clark explained the reasoning to the Voice: "It would be kind of silly for us to just stick our heads in the sand and say we're just going to pretend that you're not on the state or national register."
Owner objections alone won't take a house off the list. Several single-family homes are marked eligible for the national or state register and have an owner comment of "do not list," and those were not among the properties Council directed staff to drop. Council did direct staff to drop two El Camino Real properties because they are housing element sites. They are Joe Musso Motor Service at 624 W. El Camino Real and Walt's Texaco Service at 1901 W. El Camino Real. Four more properties were left open for further consideration before December: 169–175 Castro Street, 292 Castro Street, 831–833 Villa Street and 895 Villa Street.
After the register is adopted, getting off it means going to the zoning administrator and then to City Council. For a resource that's already listed, staff told Council that delisting requires an environmental impact report, likely to cost $150,000 to $200,000 and take at least a year.
Why a small lot's upside may stay theoretical
Most of the 57 single-family homes on the list probably weren't headed for a five-story building anyway. That's the most useful point for a buyer comparing an Old Mountain View bungalow with one outside the zones. A project only qualifies under SB 79 if it has at least five units and a density of at least 30 units per acre, with an average unit size of no more than 1,750 net habitable square feet.
City staff were frank about how feasible that is. They wrote that most parcels in downtown, Monta Loma and Whisman Station are too small for very high densities. Parking is the main limit. Under AB 2097, these areas don't require parking, but staff said market-rate developers still build it because buyers and renters expect it. Small sites also struggle to fit corridors and get light and air into every unit, as the building code requires. Buildings taller than 85 feet trigger prevailing wage requirements. Staff expect "a small number of well-resourced and highly sophisticated developers" to pursue large projects, while "most other property owners will only pursue incremental changes to their properties over time."
The city has seen this before. Area H covers the first three blocks of Castro Street nearest the station and has allowed up to 50 units per acre since the Downtown Precise Plan was adopted in 1988. Staff said no developer has filed a formal housing application there in that time. For a single lot, SB 79 potential is real but limited. It matters most when neighboring lots can be combined, when the site is large, or when the buyer has the capital to wait. A register listing takes some of that potential away, and the cost of losing it depends on how much of it the lot could ever realistically use.
The dates from now through 2031
- Mid-November 2026. The historic preservation amendments take effect 30 days after the Oct. 13 adoption.
- Dec. 8, 2026, tentative. Council hearing to adopt the updated register. The city's project page lists only "Q4, 2026."
- Early 2027. A Council policy setting out incentives such as Mills Act contracts, fee reductions and reduced parking minimums. Until then, the ordinance names the incentive categories but not how they'll work.
- 2027. The Downtown Precise Plan update restarts after Council paused it in January to deal with SB 79.
- About 2031. The SB 79 exclusion for properties listed before 2025 expires.
The official zone boundaries aren't final either. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission's SB 79 regional map is still marked as a draft, and the city's own maps were prepared "for informational and planning purposes." Downtown could also see another layer. Council backed creating a process for a historic district bounded by California Street, Hope Street, Evelyn Avenue and Bryant Street. "Downtown is our living room," Council member Alison Hicks said, as reported by the Voice.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out whether a specific house is on the draft register? The city posted its eligible-properties table. For each property it shows the address, property type, state or national eligibility, and the owner's comment. The Dec. 8 hearing could still change the list.
If a house isn't on the list, is it free to be redeveloped under SB 79? Not automatically. A project still has to meet the law's criteria, comply with local objective standards and inclusionary requirements, and result in no net loss of housing units. Whether it pencils out depends on the factors staff listed: lot size, parking and construction costs.
Does listing affect smaller projects like an ADU or a rear addition? Staff told Council they had looked at ways to further streamline ADU and rear-addition projects for listed properties, and that this work is reflected in the new ordinance. Which permit tier applies depends on whether the work touches visible character-defining features.
This post is general information, not legal or tax advice. Before you make an offer or plan a project, confirm how these rules apply to your specific parcel with the City of Mountain View's planning staff and a qualified land-use attorney.
At Moussavian Real Estate, our principal is a registered civil engineer and licensed general contractor. For an older Mountain View house near transit, we can check which SB 79 zone the parcel sits in, whether it appears on the draft register, and what could realistically be built on that lot, so you know what you're paying for before you make an offer. If you already own one, start with a current number and request an instant home valuation.
