As part of a review of its General Plan, the City of San José is looking for ways to encourage “missing middle” housing options like fourplexes and courtyard apartments to help address its housing affordability crisis. This is an opportunity to start legalizing small-scale multifamily homes citywide, particularly in exclusive, high-resource neighborhoods. Over time, the addition of thousands of such homes can meaningfully expand supply, reduce housing costs, and improve mobility within the housing market.

SPUR and Permit Power are co-sponsoring AB 1738 (Carrillo), legislation to expand the use of remote virtual inspections for simple, low-risk building permits across California. The bill would help reduce housing and clean energy project delays by allowing eligible inspections — such as water heaters, solar, and ADUs — to be conducted virtually, cutting costs, saving time, and freeing up inspector capacity while maintaining safety standards. By modernizing permitting processes, AB 1738 aims to accelerate housing production, electrification, and climate resilience statewide.

SPUR supports San Jose's proposed housing incentive programs, including the expansion of Downtown Residential Incentive Program, the Multifamily Housing Incentive Program extension, and updates to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. We believe that these actions will unlock stalled housing developments, support housing production in Downtown San José, and deliver naturally occurring affordability for middle-income households without deep subsidies, relieving displacement pressures elsewhere in the city.