The YIMBY Law Conference SF

The YIMBY Law Conference ONLINE SALES SOLD OUT

San Francisco, CA

September 28, 2026

Building more housing requires the right people working from the right playbook. It takes lawyers who know the cases, researchers who know the data, and policymakers who know how to turn both into results. The YIMBY Law Conference brings them together. Join us September 28 in San Francisco for a day of programming on implementation, policy design, and housing project advocacy, followed by an evening reception. Stay tuned for the DC edition of the conference happening later this year!

ONLINE SALES SOLD OUT

Programming

Enforcement

How housing law gets applied on the ground — from builder's remedy to local permitting fights.

Policy design

Frameworks that produce more housing — what the research says and what practitioners are building.

Project advocacy

Litigation strategies for specific housing projects — how to win approvals and fight bad denials.

Conference Agenda

Where two sessions are listed for the same time, choose Main Hall or Breakout Room.

8:30 – 9:30 AM · Breakfast & Networking

9:30 – 9:35 AM

Main Hall · Plenary

Welcome Remarks

Speakers: Sonja Trauss

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Main Hall · Plenary

Morning Keynote by Scott Wiener

Framing remarks that set the intellectual tone for the day: Sen. Wiener takes on the central puzzle facing the movement right now — if California's landmark housing laws are working, why hasn't it shown up yet in building permit numbers, nationally, in the state, or even in cities like San Francisco?

Speakers: Sen. Scott Wiener

10:00 – 10:25 AM

Main Hall · Plenary

Buffy Wicks: Kick-Off Remarks

Asm. Wicks sits down with Laura Foote for a conversation built for a room that's already pro-housing, technical, and closely tracking what's happened at the Capitol.

Speakers: Asm. Buffy Wicks, Laura Foote

10:30 – 11:15 AM

Main Hall · Policy

Designing Policy for Outcomes

Policy design — not just political will — has a huge impact on whether housing actually gets built. A look at how upzoning affects housing supply, setting the stage for the day's deeper dive into policy mechanics.

Speakers: Yipeng Su

Breakout Room

Two Years After Sheetz: Fighting Impact Fees in the Courts

Two years after the Supreme Court's Sheetz decision, this panel digs into how courts are actually applying it to rein in excessive impact fees — including the Austin v. El Dorado County case and a 2023 ruling that forced Palo Alto to refund nearly $1 million in unspent parking fees for failing to justify holding onto them. Panelists break down what's actually litigable and where the next fights are.

Speakers: Daniel Freedman, Jaimie Cavanaugh, Dylan Casey

11:15 AM – 12:00 PM

Main Hall · Policy

Rewarding Outcomes: ROAD Act Case Study

How a policy that started as the BUILD Now Act became a section of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act: rewarding cities that build more housing than average with additional Community Development Block Grant funding, and penalizing cities that build more slowly.

Speakers: Reed Schwartz, Will Poff-Webster

Breakout Room

Cutting Edge Entitlements

An open conversation with developers and land use consultants who are pushing state density bonus law as far as it goes — "tuning" projects using every available lever to maximize feasible unit yields, from small infill to 25+ story buildings, while navigating local opposition.

Speakers: David Balducci, Mark Rhoades, Will Sterling, Laura Foote (moderator)

12:00 – 12:45 PM

Main Hall · Enforcement

Designing Policy for Enforcement

Laying out the policy foundation needed to build an effective housing-law enforcement ecosystem.

Speakers: Ryan Patterson

Breakout Room

Behind the Scenes of SB 79: Passage & AI Implementation

A look at how AI tools are changing the work of monitoring and enforcing SB79 compliance across California cities — including how ListenPublic's platform has reshaped CalHDF's workflow for identifying non-compliant jurisdictions and building the case for enforcement.

Speakers: Aaron Eckhouse, Mark (ListenPublic), James Lloyd (CalHDF), Leora (moderator)

12:45 – 1:30 PM · Lunch

1:30 – 2:15 PM

Main Hall · Enforcement

A Conversation with the Attorney General's Housing Justice Team

A conversation with the Housing Justice Team at the California Department of Justice on how state-level enforcement can accelerate local housing production — the tools state government has to hold jurisdictions accountable, and how their office interacts with activist enforcement organizations.

Speakers: David Pai, Matthew Struhar, Alex Fisch, Beth Collins (moderator)

2:15 – 3:00 PM

Main Hall · Enforcement

The Housing Enforcement Ecosystem

A panel of attorneys representing the three major third-party nonprofit housing law enforcement organizations in California that are actively suing cities over housing law violations — what's worked, what hasn't, and how cases get chosen.

Speakers: Sonja Trauss, Dylan Casey, Matt Gelfand, Ryan Patterson (moderator)

3:00 – 3:45 PM

Main Hall · Project Advocacy

The Evidence for Organizing: How Advocates are Effecting Implementation

An evidence-based look at whether housing project advocacy actually moves the needle. (Spoiler: yes.)

Speakers: Alexander Sahn

3:45 – 4:00 PM · Break

4:00 – 4:45 PM

Main Hall · Project Advocacy

Rubber Meeting the Road: Political Organizing to Get Housing Actually Built

Laws aren't self-enforcing — they just give advocates and developers more opportunities to fight for housing. A look at how organizers turn legal wins into lasting policy through hearings, coalitions, and sustained political pressure.

Speakers: Rashi Kesarwani, Emily Ramos

4:45 – 5:00 PM

Main Hall · Plenary

Closing Remarks & Wrap-Up

Sonja Trauss closes out the day with thanks to speakers, sponsors, and attendees.

Speakers: Sonja Trauss

5:00 – 7:00 PM · Networking Reception

Meet Our Speakers

The lawyers, researchers, and policymakers leading the day's Policy Design and Implementation tracks.