Governor Signs SB 344, Moving Midway Rising Toward a Final City Council Vote
Times of San Diego reported Sept. 29, 2026 that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 344 into law on Tuesday. The bill, by State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, says the environmental reports for Midway Rising are sufficient and that further litigation should not hold up the review because the project includes 2,000 affordable units. This is the governor's signature. It is not the August card about lawmakers moving the bill, and it is not the Sept. 20 card about whether affordable-housing deadlines are enforceable.
What the signing does
Times of San Diego described the plan as 4,250 housing units, 130,000 square feet of retail, a new 16,000-seat arena, and 14.5 acres of park space on the land around the former San Diego Sports Arena, now called Pechanga Arena. The outlet reported that the project will soon go before the San Diego City Council for final approval. In a new statement, Mayor Todd Gloria called the signing an important step toward turning decades of discussion into action, and toward building thousands of new homes plus the arena and a revitalized Midway District. Brad Termini, CEO of Zephyr, said his team could start construction as soon as next year, and that the legislation is a step toward final approval hearings. Attorney Everett DeLano, who represented Save Our Access in the height-limit case, criticized the bill as a project-specific workaround of environmental review. The signature does not, on this record, settle the separate question of enforceable deadlines for the affordable homes.
Why it matters
- Point Loma and Midway neighbors are closer to a council vote, not to move-in day.
- The 2,000 affordable homes are part of why the bill treats the environmental review as sufficient. Delivery dates are still a council-agreement question.
- Treat "as soon as next year" as the developer's statement, not a city construction permit.
Source: Times of San Diego on the SB 344 signing (Sept. 29, 2026).
Related on this site: the Sept. 20 affordable-deadline questions; the August SB 344 deal card.
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