The Brief

A set of rezoning ordinances passed the SF Board of Supervisors in a vote on Tuesday. It’s a win for Mayor Daniel Lurie.

The so-called Family Zoning Plan would bring taller and more dense buildings to the city’s western and northern neighborhoods.

As many as 36,000 new units could be created under this plan, but there are critics who are concerned about displacements.

SAN FRANCISCO – In a significant victory for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, the majority of the city’s Board of Supervisors approved a set of rezoning ordinances, which would change the landscape of the city and could add tens of thousands of housing units. The initial vote was on Tuesday.

New housing plans

What we know

The so-called Family Zoning Plan, would change the city’s rules for building new housing in an effort to meet state-housing mandates. Supporters have said the set of measures that passed, would keep the city in compliance with state affordable-housing mandates.

Lurie proposed the plan, which would bring taller and more dense buildings to transit and commercial corridors in the city’s western and northern neighborhoods.

The plan up-zones areas on the west and north sides of San Francisco have seen little construction of new homes compared to the rest of the city, according to the Planning Commission. The areas of the city are primarily zoned for single-family housing. Up-zoning is the process of allowing for higher density development.

Under state law, San Francisco and all local governments statewide are mandated to allow for the construction of additional housing units for mixed levels of income. If local jurisdictions fail to comply, they could lose state funding.

Mayor’s statement

The mayor released a statement after the vote that read, in part, “This city’s affordability crisis has left too many young people, workers, and seniors unsure if they’ll be able to stay in the place they love. With this plan, we will add affordable housing, support small businesses, and protect the character of the neighborhoods that make San Francisco so special.”

The mayor’s statement argues that the city’s residents should be able to decide how San Francisco is developed, not Sacramento.

The vote was 7 to 4, with Lurie receiving support from Board President Rafael Mandelman, Supervisors Danny Sauter,Bilal Mahmood, Matt Dorsey, Stephen Sherill, Myrna Melgar, who is also the sitting Transportation Committee Chair, and the newest supervisor, Alan Wong, who Lurie handpicked himself and appointed on Monday after his previous pick resigned after shady business dealings came to light. Many watched to see how Wong would vote on this issue as his district is on the city’s politically-divided west side. KTVU reported this week that Wong said he supported the mayor’s plan.

I’ve always wanted to have the opportunity to have access to buy my own Sunset District 4 home, but that has been very much impossible,” Wong said at the meeting. “If we don’t offer our own compliant solution, Sacramento will dictate zoning for us, and we’ll lose local control, which is not acceptable.”

Wong said he is considering introducing more legislation to further protect tenants and address the concerns raised by District 4 residents.

Supervisors Connie Chan, Shamann Walton, Chyanne Chen, and Jackie Fielder voted ‘no.’

Housing crisis

What they’re saying

Grow SF, a group that claims to be an education and advocacy organization that is focused on enabling affordable housing, is a proponent of the rezoning plan.

“Decades of outdated zoning laws have stalled San Francisco’s housing production and created an affordability crisis that has forced countless families out of the city,” said Sachin Agarwal, Co-Founder of GrowSF. He said the mayor’s plan is necessary to ensure the “next generation of San Franciscans can afford to stay here.”

The organization said the rezoning plan would create capacity for some 36,000 new units and that the city has to act fast because the city faces a deadline of January 2026 to meet the state mandate on housing, or they risk a state takeover.

Opponents, including District 10 Sup. Walton, who represents the Bayview – Hunters Point neighborhoods, argued that only certain neighborhoods would see denser housing and that hundreds of residents could be displaced by new housing.

“We should not be displacing anyone in this city. We have a housing crisis and losing one unit of housing is completely arbitrary. But most certainly, losing 20,000 units is a major problem,” Walton said.

Supervisors Fielder and Chan agreed with Walton and felt that the plan still needed more work in ensuring that tenants will be protected.

Advocates counter that the city has strong enough tenant protection laws that would keep residents from being evicted if their buildings are proposed to be demolished. They also argue these changes would improve equity across the city.

Principal Planner Lisa Chen talked up those tenant protection laws. “We’ve evaluated the data going back to years before rezoning, and we have not seen any particular uptick or increase in the number of demolitions after rezoning efforts elsewhere in the city,” Chen said.

“Rezoning itself will not solve our housing crisis, but it is an absolutely necessary step in meeting our obligation to the state, our economic development and our tomorrows,” Sup. Melgar said at Tuesday’s board meeting.

“Our city does have the ability to meet the goal while maintaining local control and developing housing that people can afford without displacing residents and small businesses,” Chan said. “But the plan that’s before us does not achieve that.”

Chan, who ultimately voted against the plan, introduced an amendment to the proposal that would prevent the demolition of all buildings with rent-controlled units. Referring to the figure Walton mentioned, she said that 20,000 rent-controlled units could be susceptible to demolition.

Mahmood criticized Supervisor Chan’s statement on the possibility of thousands of demolitions, calling it “emotional exploitation” and a way to “score political points.”

Ahead of the vote, Mayor Daniel Lurie took part in a groundbreaking on a new affordable housing project in the South of Market neighborhood.

Bay City News reporter Alise Maripuu contributed to this report.