SF housing rezoning plan approved by Board of Supervisors
The so-called Family Zoning Plan was approved 7 to 4 by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The ordinance focuses on building taller denser housing developments on the citys north and west sides. It could add tens of thousands of new units, in order to comply with state affordable housing mandates. There are some concerns of potential 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.Â
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.Â
Lurie proposed the plan, which would bring taller and more dense buildings to the city’s western and northern neighborhoods.
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.”Â
The mayor’s statement argues that the city’s residents should be able to decide how San Francisco is developed, not Sacramento.Â
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.Â
Housing crisisÂ
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.Â
“Decades of outdated zoning laws have stalled San Francisco’s housing production and created an affordability crisis that has forced countless families out of the city,” said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.”Â
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.Â
Opponents, including District 10 Sup. Shamann 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.Â
“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.Â
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.Â
“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.Â
Ahead of the vote, Mayor Daniel Lurie took part in a groundbreaking on a new affordable housing project in the South of Market neighborhood.Â
