Residents filed a civil rights complaint, alleging the city treats western SoMa as a \u201ccontainment zone\u201d for poverty despite recent legislation, and they\u2019re asking the state to decertify Lurie’s upzoning plan, arguing its use of \u201cindustrial\u201d zoning restricts housing and concentrates services.<\/p>\n
New legislation introduced by Supervisor Bilal Mahmood<\/a>, which took effect in January, aims to redistribute homelessness and mental health services across San Francisco. The policy directs shelter funding toward neighborhoods with fewer existing beds relative to need \u2014 largely higher-income areas on the west side \u2014 and adds extra review requirements for new shelters in the Tenderloin and SoMa.<\/p>\n Last week, the SOMA West Neighborhood Association filed a civil rights complaint<\/a> against the city, arguing that despite the new legislation, the city is still treating the neighborhood as a \u201ccontainment zone\u201d for poverty. <\/p>\n According to KRON4<\/a>, the complaint cites disparities including a higher amount of shelter beds, longer police response times, and a lower tree canopy compared to citywide averages. As the Chronicle reports<\/a>, the complaint seeks to decertify Lurie\u2019s upzoning plan, alleging that zoning rules and policy decisions have concentrated shelters and supportive services in SoMa while limiting housing development.<\/p>\n The filing argues that the city uses zoning designations to restrict housing in SoMa, including \u201cindustrial\u201d classifications tied to proposed exemptions under Senate Bill 79<\/a>, which goes into effect in July. The association says those same parcels are being treated inconsistently \u2014 blocked from mixed-income housing while still used for shelters and 100% affordable projects.<\/p>\n \u201cSan Francisco is deliberately operating a dual housing system,\u201d said the association’s board. \u201cThe law is clear: it is illegal to block affordable housing and services in wealthy neighborhoods, and it is equally illegal for the City to concentrate them all in disadvantaged neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n As NBC Bay Area notese<\/a>, the city is also planning to launch the pilot RESET Center in SoMa, where people who are publicly intoxicated could be temporarily held instead of being taken to jail or the hospital, which residents argue would deepen the current imbalance. (This is the same sobering facility that is at the center of the current drama<\/a> around Supervisor Jackie Fielder’s office.)<\/p>\n \u201cGeographic equity is a state civil rights mandate, and SOMA cannot remain a permanent catch-all while the City shields wealthy, well-resourced neighborhoods from doing their fair share,\u201d said association member Shaun Aukland, who reportedly wrote the complaint, speaking to NBC Bay Area.<\/p>\n The neighborhood association is asking state housing officials to revoke San Francisco\u2019s approved \u201cFamily Zoning plan<\/a>,\u201d the blueprint for roughly 82,000 new homes by 2031, and activate the state\u2019s \u201cbuilder\u2019s remedy,\u201d which would override local zoning and allow higher-density projects with affordable units \u2014 giving developers carte blanche, essentially, over city design reviews and more.<\/p>\n The complaint also asks the state Attorney General\u2019s Housing Justice Team to impose maximum civil penalties until the city changes its approach to housing and shelter distribution.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want more people to come live in our neighborhood, and we want economic revival,\u201d said Aukland.<\/p>\n