IN A SEVEN TO FOUR VOTE, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan, which will allow greater density housing to be constructed in transit and commercial corridors on the western and northern sides of the city.
“Across our city, families are struggling to pay rent or hoping for an opportunity to buy a home where they can raise their kids,” Lurie said in a statement. “As elected leaders, we must do everything we can to help them, and the Board of Supervisors has taken an important step to do that today.”
Supervisors Alan Wong, Myrna Melgar, Bilal Mahmood, Danny Sauter, Stephen Sherrill, Matt Dorsey and Board President Rafael Mandelman voted in favor of the plan. Supervisors Connie Chan, Shamann Walton, Chyanne Chen, and Jackie Fielder voted ‘no.’
The plan up-zones areas in west and north sides of San Francisco, which 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.
“This plan is not perfect,” Melgar said. “Rezoning itself will not solve our housing crisis or our affordability crisis, but it is an absolutely necessary step towards meeting our compliance with the state.”
Those who did not support the plan raised concerns over demolition and the possibility of new homes leading to the displacement of current residents.
Supervisors Fielder, Walton and Chan felt that the plan still needed more work in ensuring that tenants will be protected.
“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 business es,” 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. She said that 20,000 rent controlled units could be susceptible to demolition.
However, Principal Planner Lisa Chen noted that strong protections for rent control units make it difficult for more demolitions to be approved.
“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.
Mahmood criticized Supervisor Chan’s statement on the possibility of thousands of demolitions, calling it “emotional exploitation” and a way to “score political points.”
New supervisor’s first big vote
Wong’s vote was his first major decision as the new District 4 supervisor after he was sworn in on Monday. The plan up-zones the Sunset neighborhood, which is part of his district.
“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 was chosen by Lurie to fill the vacancy after former supervisor Joel Engardio was recalled in September. Lurie originally appointed political newcomer Beya Alcaraz, but she quickly resigned amid controversies surrounding her management of a pet shop she owned.
Wong said he is considering introducing more legislation to further protect tenants and address the concerns raised by District 4 residents.