California Construction News staff writer
San Francisco’s Housing For All Plan, was released three months ago, to fundamentally change how the city approves and builds housing and clarifying steps to meet the goal of building 82,000 new homes over eight years.
San Francisco has met key deadlines and requirements set out in the Mayor’s Executive Directive. These include:
- Unlocking the housing pipeline to ensure new housing that has already been approved can begin construction quickly. Status: Legislation sponsored with Supervisor Shamann Waltonapproved and signed into law.
- Removing unnecessary barriers and hearing requirements that will help shave up to 9 months off the approval process for new housing. Status:Legislation introduced with Supervisors Joel Engardio and Matt Dorsey and pending Planning Commission hearing.
- Eliminating barriers for office to residential conversions to create more opportunities for housing Downtown. Status: Legislation introduced with Board President Aaron Peskin. Approved by Planning Commission, scheduled for a hearing at Building Inspection Commission on May 17.
- Forming an Affordable Housing Leadership Council to work closely with City staff to develop strategies around affordable housing.Status: Council membership finalized. First meeting is scheduled end of May 31.
- Developing a Housing Element Action Plan to change city procedures to prioritize and expedite housing approvals.Status: Initial Department reports submitted by May 1 deadline and final report due July 1.
- Pursuing changes to the City’s affordable housing requirements to actually deliver affordable housing as part of market-rate projects.Status: Controller report completed and working with Board of Supervisors on final proposal.
- Streamlining the City’s process for issuing Site Permits, which will reduce permitting times for new developments and major renovations. Status: Joint hearing scheduled at Planning and Building Inspection Commissions on proposal.
- Changing zoning laws across the entire City to allow for more housing especially in well-resourced neighborhoods on the west side of the City. Status: Planning Department conducting citywide outreach. Legislation to be introduced early 2024.
“Housing For All is about changing how we get housing built in San Francisco,” said Mayor London Breed. “To be a city where working people and families can actually afford to live here, we need more housing. We’ve worked aggressively to get this plan moving forward and we will continue to do everything it takes to make San Francisco the leader it can be when it comes to housing.”
To read more about this progress, click the link.
