DZLU MEETING DATE: May 21, 2024
1. ONGOING POLICY UPDATES
a. HOUSING POLICY UPDATES
– General updates to Housing Element and rezoning program
Several thoughts and inclinations by mayoral candidates Farrell and Peskin regarding housing plans were covered in the linked article below.
According to the article, Farrell appears to emphasize reducing red tape, taxes and fees to expedite housing production. He also mentions eliminating density caps while maintaining heights in neighborhoods, while targeting upzoning in areas that have already seen growth such as SOMA and Mission Bay, while also focusing upzoning selectively elsewhere. Peskin’s focus is on developing a financing mechanism for affordable housing via city-issued revenue bonds for publicly-owned, privately managed housing and for porojects owned by non-profits. We await much more detail on these preliminary proposals as well as those from other candidates.
– Density controls in neighborhood commercial districts
Discussion focused on the Planning Commission meeting on 5/23/24 regarding the relative merits of maintaining numerical unit-density limits in selected neighborhood commercial districts vs. changing to form-based density controls where there is more flexibility to accommodate a mix of unit types and sizes within the established building volume. See details in link below:
https://citypln-m-extnl.sfgov.org/Commissions/CPC/5_23_2024/Commission%20Packet/2023-006117PCA.pdf
The extent to which any bonus units in state or local density bonus programs should be subject to rent control, and whether height caps should be imposed on projects utilizing such bonus programs was also debated.
Amendments proposed by Sup.Peskin failed to advance and no other proposals were voted on. The thrust of many of the comments was to defer further discussion of these issues until they can be taken up comprehensively as part of the overall rezoning discussions and with fuller opportunity for public input, rather than deciding these on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood and piecemeal basis.
The next in a series of informational hearings at the Planning Commission has been scheduled for noon on 6/6/24 to discuss continuing work, to present an updated draft of Planning’s Objective Design Standards, and to share work underway regarding historic preservation policies in the rezoning area and citywide.
An updated draft rezoning map is not anticipated until later in 2024, following additional outreach and technical analysis. In the materials for the 6/6 informational hearing, Planning has acknowledged and specifically cited RHN’s feedback regarding lowering proposed heights on Polk Street north of Broadway, and the blocks between Francisco Park and the waterfront.
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