California Senate Bill Threatens San Francisco Upzoning

San Francisco’s current and proposed zoning laws could be steamrolled by new legislation making its way through the California State Assembly.

State lawmakers are considering passing Senate Bill 79, which would preempt local zoning regulations around certain public transit stops and require cities to allow the construction of apartment buildings within a half-mile of these hubs, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

The legislation, proposed by state Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, is facing pushback from tenant-rights and affordable-housing advocates and some elected leaders. Opponents claim the measure would result in a major loss of local control over housing development, according to the Examiner.

“[SB 79] undercuts the years-long community process to develop a citywide housing element,” San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan said in a resolution opposing the proposal.

San Francisco’s Housing Element, approved in 2022, was created to meet the city’s housing needs over the rest of the decade. Part of its intention was to not disrupt or displace low-income communities with breakneck housing construction and demolition, per the Examiner. Wiener’s proposal would circumvent the city’s zoning rules and lead to “land speculation, displacement and gentrification,” according to Chan.

Supporters of the plan say it kills two birds with one stone by increasing housing growth and encouraging the use of public transit.

“We want to empower people to be able to make that choice, to rely on transit and to live near it, and the only way to do that is to have more housing,” Wiener said at a July 2 meeting of the Assembly Housing and Community Development committee, according to the Examiner.

Mayor Daniel Lurie’s suggested upzoning proposal, currently under review by city lawmakers, would meet the requirements of Wiener’s legislation, albeit only in the city’s western and northern portions that are included in his “family zoning” plan. Thus, many of San Francisco’s eastern neighborhoods like the Mission District, Bayview and Chinatown would be the areas affected, despite already undergoing upzoning and seeing new housing development in recent years.

Detractors of SB 79 point out that the rezoning map was initially drawn by San Francisco planners to avoid upzoning eastern neighborhoods that have seen displacement of low-income residents in recent years. They call on the legislature to add new housing in a way “that makes sure that folks who work in the city can afford [the new homes], and that it doesn’t push existing tenants out,” Fred Sherburn-Zimmer, executive director of the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, told the Examiner.

Under its housing element, San Francisco must approve construction of 82,069 new homes by 2031. SB 79 has been referred to the State Assembly’s Local Government Committee, where it will likely face a vote before heading to the Assembly floor.

— Chris Malone Méndez