The prospect of builder’s remedy could return to San Francisco, and one prominent city official wants to get ahead of the possibility by dedicating more funding and land to residential development if necessary.
Supervisor Chyanne Chen, one of 11 members of the Board of Supervisors, which functions as the legislative body for the city, recently called for an audit of where the city stands on its goals for affordable housing, the San Francisco Business Times reported. Inherent in the request is a check-up on whether the city is in line to meet the state-imposed mandate of 47,000 new units of housing by 2031. Missing the mandate, known as the “housing element,” would trigger builder’s remedy, which allows developers to skip local zoning approvals provided they include a certain amount of affordable housing in their projects.
Chen said the city’s funds for affordable housing are largely committed or exhausted and noted the cuts to the minimum requirements on how many affordable units must be included in new projects have reduced affordable housing production. A cut in fees has, meanwhile, put a dent in funding, she said.
Chen called for the city to gauge where it stands on meeting its goals under the housing element as the Family Zoning Plan initiated by Mayor Daniel Lurie starts to take effect. The plan would allow significantly more residential development in designated areas of the city, but faces legal challenges.
Planning Director Sarah Dennis-Phillips said city staff will report on Chen’s request by the end of the month, with a hearing to review production and funding levels slated for March.
A recent report by the city noted that the rise in interest rates in recent years and increases in construction costs have put a damper on the development of affordable housing. The city also faces a $1 billion budget deficit.
Chen said the plan San Francisco devised to meet its state mandate on housing included more than 200 policies billed as “advancing equity” and boosting “public investment in affordable units,” but is failing to make full use of them.
“I am disappointed to see that implementation of these equity-oriented policy actions has been incomplete, opaque and often delayed,” Chen told the Business Times.
— Jerry Sullivan
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