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San Francisco

SF Church, developer sue city over rejected 316-unit Tenderloin project

The Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist and Forge Development say Supervisors’ decision violated freedom of speech, housing laws

Fifth Church of Christ, Scientists with 450 O’Farrell Street (Church of Christ)
Fifth Church of Christ, Scientists with 450 O’Farrell Street (Church of Christ)

The Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist and Forge Development are suing the city of San Francisco after the Board of Supervisors rejected a planned 300-unit building atop a new ground-floor church, saying the decision violated freedom of speech and housing laws.

The suit, filed Monday in Northern California District Court, is seeking a court order to overturn the board’s decision. The church and Forge had proposed a 13-story group home made up of 316 units, replacing a building at 450 O’Farrell Street.

“Despite applying for a new church building and housing project on its property that complies with all objective Planning Code requirements,” the lawsuit said. “Defendants have caused extreme and unreasonable delays in the land use approval process and ultimately voted to disapprove the Church’s project in violation of state and local land use law.”

The city didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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It’s the latest twist for a controversial project that was approved by the city Planning Commission in June. The Tenderloin Housing Clinic appealed, saying the area already has many residential hotel units, couldn’t absorb a “micro-unit” complex and would benefit instead from larger units for families who need affordable housing. The units were to be rented for more than $3,000 a month.

In October, the board unanimously voted against the project, saying the units would become “tech dorms” for transient workers. District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, who represents the Tenderloin, said at the time that he unsuccessfully worked to increase the size of the units while maintaining the group housing status.

“The vague definition of group housing made that very challenging,” Haney told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We have come to the conclusion that the conditional use authorization does not meet the needs of the neighborhood.”

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