SF Mayor Breed vetoes law to end single-family zoning

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has vetoed a law that would end single-family zoning and permit fourplexes across the city and six-unit homes on corner lots.

The mayor said the law sabotages SB9, a state law meant to increase density, while adding conditions and financial hurdles that “will make it even less likely for new housing to be built” than under current state law, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

In a veto letter to the Board of Supervisors, she said she supports the intent of the no-zoning ordinance to add housing for middle-class families struggling with soaring costs. But after many amendments, she said the ordinance no longer satisfies the goal to build more housing.

“Instead, it is fair to say that this ordinance, as amended, will set back housing production,” she said.

Six members of the board supported the measure, which means it doesn’t appear to have votes needed to override the veto.

Breed said other cities across the state are “finding creative ways to rid themselves” of complying with SB9 and she doesn’t want San Francisco to join those trying to get out of their housing obligations. Under state-mandated housing goals, the city must plan for 82,000 new homes by the end of the decade.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who worked for more than a year on the legislation, once said he was trying to encourage density while preserving local control over new development.

“Simply rejecting this measure without offering any alternative puts our shared housing goals in jeopardy and is just the latest example of City Hall’s inability to come together to get things done for San Franciscans,” Mandelman said in the statement.

Mandelman said the goal of his legislation was to promote the construction of four- to six-unit apartment buildings throughout the city. He differentiated that from SB9, which has resulted in few applications, mostly for lot splits and duplexes.

Supervisor Myrna Melgar, Mandelman’s co-sponsor, rejected Breed’s notion that their legislation was intended to bypass state law, calling that a “false narrative” after the mayor’s veto. “We should be building consensus where we can and pushing all options forward,” Melgar said in a statement.

Because of the veto, SB9 remains in effect in San Francisco.

SB9 lets homeowners who want to split their lots, convert their home into a duplex or build a second unit get fast-track approval that bypasses city discretion to reject housing developments. But the law applies only to areas zoned for single-family homes, so San Francisco’s rezoning of the whole city would have made SB9 no longer apply to the permit process.

Housing and planning experts told The Chronicle that SB9 would likely have little effect on new construction because of high permit fees and other obstacles.

As of this month, the newspaper could find no SB9-eligible project in the Bay Area that broke ground since the law went into effect. In San Francisco, one project has been approved by the Planning Department and 17 more are under review, according to city officials.

– Dana Bartholomew