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Residential
San Francisco

Fourplex Formation Made Easier Under New SF Legislation

Law aims to give residents “options to age in place, or growing families to expand”

Supervisor Myrna Melgar with map of well-resourced neighborhoods that can take advantage of the legislation
Supervisor Myrna Melgar with map of well-resourced neighborhoods that can take advantage of the legislation (Myrna Melgar, City of San Francisco, Getty)

Fourplexes will more easily replace single-family homes on San Francisco’s underdeveloped west side after legislation loosening restrictions and cutting approval timelines was passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who represents many of the least dense neighborhoods in the southwestern portion of the city, sponsored the legislation because it will “give homeowners options to age in place, or growing families to expand by adding more private units on the same lot,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle. “This is one small piece of a plan for San Francisco to grow into the future that makes sense for the west side.” 

Another piece of the plan could come from legislation Melgar and Mayor London Breed introduced in June to allow greater residential development along commercial corridors. 

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The changes are part of broader efforts to bring more density to the west side of the city, which has historically underproduced compared to downtown and needs to pick up the pace if the city is to meet its state-mandated goal of creating 82,000 new housing units in the next eight years. Last fall, supervisors approved legislation from Melgar and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman to allow fourplexes on single-family lots, and six units on corner lots.

The new legislation could save single-family homeowners more than a year in the approval process by removing conditional-use authorizations and neighborhood notification requirements from eligible two-, three- and four-unit projects, which must be in “high resource” areas. It also lessens some height restrictions, though it doesn’t remove height limits. Any rental units created using the new legislation will be rent controlled, even though rentals built after 1979 are typically exempted. 

—Emily Landes

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