San Francisco, CA – Today Mayor London N. Breed signed a major new housing law that removes barriers to make it easier and faster to approve new housing. She then laid out her goals for the next steps for housing in San Francisco. The legislation signed today is a key piece of Mayor Breed’s Housing for All Plan, which sets the City’s strategy to meet its goals of allowing 82,000 homes to be built in eight years.
At the signing ceremony held in the Mayor’s Office, Mayor Breed was joined by State Senator Scott Wiener, Supervisors Matt Dorsey and Myrna Melgar, as well as various housing advocacy groups that supported the Housing Constraints legislation over the last several months. The Mayor’s Housing Constraints legislation amends the Planning Code to eliminate unnecessary processes and hearings, eliminate certain code requirements and geographic restrictions, and expand housing incentive programs for new housing that fits within the City’s existing zoning laws. Read more about the law here.
"The passage and signing of this law is a huge victory for all those fighting for more housing in San Francisco,” said Mayor London Breed. “We are breaking down the barriers that get in the way of the new homes we so badly need. But to be clear – this is only one step in a long process. Fundamental change requires us to remain committed to real and lasting reforms, and that’s the focus of Housing for All. We will make San Francisco a leader when it comes to housing and, more importantly, a more affordable city for all.”
Next Steps for Housing for All Agenda
This February, Mayor Breed issued her Housing for All Executive Directive to take immediate actions to unlock the City’s existing housing pipeline, accelerate the approval of new housing projects, and create additional capacity for all types of housing across San Francisco. Now that this legislation has been signed, Mayor Breed is laying out the next key steps in the efforts to continue to implement her Housing for All Plan, including:
- Passing Density Decontrol Legislation – this will allow more housing on major commercial corridors across the City. It has been approved by the Planning Commission and is currently pending at the Land Use Committee of the Board of Supervisors, with a goal of hearing it early in 2024.
- Advancing Rezoning Legislation –the Planning Department has been undergoing a months-long community outreach process to develop a comprehensive rezoning proposal and will begin presenting and advancing draft legislation early next year.
- Designing new Affordable Housing Strategies – the Mayor convened an Affordable Housing Leadership Council to work with the City to devise a strategy for meeting San Francisco’s affordable housing needs. The final meeting of the Council will be in January, after which a report will be finalized and submitted to the Mayor for action.
- Implementing new State Laws – Permit Center, Planning Department and Department of Building Inspection staff are setting up systems to implement new state laws that streamline housing approvals and permitting processes in San Francisco. Currently staff is preparing to implement AB 1114 by January 1, 2024. Planning is working to create a ministerial process for code-compliant projects so it is ready when SB 423 goes into effect in Spring 2024.
- Continuing One City Permitting Reforms - In addition to implementing new state laws, City staff across more than a dozen departments continue to advance process improvements to prevent projects from getting stuck in the City’s complex, interdepartmental approval processes. The Permit Center is taking on a greater role as part of this effort.
By pursuing these steps and continuing to work with the California Housing and Community Development Department to meet the requirements of their Policy and Practices Review, the Mayor is leading the efforts to put San Francisco in position to be a leader on housing for years to come.
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