As expected, on June 28, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) determined that San Francisco has not made adequate progress toward its State-mandated housing production goal. The City’s Housing...more
Voters in San Francisco and California will again confront a formidable ballot during the election on March 5, 2024, with an array of qualified City measures and one state proposition to consider....more
2/28/2024
/ Affordable Housing ,
Ballot Measures ,
Bay Area ,
California ,
Community Development ,
Construction Project ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Mental Illness ,
Real Estate Development ,
Realty Transfer Taxes ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
San Francisco ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Urban Planning & Development
The 2023 California Legislative Session, which closed on September 14, was dominated yet again by efforts to address the state’s continued housing crisis. For the last several years, we have written about many bills enacted...more
9/29/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
CEQA ,
Construction Project ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Review ,
Housing Market ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Pending Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Urban Planning & Development
On September 5, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors finally passed on second reading two pieces of legislation, together referred to as the “Housing Fee Reform Plan.” The Plan, previously discussed on July 7, July 21, and...more
9/6/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
California ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Housing Market ,
Inclusionary Housing Ordinance ,
Low Income Housing ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Multi-Family Development ,
Municipalities ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
San Francisco ,
Urban Planning & Development
On July 25, the Board of Supervisors passed on first reading the “Housing Fee Reform Plan” legislation. The Board is expected to hold a second reading and finally pass the legislation in September after returning from summer...more
8/1/2023
/ Board of Supervisors ,
California ,
Construction Project ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Fees ,
Housing Market ,
Inclusionary Housing Ordinance ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
San Francisco ,
Urban Planning & Development
The “Housing Fee Reform Plan” legislation, which we reported on previously, is heading back to the Board of Supervisors next week. On Monday, July 24, the Board’s Land Use and Transportation Committee will consider the two...more
In furtherance of Mayor London Breed’s “Housing For All” Executive Order issued in February and San Francisco’s daunting directive to produce 82,000 new housing units over the next 8 years, at the June 27, 2023, Board of...more
At the June 13, 2023 Board of Supervisors hearing, the “Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse and Downtown Economic Revitalization” legislation was introduced. The legislation would amend various Planning Code sections to...more
In response to Mayor London Breed’s recent Executive Directive, titled “Housing For All,” on May 4, 2023, the San Francisco Planning Commission voted to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve a package of Planning...more
5/26/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
Building Codes ,
Building Permits ,
Construction Project ,
County Planning Commissions ,
Housing Market ,
Neighborhood Revitalization ,
Real Estate Development ,
San Francisco ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
On April 28, 2023, the Planning Commission received an informational presentation from Planning Department staff regarding its work to implement the City’s recently adopted Housing Element Update. (See earlier posts regarding...more
The land use entitlement process in California is notoriously complicated, lengthy, and fraught with uncertainty. Less attention is paid to the process of receiving building permits, post-entitlement. Generally, this process...more
5/17/2023
/ Building Codes ,
Building Permits ,
California ,
Construction Permits ,
Construction Project ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Municipalities ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
San Francisco ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development
On January 31, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously and finally approved an updated Housing Element, on the schedule we referenced in our prior post. The City had obtained a compliance letter from the California...more
2/1/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
Board of Supervisors ,
California ,
Construction Project ,
Housing Market ,
Infrastructure ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Multi-Family Development ,
Real Estate Development ,
San Francisco ,
Urban Planning & Development
San Francisco appears to be on track to meet the state’s deadline for adoption and certification of its Housing Element, with a final vote at the Board of Supervisors scheduled for January 31, the last possible day to remain...more
The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is finalizing its Regional Housing Needs Allocation Plan (RHNA Plan) for the sixth housing element cycle (2023-2031), which allocates a total of over 440,000 housing units across...more
10/15/2021
/ Affordable Housing ,
Bay Area ,
California ,
Community Development ,
Construction Project ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development
The San Francisco Planning Department is updating the City’s General Plan, and Department staff held a two-week series of online workshops on the proposed General Plan updates beginning Monday, March 15th. All development...more
4/8/2021
/ Building Standards ,
Community Development ,
General Plan ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Public Workshops ,
Real Estate Development ,
San Francisco ,
State and Local Government ,
Transportation Corridor ,
Urban Planning & Development
The Planning Department has a December 19 deadline to implement the small business streamlining provisions of Proposition H, which was approved by the voters last month. Proposition H expedites the approval process for...more
Barring any last-minute surprises, the Board of Supervisors will finally adopt compromise inclusionary housing legislation on July 18th that would, as shown in our summary comparison chart, make many major changes to the...more
On June 5, the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the Board of Supervisors will consider compromise inclusionary housing legislation. As shown in our summary comparison chart, the legislation would generally retain...more
As reported in our prior blog post, Assemblymember Phil Ting (D – San Francisco) introduced amendments to the State Density Bonus law (AB 915) that would specifically require all local jurisdictions to impose their local...more
We reported in December that State Senator Scott Wiener marked his first day in state office by introducing legislation (SB 35) to address barriers to housing production. Senator Wiener has introduced amendments to SB 35 that...more
Assembly member Phil Ting (D – San Francisco) introduced new amendments to the State Density Bonus law on March 15, 2017 that would specifically require local jurisdictions to impose their local inclusionary housing...more
On February 7th, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the implementing ordinance for San Francisco’s Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Program. Pending the Mayor’s approval, the TDM Program will...more